Book details

Back pain is the largest single cause of sickness absence in the UK, and eighty percent of Britons will suffer from it at some point in their lives. One in every six working days lost due to ill-health is due to back pain Â- that's 4. 5 million days off work a year, causing employers to lose up to £335 million a year. But the true losers are those incapacitated by this condition. The back is a complex structure, made up of 24 small bones, discs, ligaments, tendons, spinal cord, nerves, and muscles. So it's not surprising that a great deal can and does go wrong. Back pain in 19 out of 20 people is linked to the way the bones, ligaments and muscles of the back work together (simple back pain). Causes can include poor posture, standing or bending down for long periods, sitting in a chair that doesn't provide enough back support, lifting loads that are too heavy, or a fall. This book looks at the options for back pain, from self-help to medical, with an emphasis on the fact that conventional medicine isn't always the answer.