Pearl #4. Don’t dismiss the placebo effect. Eighty-three patients with chronic low back pain were randomized to either continue their current pain medications or to continue their current pain medication plus a placebo tablet twice daily for 3 weeks.5 They were told that placebos can have significant pain-relieving qualities. At 3 weeks, the patients taking placebo had less pain than those not taking placebo.
I’m not sure if we should start prescribing placebos, but this study is a strong reminder that we should harness the placebo effect, rather than dismiss it.