What is the value of physical therapies for back pain?

Some would say that the value of physical therapies for low back pain patients is the provision of pain relief; others argue that it is all about helping the person to get on with his or her life. There is an on-going debate amongst practitioners as to whether a hands-on or a hands-off approach is likely to be most effective for these patients. This chapter reviews these positions through an exploration of the literature. It examines the evidence for the effectiveness of a range of commonly used physical therapies.