Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help or miss work. Back pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Fortunately, measures can help prevent or relieve most back pain episodes, especially for people younger than age 60. If prevention fails, simple home treatment and using the body correctly often will heal the back within a few weeks. Surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain.

First of all, back pain is a symptom of an underlying condition or injury. Acute pain occurs when the nerve(s) in the spinal column become impinged or pinched. This is commonly caused by a disc or bone spur pushing into the canal. This canal houses the spinal cord, the cauda equina, and the nerve roots.

At birth, discs are comprised primarily of water. However, they tend to dry and shrink as we age. When this occurs, it causes changes in the spinal column. Further changes can also occur when a disc ruptures or herniates (protrudes.) Typically due to injury. Although, often in response to these changes, tissue around the spinal canal thickens. Reducing the space in the spinal canal. This narrowing is called stenosis. Additionally, when the facet joints degenerate, they become larger. Eventually forming spurs. And can pinch the nerve roots or even the spinal cord.