Back pain treatment

Estimates say a jaw-dropping 80% of adults experience back pain in their lives, while a survey from 2000 suggests that, during any given year, as much as 49% of the UK’s adult population suffers from back pain lasting 24 hours or more. And while it offers little consolation when you’re suffering, the vast majority of back pain goes away on its own!

However, it’s still a miserable thing to endure – and it’s important to get back pain treatment. Here are some back pain facts:

Causes of Back Pain

  • The cause of about 85% of back-pain remains unidentified
  • Prior history, smoking and obesity can all contribute…
  • …as can accumulative physical work!
  • Anyone who frequently bends, twists, lifts, pulls or pushes is at greater risk
  • Also at risk are those who do repetitive work, sit or stand in one place for extended periods, and those exposed to vibrations
  • The list of other contributing factors includes anxiety, depression, lack of job satisfaction and physical / mental stress

Recovery from Back Pain

  • 90% of acute back-pain diminishes in under six weeks
  • Around 7% of sufferers develop chronic back pain
  • Chronic cases account for around 80% of the social and health care costs

Back Pain: The Cost

  • The total annual costs for back pain treatment in private and public healthcare exceed £1.6 billion
  • Back-pain related conditions cost the NHS more than £1 billion a year! This sum includes:
    • £512 million hospital costs
    • Over £150.5 million in physiotherapy
    • £141 million for GP consultations
    • £565 million is spent on back pain treatment in private healthcare every year

Back Pain: Sick Leave

  • How many working days are lost to back pain? Statistics show that, on any day, it causes 1% of the working population to take time off
  • That equates to around 5 million working days!
  • So UK industry foots an annual bill for musculoskeletal disorders – including back pain – that costs between £590 million and £624 million each year
  • Back pain is the UK’s number one reason for long-term sickness in manual jobs…
  • …and – in much of the UK – it’s also the number two reason for long-term sickness

Back Pain Treatment

  • Around 40% of back-pain sufferers go to their GP for back pain treatment
  • 10% of people seek back pain treatment through complementary medicine: acupuncturists, chiropractors and osteopaths, etc.
  • Our Officise video shows some simple stretches that help prevent back pain: http://bit.ly/officise