The injection of bone marrow into the spine offers hope to millions left in daily agony.

And the breakthrough could also boost the economy by saving more than £12billion a year lost by patients taking days off sick.

Four out of five people in Britain will suffer debilitating back pain at some point in their lives and an estimated three million every year consult their GP. Possible treatments include painkillers, muscle relaxants, steroid injections, physio­therapy, ­surgery or simple bed rest. But most are designed just to control symptoms.

Now an experimental study has suggested that bone marrow grafts into the spine could hold out hope of a cure. Dr Donald Meyer, of the Columbia Interventional Pain Center in Missouri, said: “Our results are encouraging.

“Currently, when conservative treatment measures fail, therapeutic options are limited for individuals with back pain due to disc degeneration. Many resort to disc surgery or spinal fusion with mediocre results. Our goal is to help develop a safe, natural method to boost the body’s own capacity to heal disc pain.”

Arthritis Research UK said the study looked promising. “Low back pain, associated with intervertebral disc degeneration, is a painful and debilitating disorder costing the UK economy over £12billion a year,” said a spokeswoman. “Although many types of surgery are available for selected patients, current treatments for low back pain remain inadequate, with patients continuing to suffer pain and immobilisation.

“This study shows that this type of novel treatment using bone marrow grafts may be effective in certain patients.”