You know all those TV commercials that offer one strange gadget or another that is guaranteed to get our "cores" in great shape? Well, there is some validity to the concept. This is because back pain can manifest as something that doesn't seem related to the back.

This is not to advise that anyone rush right out and buy one or more of the machines, balls or medieval torture devices designed to give us six-pack abs in minutes a day. Rather, the point is that the back is, physically, the core of your body, and while having a sexy back is as desirable for the wearing of expensive evening gowns as those abs for the beach, having strong muscles in that area is, most importantly, a way to avoid pain and injury.

The back is the essential because it ties to and supports everything else. Any time you move your arms or legs or head or toes, it is tied back into the spine and hence to the muscles in your back. Now, having strong back muscles will not do a lot to protect you from a sudden and traumatic spinal cord injury, but for the slow and sneaky kinds of pain and injury, they will do a great deal.

The good news for your beach wear is that having strong abdominal muscles is also good for preventing and relieving back pain. All the core muscles work to support one another and strong stomach muscles reduce strain on the back. Have you ever watched a dancer or acrobat literally, bend over backwards? It is due to the strength in the muscles of her back and stomach, all acting in concert.

That acting in concert is also what can lead to pain, injury and ultimately disability if left unchecked and untreated. Because your back is so critical to supporting so many of your skeletal structures, you may not always recognize back pain when you feel it.

A sudden shooting pain in your leg when you stand or walk is probably due to your back muscles protesting a stress or strain. If this continues or gets worse over time, you may have a pinched nerve or herniated disc. The same holds true particularly for things such as stabbing pains in the hips, shoulders or arms. You may have done something to your back and this is how the pain is exhibiting.

Back pain, if left unattended is likely to get worse. You may be able to act on your own to fix or mitigate any damage, but you will very likely be better off consulting a professional such as a chiropractor who is trained in the treatment of such pain and, almost more importantly the diagnosis.

How could diagnosis possibly be more important than treatment? It's like the old joke. Someone goes into a doctor and says, "it hurts when I do this." The doctor replies: "Don't do that."

There is a certain level of truth in this. Unless you find out what you have done or are doing to induce the back pain, you are very likely to continue to do it, thus piling injury upon injury. Having the problem diagnosed can help you avoid replicating it.