Back Pain and Sciatica

UK sources of information and / or support

 The leaflets section of Patient UK

Includes a leaflet called Low Back Pain in Adults.

 BackCare - National Organisation for Healthy Backs

National charity concerned with reducing the impact of back pain. You can get impartial advice through the BackCare helpline and information materials, take part in local activities like hydrotherapy, join the Think-Back self-management programme for chronic back pain and help with their research.

 BBC Guide to Back Pain

Clear, quality health information from the BBC. This website gives general advice, but puts the emphasis on pointing you in the right directions to help yourself.

 Arthritis Research Campaign

Reliable information about back pain is provided by the Arthritis Research Campaign.

 British Brain and Spine Foundation

Have very good information booklets which you can download, including one called 'Back and Neck Pain'

 British Orthopaedic Association

A professional association for orthopaedic surgeons. However, they have some useful information for the general public on their website.

 Back Pain

Information from the Pain Relief Foundation.

 Low Back Pain: Early Management of Persistent Non-Specific Low Back Pain

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Low Back Pain: Early Management of Persistent Non-Specific Low Back Pain

 Percutaneous disc decompression using coblation for lower back pain

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Percutaneous disc decompression using coblation for lower back pain.

 Non-rigid stabilisation techniques for the treatment of low back pain

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Non-rigid stabilisation techniques for the treatment of low back pain.

 Automated percutaneous mechanical lumbar discectomy

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Automated percutaneous mechanical lumbar discectomy.

 Prosthetic intervertebral disc replacement

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Prosthetic intervertebral disc replacement.

 Percutaneous intradiscal electrothermal therapy for lower back pain

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Percutaneous intradiscal electrothermal therapy for lower back pain.

 Percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation for lower back pain

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation for lower back pain.

 Percutaneous endoscopic laser thoracic discectomy

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Percutaneous endoscopic laser thoracic discectomy.

 Percutaneous Endoscopic Laser Lumbar Discectomy

A patient guide to complement the NICE national guideline for health professionals called Percutaneous Endoscopic Laser Lumbar Discectomy.

 painSUPPORT

A friendly, supportive and informative not-for-profit organisation for those with chronic pain. An interactive site with a confidential contact club and lively discussion page.

 Back Care Warehouse

A range of products for the relief of back pain and the improvement of posture. The site also includes a range of information on the nature, causes and treatment of back pain together with links to useful sources of further information.

 MEDesign

Makes and distributes back supportd and other products to help ease back pain.

 Backsavers.co.uk

A novel chair device to ease and prevent backache.

  Addenbrooke's Hospital: Patient Information Library

A large information library which includes articles concerning back pain.

 Medicine Guide for Sciatica

Provides detailed information about the drugs available to treat this condition. Medicine Guides provide reliable information about medicines, conditions and the different treatment options available. They have been developed in the UK as part of the Medicines Information Project.

 Back pain

Information from NHS Choices - the government's patient information portal.

 Back pain

Information from BUPA.

 Epidural injection for chronic back pain

Information from BUPA.

 Sciatica

Information from NHS Choices - the government's patient information portal.

 Slipped disc

Information from NHS Choices - the government's patient information portal.

 Back surgery

Information from BUPA.

See also the Patient UK arthritis page

Further sources / more detailed information

Some non-UK sites

The following list popular non-UK health information sites with content aimed at the general public. They are mainly from the US. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included but these large sites are comprehensive.

• Non-UK disease / illness sites
• Non-UK self-help / support group sites

More detailed medical information

The following list online sources of more detailed medical information, mainly from the UK. These sites are mainly aimed at health professionals, but are of interest to all. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included, but information about most medical topics can usually be found.

• PatientPlus - hundreds of medical reference articles provided by Patient UK.
• Evidence Based Medicine - such as from Clinical Evidence, The Cochrane Library, etc.
• Database of UK Clinical Guidelines - from NICE, SIGN, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, etc.
• Medline - abstracts available from thousands of journals.
• Sites listing free online medical textbooks and journals.
• Sites listing free medical images - pictures, atlases, anatomy, skin diseases, etc.