One of the main things people with acute back pain are looking for is relief from the pain. The degree of discomfort being felt can vary from person to person, depending on their individual tolerance for pain as well as the underlying cause of the pain. For most individuals the best back pain medication might be ibuprofen, naproxen or similar non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The main problem with using NSAIDs is the potential side effects of gastrointestinal bleeding along with the increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

COX-2 inhibitors, while more expensive that many of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also have not shown the negative side effects and for now are consider safer on the gastrointestinal system. However, testing is continuing for to determine their long-term safety as a back pain medication. It has been shown that long term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increase the potential for kidney damage as well as gastrointestinal damage. The research continues on COX-2 inhibitors.

Acetaminophen has been successful as a back pain medication in reducing the discomfort without many of the adverse side effects of NSAIDs, but most over the counter products may not have the strength of NSAIDs. If the pain is caused by muscles going into spasm, there are few back pain medication options that reduce this type of pain.

Most Back Pain Medication Will Cause Drowsiness

Muscle relaxers are often prescribed as part of an individual's back pain medication and 30 percent of users report becoming extremely drowsy while taking them. They have not been proven to effective on muscle spasms and when used in conjunction with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs shoed no additional benefit. Research indicates that muscle relaxers may be more effective than placeboes, but the effects they have on a person's alertness makes many physicians reluctant to prescribe them routinely.

Opiate medications are often used to treat acute back pain but their side effects include sedation, nausea and clouded judgment as well as having a potential for addiction. Their use as back pain medication is typically limited to only a few days and the most often received complaint is constipation. The use of narcotics for pain control may relieve pain, but they have not shown to help reduce the healing time.

Oral steroids have shown no benefit as back pain medication and injections into the back or epidural have not shown to benefit the relief of back pain. They have been successfully used on sciatica but as back pain medication without sciatica have not been known to offer any measurable relief.