Employees with back pain should get more help from employers, it has been argued.

The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (Arma) has launched a campaign to get firms to do more to help people suffering from back pain to stay at work.

Flexible working and better communication between employers and employees on the question of how to manage workers' back conditions are two of the measures the alliance believes will help reduce workplace absence.

These accounted for 10.8 million lost days of work in 2008-09, Arma stated.

People with back pain who don't want to be taking time off work may find that using ultrasound at home helps ease the discomfort.

In a separate development, experts have said that chronic pain - which affects nearly eight million Britons - should be treated as a disease in its own right.

Doctors and clinicians have made the call after a study found that only two per cent of people with severe pain ever see a specialist.