How common is back pain?

According the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) - very. 'Around 60-80% of adults suffer back pain at some time.  
2.2 million people in Great Britain suffered from work related ill health in 2003/04 - one of five of those involved a bad back. 
Around five million working days lost through bad backs in 2003/04. On average each sufferer took about 19 days off in that 12 month period. 
At least 5 million adults consult their GP annually about back pain. 
NHS physiotherapy costs are estimated at £150.6 m.  
Back pain is the nation's leading cause of disability with 1.1 million people disabled by it. Back pain is physically draining and often affects lifestyle, leisure activities and ability to sleep.'

Causes of Back Pain:

• Repetitive or heavy lifting
• Bending and twisting
• Exerting too much force
• Not recognizing symptoms and taking action
• Disorders of the low back

The low back is subjected to considerable mechanical stress especially in the L5/S1 segment , which is particularly vulnerable.
It frequently overloaded, either suddenly or over a longer period of time causing between 60 & 80% of people to experience low back pain at some stage of life. There is no agreed reasoning to the causes of low back pain among the western medical profession, although it would seem that most of the tissues are capable of producing pain - the muscles, ligaments, intervertebral synovial joints and intervertebral discs.

Western Medicine categorizes low back pain according to the tissues involved and are most commonly:

• Myofascial trigger point syndromes
• Vertebral joint syndrome
• Degenerative joint disease
• Intervertebral disc syndromes
• Spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis