Back Pain

• Back Pain Overview
• Back Pain Causes
• Back Pain Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Exams and Tests
• Back Pain Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Medications
• Surgery
• Other Therapy
• Next Steps
• Follow-up
• Prevention
• Outlook
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors
• Related back pain articles:
  Back pain - on WebMD
  Lower back pain - on WebMD
  Spinal disk problems - on WebMD
  Back pain - on MedicineNet

Back Pain in 2nd & 3rd Decades of Life Medical Author: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR I am a rheumatologist. We are medical doctors that are responsible for the non-surgical treatments of conditions that involve the muscles and joints of the body. We do not perform surgery, but refer patients for consideration of surgical procedures to orthopaedic surgeons when appropriate. In the course of treating many patients over the years, I have come upon many instances in which a patient had received unnecessary surgery for conditions that could have either been diagnosed or treated without surgery. It is unfortunately too frequent that we diagnose spondylitis after a patient has already undergone a surgical procedure of the low back. Back pain in adolescents and young adults is commonly attributed to injury resulting from athletic activities. Guess why...because this it the time of life when humans typically are most involved with sports. The fact is, however, that it is very possible that the two events can be true and not related. Learn more about causes of back pain »

Back Pain Overview

Back pain in the lower back or low back pain is a common concern, affecting up to 90% of Americans at some point in their lifetime. Up to 50% will have more than one episode. Low back pain is not a specific disease. Rather, it is a symptom that may occur from a variety of different processes. In up to 85% of people with low back pain, despite a thorough medical examination, no specific cause of the pain can be identified.

• Low back pain is second only to the common cold as a cause of lost days at work. It is also one of the most common reasons to visit a doctor's office or a hospital's emergency department.
  
  
• For 90% of people, even those with nerve root irritation, their symptoms will improve within 2 months, no matter what treatment is used-even if no treatment is given.
  
  
• Doctors usually refer to back pain as acute if it has been present for less than a month and chronic if it lasts for a longer period of time.