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Back Pain Back Pain Basics

What's Bothering Your Aching Back

Summary & Participants

Most of us will experience lower back pain at some point in our life. Our age may be a clue to what's causing it.

Medically Reviewed On: August 06, 2008

Webcast Transcript

Physical Therapist: That's your core. It's the one that lifts your pelvis up in the air.

ANNOUNCER: Ed is hoping these exercises put an end to years of with lower back pain.

Ed, Has Low Back Pain: Sitting was always uncomfortable and working in finance where I sit a lot in front of a computer, being uncomfortable sitting makes it hard to concentrate at times.

ANNOUNCER: Back specialist Dr. Neal Mesnick says many of his patients are like Ed.

Neal Mesnick, MD, Physiatrist: Most of the patients I’m seeing are between 25 and 35. They're active but not as active as they were before. They're out of college and graduate school and now, having more sedentary desk jobs and they become a little bit more deconditioned, maybe there's some weight gain.

ANNOUNCER: While muscle strains are the most common cause, herniated discs are another big culprit - especially for people like Ed.

Neal Mesnick, MD, Physiatrist: Typically, younger people, 20s and 30s, will get a disk herniation. A disk is like a grape; it'll be plump and juicy when you're young and dry up into a raisin as you get older. So older people might have more spinal stenosis and arthritis.

ANNOUNCER: The good news is that most people with lower back pain will get better on their own. But there are symptoms that need medical attention.

Neal Mesnick, MD, Physiatrist: If there's weakness, if there's bowel and bladder changes, there might be a disk herniation or a tumor pressing on a spinal cord or nerves. Usually we want to see you if you're having difficulty walking, if there's numbness or tingling, if the pain is intractable and not relieved by over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications.

ANNOUNCER: For those with persistent pain, Ed has this advice.

Ed, Has Low Back Pain: See somebody early in the process. Don't wait three years like I did.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today's Once Daily.