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Back Pain Problems - Do You Fit the Profile of the Back Pain Sufferer?
As the statistics amply demonstrate, back pain can strike any of us: male or female, young or old. The problem can stem from physical injury, disease, emotional duress, poor posture, an inherited congenital flaw, an unhealthy lifestyle, or any combination thereof.
With all these possible causes of back pain and perhaps others that research has not yet discovered, none of us is exempt. For some, however, the odds of joining the statistics are greater than for others.
Age
Back problems can start as early as the twenties, though many patients report their troubles began between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five. The cause, however, tends to vary with age: Herniated disks, for instance, where the "cushions" between the bones of the spine shift position, are more common during the working years, with the age of onset spread relatively evenly from the twenties to the early forties, and gradually declining after that.
As people enter the fifties and sixties, stiffening of the spine due to the normal process of aging limits the motion that leads to much back problems, but degenerative problems such as spinal stenosis - a narrowing of the lower spinal column - become more common. Back pain in the later years is more often of the chronic type, and is less likely to be experienced as an acute attack.
Occupation
Occupations at both ends of the scale - either very physically demanding or very sedentary - tend to increase the risk of back issues. Those working in jobs involving heavy manual labor take significantly more time off work because of back problems.
Those whose professions involve exposure to vibrations, such as jack hammer operators, are also at increased risk for back pain. Caretakers, whether salaried or tending to elderly parents or young children at home, also run an increased risk.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, of the 9 million working women with back pain, about one-third attributed the pain to work-related activities or injuries, with the figure rising to more than one-half among women employed in service or blue-collar occupations.
Sedentary occupations, too, add to the likelihood of back pain and herniated disks. Not only will the lack of physical activity take its toll on muscle condition, or, more accurately, the lack of it, but the very act of remaining seated for hours at a time exerts significant pressure on the back.
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With all these possible causes of back pain and perhaps others that research has not yet discovered, none of us is exempt. For some, however, the odds of joining the statistics are greater than for others.
Age
Back problems can start as early as the twenties, though many patients report their troubles began between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five. The cause, however, tends to vary with age: Herniated disks, for instance, where the "cushions" between the bones of the spine shift position, are more common during the working years, with the age of onset spread relatively evenly from the twenties to the early forties, and gradually declining after that.
As people enter the fifties and sixties, stiffening of the spine due to the normal process of aging limits the motion that leads to much back problems, but degenerative problems such as spinal stenosis - a narrowing of the lower spinal column - become more common. Back pain in the later years is more often of the chronic type, and is less likely to be experienced as an acute attack.
Occupation
Occupations at both ends of the scale - either very physically demanding or very sedentary - tend to increase the risk of back issues. Those working in jobs involving heavy manual labor take significantly more time off work because of back problems.
Those whose professions involve exposure to vibrations, such as jack hammer operators, are also at increased risk for back pain. Caretakers, whether salaried or tending to elderly parents or young children at home, also run an increased risk.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, of the 9 million working women with back pain, about one-third attributed the pain to work-related activities or injuries, with the figure rising to more than one-half among women employed in service or blue-collar occupations.
Sedentary occupations, too, add to the likelihood of back pain and herniated disks. Not only will the lack of physical activity take its toll on muscle condition, or, more accurately, the lack of it, but the very act of remaining seated for hours at a time exerts significant pressure on the back.
