--- title: Tylenol and Panadol Prove No Better Than Placebo at Helping Back Pain description: Acetaminophen isn't curing your aching after all canonical: https://time.com/3031862/tylenol-and-panadol-prove-no-better-than-placebo-at-helping-back-pain/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-25T01:31:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:20:32.413Z article:section: Health og:title: Tylenol and Panadol Prove No Better Than Placebo at Helping Back Pain og:description: Acetaminophen isn't curing your aching after all og:url: https://time.com/3031862/tylenol-and-panadol-prove-no-better-than-placebo-at-helping-back-pain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d82628ca967cbae/69869d2d361760114b90d33f/452593320.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Paracetamol Reportedly Not Effective Drug For Back Pain og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tylenol and Panadol Prove No Better Than Placebo at Helping Back Pain twitter:description: Acetaminophen isn't curing your aching after all twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d82628ca967cbae/69869d2d361760114b90d33f/452593320.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tylenol and Panadol Prove No Better Than Placebo at Helping Back Pain  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jul 25, 2014 1:31 AM UTC  Paracetamol tablets sit on a table on July 24, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. In a new study published in the prestigious medical journal, 'The Lancet' the most common pain reliever for back pain, paracetamol, does not work any better than a placebo. Paracetamol tablets sit on a table on July 24, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. In a new study published in the prestigious medical journal, 'The Lancet' the most common pain reliever for back pain, paracetamol, does not work any better than a placebo.Scott Barbour—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jul 25, 2014 1:31 AM UTC Two-thirds of adults experience back pain sometime during their lives, and most take acetaminophen, found in brands like Tylenol and Panadol, for relief. But new [research has found](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960805-9/abstract) that those medicines are no more helpful than swallowing a sugar pill. A study published this week in a medical journal called _The Lancet_ split 1,643 people with acute low-back pain into three groups, each given two boxes. One group received two boxes of 500-miligram acetaminophen tablets, with instructions to use the second box “as needed’; the second group got a box of acetaminophen and an as-needed box of placebos; and the third group received two boxes of placebos. Researchers told the participants to take six tablets per day from the regular box and up to two from the as-needed box. Over the course of three months, the researchers found no difference among the three groups. Subjects showed no variation in terms of pain, recovery time, function, disability, symptom change, sleep or quality of life. 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