Five Things Your Back Hates

Do you suffer from low back pain?  Is your back dreading that three-hour lecture tomorrow or a full day at the clinic?  You are not alone. Next to upper respiratory infections, low back pain (LBP) constitutes one of the most common health complaints. 

Over 80 percent of Americans report having had back pain at least once in their lives.  At any point in time, 18 percent of the people around you are silently suffering from LBP.

The good news is that within three months of LBP, 90-95 percent of individuals no longer have existing symptoms.  In fact, only 1 percent of LBP patients require prolonged treatment.

The bad news is that 24-33 percent of previous episodes of LBP are recurrent, and LBP is hard to correlate with a patho-anatomical origin.  Currently, the most effective treatment for LBP involves assessing the aggravating factors, avoiding them and posturing the spinal muscles, hips, and core to better support your back.  There is no one fix for LBP, but following the suggestions in the chart below may help yours.