Back pain needs clinical assessment, not routine scans: Lancet review

A Lancet Rheumatology review of international guidelines issued between 1994 and 2026 says non-specific low back pain should be managed through clinical assessment, patient education, physical activity and exercise. Routine imaging is discouraged unless serious disease is suspected. Bengaluru specialists said most such cases don't signal structural problems, and a disc bulge on an MRI isn't necessarily the cause.