Comfrey and back pain
What 3 graded rows on comfrey agree on for back pain, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Comfrey page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Comfrey page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Comfrey and back pain
3 rows · 714 peopleThey agree: all 3 rows found an improvement.
- BGrade B× 2
- CGrade C× 1
- Rows
- 3
- Trials
- 3
- People
- 714
What the rows share
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade B, is a randomized trial of 379 people (2013) and found an improvement.
The rows run from 120 to 379 people, published from 2005 to 2013: 3 single studies.
The rows
3 improved- BGrade BAcute back pain: comfrey plus methyl nicotinate vs methyl nicotinate alone · Improved
RCT · n 379 · 2013 · Adults with acute upper or low back pain in a multicentre, three-arm trial
A 12 cm layer three times a day · 5 days
Pain on movement (area under the curve) was markedly smaller with the combination than with methyl nicotinate alone or placebo (p < 0.0001); methyl nicotinate alone also had a considerable effect.
- BGrade BAcute upper or lower back pain (vs placebo) · Improved
RCT · n 120 · 2010 · Adults with acute upper or lower back pain (mean age 36.9)
4 g three times a day · 5 days
Pain intensity on standardised movement fell by a median of about 95.2% with comfrey vs 37.8% with placebo, a significant difference that was consistent across all secondary measures; an effect was seen within 1 hour.
- CGrade CMuscle pain in the back: 10% vs 1% herb cream · Improved
RCT · n 215 · 2005 · Patients with myalgia in the lower and upper back
Topical cream as directed in the trial · Not stated in the abstract
Pain on movement, at rest and on palpation improved significantly more with the 10% cream; the number needed to treat was 3.2 and onset was faster. Tolerability was good to excellent.