So if the studies Mesoblast quote are rubbish and this study iscorrect then the population that this product can treat is likely much smaller than Mesoblast hint at. The product may help where inflammation is the main problem but reducing disc deteriation is probably pointless.
So what is the main cause of lower back pain?
The brain produces pain in every instance, whether it's a burn, cut, sprained ankle, broken bone or back pain. The brain is weighing a huge number of inputs in real time, and it ouputs 'pain', or 'no pain'. It happens beyond our conscious awareness. This is mainstream science; it's just that most healthcare professionals aren't aware of it yet. And the public certainly isn't.
Tissue damage is only
one of the inputs that the brain is measuring, and for tissue damage to end up as pain, it needs to be quite major. Disc degeneration - even if severe - doesn't qualify as tissue damage. It's more like 'wear and tear'. The most powerful input for the brain's decision-making process is emotional stress, particularly if it's repressed.
10s of millions of people in the world have disc degeneration...yet, no symptoms. So obviously it's not the singular cause of back pain.
All pain is inflammatory in nature. And stress is known to be the most potent cause of inflammation. Stress can cause severe inflammation even in the absence of any tissue damage (via the nervous system).
Research has shown stress reduction to be the single most powerful
natural analgesic. If you were to compare a decent stress reduction event with a powerful opiate like Tramadol, stress reduction would win out easily. But obviously stress reduction can be hard to achieve rapidly if the issue is big/tricky, and that's why people use medicines. Nothing wrong with that.
Basically it's all about stress. But for immediate relief, curcumin with black pepper is a potent anti-inflammatory. Opiates are good too (short term use only).