Back pain can really interfere with your quality of life, and it's one of the most common reasons people miss work. If you've never had back pain before, just wait. About one in four people in the U.S. are currently dealing with lower back pain , and around 80% will experience it at some point in their lives, according to the National Institutes of Health .

For some people, chronic back pain is so severe that they may need to take a prescription drug. Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant typically used to control seizures or treat nerve pain from shingles, but it is sometimes prescribed off-label for lower back pain. A 2025 study in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine found that people who took gabapentin for back pain had a 29% higher risk of developing dementia . Compared to people

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