Low Back Pain

More commonly called back pain; describes the symptomatology related to the lower part of the spine, affects a very high percentage of adults (40-80%) and is often underestimated. Low back pain involves the muscles, bones and cartilage of the back and can be classified into acute or chronic, depending on the duration of symptoms and their intensity. Moreover, in most cases, low back pain can be classified into two sub-categories, depending on whether the pain is of mechanical origin (over 85%); less than 15% is of non-mechanical origin. Low back pain of mechanical origin generally affects young people (20 to 55 years old), in good health, who however, because of the pain, have difficulty making movements or maintaining the positions necessary for the normal daily activities. The most frequent cause is related to the various stages of degeneration of the intervertebral disc, which acts as a cartilage shock absorber located between the vertebrae. Usually, the backache of mechanical origin comes and goes throughout the day and does not allow the person to bend or sit for a more or less prolonged time without experiencing pain, which is however absent during other activities.