--- title: Lower Back Pain: How to Get Rid of It description: This is what researchers say will get rid of lower back pain. canonical: https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-11T19:48:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:33.410Z article:section: Health og:title: How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain og:description: Based on the latest research og:url: https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain twitter:description: Based on the latest research twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Humans Evolved To Get Less, But Better Quality, Sleep [Watch (HLS stream): Humans Evolved To Get Less, But Better Quality, Sleep](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/obu1caIx.m3u8) (1:13)  _Published 2015-12-15. A Duke University study hypothesizes it was early human ancestors' change from sleeping in trees to on the ground that lets us sleep less today._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 11, 2016 7:48 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 11, 2016 7:48 PM UTC When you have [lower back pain](https://time.com/shopping/article/best-mattress-for-back-pain/), you may not want to leave your bed—but the best way to get some relief is actually to get moving, according to [new research](http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2481155). The new study, published Monday in the journal _JAMA Internal Medicine_, analyzed previous studies of treatment methods for lower back pain, which hits about 80% of people at some point in their life. The researchers concluded that based on the evidence available, exercise in combination with education (for example, information about lower back pain, posture or exercise ) was likely to lower the risk of lower back pain. While exercise alone was also found to be effective, the researchers say it’s unclear whether these effects would last beyond a year. “This finding raises the important issue that, for exercise to remain protective against future \[lower back pain\], it is likely that ongoing exercise is required,” the study authors write. Interestingly, the researchers found benefits from all sorts of different exercises, including back and abs strengthening, stretching, and range of motion exercises. [Prior research looking at yoga specifically](http://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/yoga-or-stretching-eases-low-back-pain) has found improvements in back pain for both men and women, possibly due to the combination of muscle strengthening and stretching. The researchers of the new study did not find strong evidence to support other strategies, like back belts or shoe insoles, to cut back on pain. In a [corresponding editorial](http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2481155), Dr. Timothy S. Carey and Janet K. Freburger of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill write that lower back pain recurrence is common—about 24% to 80% of episodes recur in the first year. It’s important for physicians to recommend exercise and for those who have experienced back pain to stay motivated and continue exercising, the researchers wrote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/"},"headline":"How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain","datePublished":"2016-01-11T19:48:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:33.410Z","description":"Here's another good reason to be active","url":"https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/","keywords":["Exercise","Back Pain"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/","name":"How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Humans Evolved To Get Less, But Better Quality, Sleep","description":"A Duke University study hypothesizes it was early human ancestors' change from sleeping in trees to on the ground that lets us sleep less today.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/obu1caIx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-15T17:11:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/obu1caIx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/","duration":"PT1M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4175215/lower-back-pain-treatment/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```