BackCare is a national charity that aims to reduce the impact of back pain on society by providing information, support, promoting good practice and funding research. BackCare acts as a hub between patients, (healthcare) professionals, employers, policy makers, researchers and all others with an interest in back pain.

BackCare are currently looking for people to take part in back pain research projects.

* Faith and pain survey
* Return to work policy survey
* Chronic lower back pain patients needed
* Effects of exercise on chronic low back pain
* Prescribing for chronic pain by nurses and pharmacists

Faith and pain survey

Are you currently suffering from back or any other type of pain? If so then your contribution to this survey, exploring faith as a method used to cope with pain, could be extremely valuable.

Its aim is to gain some insight into whether faith can have a postive effect on health and wellbeing and will do so by looking at factors including intensity of pain, site of pain, mood, wellbeing and religious coping.

Although this survey deals with the role of faith in coping with pain you do not need to have any religious beliefs and you need not be actively seeking treatment for your pain in order to participate. All contributions are welcomed and appreciated and will be treated in the strictest confidence.

To complete the survey please click here

Return to work policy survey

Are you an employee who has or have had back pain? Do you have experience of returning to work or are you about to return to work after a long-term absence? Would you like to make the return to work process easier for people with back pain?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes then the researchers would be keen to hear from you.

Being diagnosed with back pain can lead to long-term absence form work, and the inactivity and isolation associated with it can in turn have further detrimental effects on health. Often anxiety about returning to work prevents people from doing so causing them to remain inactive and become further isolated. Research suggests that timely, well planned and executed return-to-work processes have substantial positive benefits for the health and rehabilitation of those returning to work.

In order to help all you have to do is complete the short, confidential survey on your experiences and knowledge regarding return to work procedures. The results will be published in a report, which will hopefully be used to improve back to work policy for those with back pain. You will also be able to have access to this report as well as ongoing information on further developments in the field. Your participation would be greatly appreciated.

If you would like to participate or would like more information please click here or
Ben Hicks at b.hicks@gold.ac.uk or by calling 07881 915776

Chronic Lower Back Pain patients needed

The Birmingham University Imaging Centre are conducting research studying how the brain processes painful information. They are currently looking for research subjects with chronic pain. They use a number of procedures to investigate how you experience pain, when and why your pain experience might change and how your brain interprets and causes pain experience. They are currently looking for research subjects with fibromyalgia and non specific low back pain.

We use a new technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI for short. fMRI takes pictures of the brain using powerful magnets. These pictures can show how different parts of the human brain work.

If you are interested in volunteering for this research study, Birmingham University want to hear from you. Participants are compensated for their time and travel. Call the study Coordinator Jody Osborn for details
Office: (0121) 414 8836    Mobile: 07854 44 00 79    Email:jxo581@bham.ac.uk

Effects of exercise on chronic low back pain

Researchers from Roehampton University School of Human and Life Sciences are looking to recruit 20 chronic low back pain (CLBP) male sufferers, as well as healthy male volunteers, 24-64 years old, to take part in a research study. The study will involve a one-off 15 minute moderate treadmill exercise (walking) and will examine the immediate physiological effects that it produces. Resting heart rate and blood pressure, salivary cortisol level, back muscles activity and pain intensity will be measured by non-invasive means pre and post exercise.

The aims of the study are to examine the immediate physiological effects of treadmill exercise in CLBP and to investigate whether these effects are mediated by individual levels of: fear of injury, pain, catastrophising and depression. The researchers hope to provide a snapshot of the effects of exercise in CLBP patients and further the understanding of their neuroendocrine mechanisms.

Information learned from this study will be used to help our understanding of physiological and psychological reactions to Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP), as well as the effects of exercise on this chronic pain condition. This knowledge may expand the scope of application of exercise as a therapeutic intervention and may lead to advances in the prevention and treatment of CLBP and other chronic pain conditions.

For more information on this study or if you would like to take part; e.mail: Dragomir P Lubomirov; dragomirl@btinternet.com or Dr Jolanta Opacka-Juffry; j.opacka_juffry@roehampton.ac.uk

Prescribing for chronic pain by nurses and pharmacists

The study is being carried out by Obi Adigwe, a PhD Student in the School of Healthcare at the University of Leeds. The study is supervised by a team of three experienced researchers led by Professor Jose Closs. The study aims to explore what you think of prescribing by nurses and pharmacists for chronic pain.

If you live in the Yorkshire and Humber region and suffer from chronic pain, then you could volunteer to take part in this research study. Before you decide whether to take part you need to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve.  If you do decide to volunteer, you will be contacted to discuss the study to take part in an informal interview during which you would be asked about your views and experiences of nurse and pharmacist prescribing with respect to your pain. The interview will last approximately one hour, and will be arranged at a time and place of your convenience. With your permission the interview will be tape recorded so that it can be transcribed.

If you are interested or have any questions or concerns about the study please contact:

Obi Adigwe (PhD Student)
Room 3.35, School of Healthcare, Baines Wing, University of Leeds, LEEDS LS2 9UT
Tel: 0113 3437366 or 07838848928
Email; hcopa@leeds.ac.uk

A Study from the Back Research Centre in Denmark suggests that some cases of back pain may be linked to bacterial infection.

Back pain specialists and General Practitioners often face the dilemma of the patient with low back pain who, after assessment and tests shows no mechanical or pathological reason for the pain.

A study which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine aimed to test the effect of antibiotics in the treatment of low back pain in patients with previous disc herniation.

At the end of treatment and after a long term follow up period, the researchers found clinically important and significant improvements in all outcome measures, suggesting that bacterial infection may indeed be playing a role in low back pain.

The study reveals needs for further randomised controlled trials and the requirement of the health professional to consider bacterial infection an option where no other mechanical or clinical factors exist.

More information

British Journal of Sports Medicine - original research article; Antibiotic treatment in patients with low-back pain associated with Modic changes Type 1 (bone oedema): a pilot study

Sportsphysio.com Occupational Services can provide risk assessment and management solutions to help businesses comply with current guidelines.

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