Back Pain


Unfortunately, we don’t pamper our precious backs as we do our skin or hair or nails. We should. Back pain is said to affect at one time or another up to 80% of the population. It is estimated that four out of five adults under the age of 45 will experience some sort of back pain in their lives. Back pain is said to be the second most common cause of people taking time off from work (the first being the common cold).

These are horrifying statistics for a disorder that is often simply due to bad back health.

Sufferers describe backache, as many people refer to back pains, in different ways: “a mild, dull ache”, “a sharp, stabbing pain”, “numbness” or “a feeling of stiffness”.

At its worse, back pain may be debilitating, an unbearable agony that can leave a sufferer bed-ridden, experiencing nausea, vomiting and even fever. Back pains may be temporary (e.g., caused by pregnancy or as a symptom of another disorder), permanent (e.g., caused by a spinal disorder) or sporadic (e.g., caused by bad posture).

Sufferers agree, however, that this is a condition that lays a patient low both physically and emotionally. Furthermore, it is often, in itself, the cause of further back problems. The condition can create a vicious circle: bad back pains result in bad posture as the sufferer stoops, bends and shuffles at home or at work in an effort to ease the pain. The result: increasing chronic back pain.

There are a number of causes of back pain.

— Back pain experienced by the aged is, unfortunately, part and parcel of the aging process. This type of back pain may be caused by any of a number of back disorders, e.g., spinal stenosis.

— Temporary back pain which is often experienced by pregnant women and women with menopause. Some people mention they experience a type of “nervous’ back pain.

— Everyone knows someone who suffers with arthritis, a very common cause of back pain, particularly in the elderly and sports people.

— A sports injury or car accident may cause back pains. Lumbar sprains and strains or vertebral fractures may result in local, specific back trauma.

— Bad posture is one of the most common causes of backache, experienced particularly in certain occupations, e.g., secretaries who sit all day or sales assistants who stand all day. Many manual labor jobs may cause back pain.

— Certain viral and bacterial infections, e.g., meningitis or a urinary tract infection, may cause back pain.

— Congenital back pain may be caused by certain inherent diseases (those a person may be born with, e.g., curvature of the spine).

— Back pain may be a symptom of a number of diseases, including kidney disease, gall bladder infection, etc.

The good news is that back pain can usually be completely cured by diagnosing the root cause of the back problem, especially in the case of disease or injury. In the case of degenerative back problems or back pain from bad posture, pain can be eased by conventional or homeopathic methods.

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