Why Does Your Back Hurt: Back Pain
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Why does your back hurt?
Back pain has many causes, most of them difficult, if not impossible, to identify precisely. Although the onset of many episodes of acute low back pain seems related to some mechanical event — an injury, a sudden off-balance movement, some unfamiliar activity, overuse, or misuse — doctors can't find an exact cause for as many as 85% of people with low back pain, despite advances in diagnostic technology.
Even so, it is usually possible to categorize the type of low back problem you have, which is important when it comes to treatment. Like well-matched dance partners, when the treatment is appropriate for the problem, then recovery should go smoothly. With a mismatch, recovery may falter and stumble. This section of the report describes the major types of low back problems.
Fast factSciatica, the back and leg pain that can result from a "trapped nerve" due to a herniated disk, is most common among people ages 40–60. Although painful at the onset, sciatica usually doesn't require surgery. In fact, time and rest are all that 90% of sciatica sufferers need to improve within six months. |
| Last updated: | January 23, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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