They found an association between chronic back pain and infection
with a bacteria more commonly associated with acne.
This opens up the possibility that we could potentially treat and cure back pain in a significant amount of the population, a much cheaper and easier option than surgery of course.
The study showed that the bacteria infect slipped discs and cause painful inflammation leading to a worsening of symptoms.
They tested their theory in another study, treating a group of chronic back pain sufferers with a commonly available antibiotic and in 80% of cases the patients showed significant improvement.
If the above results can be replicated in larger studies this would be a turning point in the treatment of this often debilitating condition