Monthly Archives: May 2014

If you have back pain as you are reading this you are certainly not alone. In fact, four out of every five adults in the UK will experience back pain at some point during their life. If you are aged between 35 years and 55 years you are especially likely to be affected. Persistent back pain (lasting more than 3 months) has a significant impact on the sufferer’s quality of life; affecting social and family relationships. So what exactly is back pain and is there anything that can be done to prevent it? To answer these questions we have to examine both the nature of pain and the way that our backs work. This allows us to investigate some of the potential causes of back pain and, perhaps more importantly, the ways to prevent it.

The perception of pain

The highly respected International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as follows, ‘An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage’

So, the perception of pain is not as simple as knowing that something is hurting you! Certainly, pain is a physical response to tissue damage (e.g. cutting your finger) however chronic pain, in particular, is strongly influenced by emotions. Individuals who have a more positive attitude towards pain and a clear understanding of their pain’s origins tend to cope better than individuals who do not.

The mechanics of the human spine

The human spine is an amazing structure that has to fulfil many functions all at once. It has to be strong enough to provide postural support to all other parts of the body yet flexible enough to allow movement in many different directions. It is able to achieve this because of its structure (anatomy) and the way that it works (physiology).

In terms of structure, the spine is made up of 33 small bones (vertebrae) which are separated by pads of a soft jelly surrounded by a fibrous coating (discs). Discs act as shock absorbers in between the vertebrae. The spine is described