There are many reasons for back pain. It can be caused by lifestyle, aging, disease or injury. Some types of pain, such as that caused by overexertion, are very common. Approximately 60 percent of industrial injuries are from overexertion. Other types, such as congenital deformities, are very rare.

Understanding the most common problems and diagnoses will help you know what to expect and how to avoid future recurrences of pain. For example, did you know that once a person has had an injury, he or she is four times more likely to have a second one? So if you have already experienced the dreaded "down in your back," it may happen again!

The most frequent causes of back pain will be presented in alphabetical order: arthritis, emotional stress, exertion injuries, lifestyle changes, muscle spasm, obesity, osteoporosis, overload injuries, posture problems, predisposing conditions and traumatic occurrences, including ruptured discs. As a group, these problems cause back and/or neck pain for a large percentage of the population. However, the frequency with which these problems occur does not mean that solutions to them are simple.

It is impossible to determine which problem is most serious. If you are experiencing back pain, it is serious, no matter what its medical cause. If you understand the cause of your pain, you can take all the appropriate measures that will speed healing and keep "down time" to a minimum, including learning how to modify daily activities and do exercises that relate to your specific pain-producing experiences.

Now let me give you some surprising statistics. Seventy percent of all back pain will go away in two to three weeks, no matter what is done. In six weeks, 90 percent of all back pain will disappear, regardless of treatment. And 98 percent of all back pain will disappear in three months if the person and the doctor do absolutely nothing! You may be skeptical of these figures, because statistics can be manipulated to indicate almost anything the writer wants to convey. However these conclusions come from controlled studies done by spine specialists over many years. So the odds are in you favor that your back pain will disappear within two weeks to three months if you do nothing more than tolerate the inconvenience.

That's the good news. The bad news is that with each recurring incident, the chances for a serious problem increase dramatically, and the possibility for additional injuries also increases. How much time can you spend away from your job and your family? How much time are you willing to spend flat on your back at home or in the hospital? Are you prepared to suffer the consequences of back surgery? Probably not. Therefore, it is a good idea to recognize the factors that trigger your back or neck pain and do something about them before pain becomes a serious problem in your life.