Healing Back Pain

Back pain, back ache, lower back pain, lumbago, back problems, whatever you choose to call it, is a serious concern for many people.

It is so common it is practically the norm rather than the exception for many adults.

Official figures from the UK state that four out of every five adults will have a back pain problem at some point in their lives. And serious back problems can strike at any age even in children, but it is most common in adults from their mid-30s to mid-50s.

This may be because although still active many adults in this age group are not as fit as they were in their 20s. In fact, back problems are easily the biggest cause of lost work days, not only in the UK, but also in all western countries.

Fortunately, back injuries are usually not as serious as people initially believe and on most occasions, it will recover with a little medical assistance in a matter of weeks.

It is not surprising that so many people suffer back injuries when you consider that all that is supporting your entire upper body weight are 24 small vertebrae.

In between each of these bones, is a shock absorbing disc that stops friction and jarring between each bone.

Then there are a group of strings known as ligaments that tie the discs and the vertebrae together.

The muscles that support your back and body are connected to the vertebrae via some more string like connections known as tendons.

It is the muscles of the back that actually support the weight of your upper body rather than the spine itself, which is merely the part of your skeleton that the back supporting muscles, attach to.

Lumbago or as it is usually called lower back pain will affect 70% of all adults at some point in their lives, the area that is affected stretches from the top of your legs to the bottom of your ribs.

Lower back pain can be a gradual and growing ache or can strike suddenly usually as the result of an injury. This part of your back is both complex and delicate meaning that even a relatively minor injury can cause a substantial amount of pain.

Contrary to popular belief lower back pain does not usually come from the spine itself but rather from the discs, muscles and ligaments and so forth. When we say we have, hurt our back the automatic mental image is that we have hurt our spine in fact most of the time it is another part of the mechanism that has suffered damage.

Again, contrary to popular belief most of the time, back injuries are generally not serious and even without treatment will often recover within a few weeks. However, this does not mean that you should not visit a doctor or hospital should you injure your back because there is the slight possibility of a more serious and long lasting problem.