Sick leave was traditionally seen as something that was needed to promote recovery from back pain. However we now know much more about how sick leave affects health and well being and it has become clear that in some cases sick leave is actually detrimental to recovery.
It is therefore important to discuss the options that you have with your GP and employer. As explained above there may be options to temporarily adapt your work instead of going on sick leave. If you have to take some sick leave, it is preferable to try to limit the duration of sick leave as much as possible. To do this it may be useful to regularly review your status, not only with your GP but also with your employer. By keeping your employer informed you are more likely to be able to return as soon as possible. For example you employer may have some other duties that need to be done and it may very well be possible that you can take on board those duties instead of the activities you used to do.