Back pain and spine problems can have many causes. Not all back pain is due to disorders of the spine.
Back pain can also be the result of trouble with the organs of the abdomen or chest.
Tumors of the internal organs, as well as a number of other medical problems, can lead to a slow, progressive deep back pain that can sometimes be hard for a doctor to separate from spine problems. The most common cause of back pain, however, seems to come from the muscles and many joints that are involved in the support and motion of the trunk of the body. About 3 percent of all spine operations are performed on teenagers. Various potentially painful conditions related to the spine become progressively more common with advancing age. Degenerative and inflammatory arthritis affecting the joints of the spine increases with advancing age.