lower back pain
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AI overview
Lower back pain is a condition that affects the muscles, nerves, and bones in your lower back, causing discomfort or reduced function in that area. It matters because it's one of the most common health problems people experience, often affecting their ability to work, exercise, and enjoy daily activities.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
66,873 papers- Neck Pain and Lower Back Pain.The Medical clinics of North America · 2020
- The adult with low back pain: causes, diagnosis, imaging features and management.British journal of hospital medicine (London, England : 2005) · 2023
- Chronic Lower Back Pain in Weight Lifters: Epidemiology, Evaluation, and Management.JBJS reviews · 2023
- The fall of the postural-structural-biomechanical model in manual and physical therapies: exemplified by lower back pain.Journal of bodywork and movement therapies · 2011
- Nonspecific lower-back pain: surgical versus nonsurgical treatment.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2006
via PubMed
Article
Low back pain or lumbago is a common disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back, in between the lower edge of the ribs and the lower fold of the buttocks. Pain can vary from a dull constant ache to a sudden sharp feeling. Low back pain may be classified by duration as acute (pain lasting less than 6 weeks), sub-chronic (6 to 12 weeks), or chronic (more than 12 weeks). The condition may be further classified by the underlying cause as either mechanical, non-mechanical, or referred pain. The symptoms of low back pain usually improve within a few weeks from the time they start, with 40–90% of people recovered by six weeks.
In most episodes of low back pain a specific underlying cause is not identified or even looked for, the pain is believed to be due to mechanical problems such as muscle or joint strain. If the pain does not go away with conservative treatment or if it is accompanied by "red flag" symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fever, or significant problems with feeling or movement, further testing may be needed to look for a serious underlying problem. In most cases, imaging tools such as a CT scans are not useful or recommended for low back pain that lasts less than 6 weeks (with no red flags) and carry their own risks. Despite this, the use of imaging in low back pain has increased. Some low back pain is caused by damaged intervertebral discs, and the straight leg raise test is useful to identify this cause. In those with chronic pain, the pain processing system may malfunction, causing large amounts of pain in response to non-serious events. Chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSLBP) is a highly prevalent musculoskeletal condition that not only affects the body, but also a person's social and economic status. It would be greatly beneficial for people with CNSLBP to be screened for genetic issues, unhealthy lifestyles and habits, and psychosocial factors on top of musculoskeletal issues. Chronic lower back pain is defined as back pain that lasts more than three months.