Move to help persistent back pain
A tailored exercise programme can ease ongoing nonspecific lower back pain.
The number, drawn
Chronic back pain trials: about 15 points less pain on a 100 point scale
Why it matters
Exercise can improve muscle function and help restore everyday movement when back pain persists. A Cochrane review found about 15 points less pain on a 100 point scale after roughly three months compared with no treatment, usual care or placebo. Benefits over other active treatments were smaller.
How to do it
- For ongoing pain, agree on suitable exercises with a physiotherapist or clinician.
- Keep comfortable everyday activity in your routine.
- Build exercise gradually and review a plan that consistently worsens symptoms.
Call emergency services or go to A&E for back pain with new bladder or bowel changes, numbness around the genitals or anus, or weakness or numbness in both legs.
Do it
Pick the time you have. Anything beats nothing.
Start with the time you have
1 minute
Identify one everyday task your back pain limits, and how long that has been happening, so you can describe it when seeking help.
5 minutes
Read the NHS back pain warning signs; seek emergency help for new bladder or bowel changes, groin numbness or symptoms in both legs, and arrange routine help for persistent pain.
15 minutes
Prepare a request for assessment: describe the pain, its duration, the tasks it limits and any exercises that worsen it; ask for a suitable movement plan.
A plan
Build a plan for persistent back pain
- Stage 1: Check warning signs and arrange appropriate assessment rather than assuming all back pain has the same cause.
- Stage 2: Agree on suitable exercises with a clinician or physiotherapist.
- Stage 3: Keep comfortable daily activity and practise the agreed plan, building gradually.
- Stage 4: Stop exercises that worsen pain and ask for review; seek urgent help for new warning signs.
In real life
- Describe a daily task that back pain stops you doing, such as walking to a shop, when discussing a tailored plan.
- Keep comfortable everyday activity in your routine while following the advice you have been given.
Watch out for
- Common mistakeLong spells of bed rest can get in the way of recovery, so keep suitable everyday movement in your routine.
- Common mistakePushing through worsening pain is not a useful target, so stop that exercise and ask for advice.
- Common mistakeTreating new bladder or bowel changes, groin numbness or symptoms in both legs as routine back pain is unsafe, so seek emergency help.
Trusted guides
Check usSources
- Evidence grade
- A Meta-analyses of randomised trials, or a major guideline consensus.
- Basis
- Cochrane 2021 review of 249 trials, moderate certainty for pain versus inactive controls
- The number
- Chronic back pain trials: about 15 points less pain on a 100 point scale (Cochrane, 2021)
- Tier 1 guidelineExercise for treatment of chronic low back painCochrane, 2021
- Tier 1 guidelineBack painNHS, 2026
General health information, not a diagnosis or an individual treatment plan. Personalization changes the order of suggestions; it does not assess your medical risks. Follow the cautions and consult a qualified clinician when needed.