Most acute lower back pain settles within a few weeks. Keeping gently active, using heat and taking regular pain relief usually does more than rest does.
If paracetamol and shop-strength ibuprofen aren’t touching it, a short course of naproxen — a stronger anti-inflammatory — is the usual next step. Across the group our pharmacists can supply it privately after a consultation, without a GP appointment.
Some symptoms mean you need a doctor rather than the pharmacy: numbness or tingling in the legs, weakness, any change to bladder or bowel control, fever, unexplained weight loss, or pain after a fall. Please seek urgent care for those.
Naproxen isn’t suitable for everyone — stomach problems, kidney disease, heart conditions, pregnancy and a range of other medicines rule it out. The consultation exists to check exactly that.
15-minute pharmacist consultation, supplied under a Patient Group Direction. Book a time at your branch or walk in.
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