People with severe back pain have been instructed that the best medicine is a good dose of hard work.

It is not, however, Margaret Thatcher, propounding the benefits of hard work from beyond the political grave, but rather the result of research from non-profit organisation the Work Foundation which indicates that recovery can actually be aided by a return to work.

The basis of the advice is the belief that muculoskeletal conditions like arthritis, back pain, work-related upper-limb disorders are often accompanied by mental health problems, with the psychological boost of returning to work serving to forward recovery.

"There is overwhelming evidence that worklessness is, itself, bad for health," said the report, adding that "even when unwell or injured, remaining in work – at least in some capacity – is often better for recovery than long periods away from work".

Highlighted by the report are social benefits and a feeling of general wellbeing, which can provide a big psychological boost without aggravating back pain or related conditions, so long as employer and employee work to accommodate the problem.

Recommendations from the report urge employers to boost their productivity by bringing back pain sufferers back into the office through adjustments to working time and altering of task allocation, with the Work Foundation even suggesting that companies challenge GPs' analyses of the patient's needs.

Meanwhile sufferers are themselves told to take action and return to work in order to avoid being "a passive victim of pain or immobility", with benefits to mental health promised by the move.

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