Low Back Pain 60-80% of people experience low back pain during the course of their life. What it feels like: Back pain caused by lumbar degenerative conditions is felt in the lower spine and is typically caused by aging. Symptoms can be mild to severe, short lived to chronic. These other symptoms often accompany low back pain:

• Pain that worsens with bending, lifting, standing, walking or sitting
• Pain that comes and goes
• Pain radiates to the buttocks and hips
• Sciatica

Who is affected? This condition is most common in those age 30+ and results as the spine naturally degenerates. How common is it? 31 million Americans experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Risk factors:

• Age
• Genetics
• Overuse
• Injury
• Weight/overall health
• Smoking
• Poor posture

Causes:

• Overuse
• Disc injury or degeneration
• Spinal stenosis
• Scoliosis
• Aging
• Vascular disease
• Arterial disease
• Cancer

Treatment:

• Medication
• Physical therapy
• Steroid injections
• Braces
• Chiropractic care
• Surgery in some cases, including:
  • Spinal fusion
  • Disc replacement

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Almost everyone will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. This pain can vary from mild to severe. It can be short-lived or long-lasting. However it happens, low back pain can make many everyday activities difficult to do. For more information click here: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00311 or here: http://www.depuysynthes.com/patients/aabp/resources/lp