A healthy spine is S-shaped when viewed from the side, curving back at the shoulders and inward at the neck and small of the back. Spine houses the spinal cord-the intricate sensory network that runs through the vertebrae to transmit feeling and control movement throughout the entire body. The main reason we suffer from back problems is that we are increasingly becoming sedentary creatures. The upright posture is designed for walking. Today, a high proportion of people spend the better part of their working day sitting at desks, at work stations, or in cars and trucks.
Women are very vulnerable to back pain.
Childbearing and child rearing put a heavy load on women's backs. During the last two trimesters of pregnancy, the fetus can shift the center of gravity of women's back. This alters the curve of their spine, resulting in back pain. Soon after pregnancy and when children are toddlers, women experience back pain from bending and lifting. Women have two-thirds the muscle mass as compared to men of same size.