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Low back pain is a leading cause
of disability. It occurs in similar proportions in all
cultures, interferes with quality of life and work
performance, and is the most common reason for medical
consultations. Few cases of back pain are due to specific
causes; most cases are non-specific. Acute back pain is the
most common presentation and is usually self-limiting,
lasting less than three months regardless of treatment.
Chronic back pain is a more difficult problem, which often
has strong psychological overlay: work dissatisfaction,
boredom, and a generous compensation system contribute to
it. Among the diagnoses offered for chronic pain is
fibromyalgia, an urban condition (the diagnosis is not made
in rural settings) that does not differ materially from
other instances of widespread chronic pain. Although disc
protrusions detected on X-ray are often blamed, they rarely
are responsible for the pain, and surgery is seldom
successful at alleviating it. No single treatment is
superior to others; patients prefer manipulative therapy,
but studies have not demonstrated that it has any
superiority over others. A WHO Advisory Panel has defined
common outcome measures to be used to judge the efficacy of
treatments for studies.
Keywords:
Low back pain, Classification, Therapy, Fibromyalgia, Risk
factors
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