Some Important Facts about back pain

• Low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal complaint, with potentially devastating consequences.

• 90% of patients with acute low back pain do not require surgery. Most specialists agree that non-surgical treatment should be tried first.

• Surgery as first line treatment is indicated only in few selected cases. These are medical emergencies such as a broken neck or if you have symptoms such as weakness in the legs that gets progressively worse and/or bladder and/or bowel incontinence caused by the back problem.

• The incidence of back pain is highest between the ages of 35 and 55.

• Disc is not always the culprit. Small joints of spine are the source of pain in majority of patients.

• The pain combined with depression and anxiety in long-term cases places sufferers at risk for suicide.

• People who work at sedentary occupations are at a higher risk of disk injury than those who do moderate amounts of physical work.

• Up to 85 per cent of persons with back pain can’t recall a specific incident that brought on their pain.

• Early interventional treatments in Back pain management have been found to return patients to work and regular activities more rapidly than past conservative therapies.

• Early intervention decreases unnecessary chronic pain, long-term treatments and disabilities.

• Heat and massage therapy cannot cure the disease. These do not provide long term solutions to the problems of back. These are mainly used for managing pain during the recovery period.