Whether it's caused by sports or work, back pain is something that affects most Americans. Up to 80 percent will experience back pain at some point in their lives.
Back pain is a major health problem in industrialized nations.
In addition to sports injuries, it can be caused by bad posture, standing or sitting in the same position all day, wearing bad shoes, doing repetitive motions from the wrong angle and lifting heavy loads while bending or twisting. The good news is that in many cases, back pain can be prevented. Physical therapists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas say simple stretching exercises can help ease some discomfort. If your job requires you to sit all day, try to find time to get up and stretch every 45 minutes or so. Be careful about how you lift heavy loads.