The lower back also supports most of the body's weight. A panel of back specialists convened by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Health Care Policy and Research in 1994 concluded that as many as 80 percent of all Americans will experience acute lower-back pain, but 90 percent of them will recover on their own within a month. The most common causes of back pain are disc-related problems.
Discs are the cushioning materials stacked between the vertebrae, or bones in the spinal column.
Pain also can be caused by the complex of tendons, ligaments and nerves transversing the spinal column. Commonly, acute back pain radiates across the lower back and sometimes down towards the thigh. A more serious problem may be indicated if a patient experiences numbness, tingling sensations, clumsiness or has trouble controlling the bladder or bowels. If the pain is in the buttocks and radiates down to the calf, it may indicate a pinched nerve that requires surgery, said Bolesta. The real key for back pain is not to spend a great deal of time in bed lying around.