WHEN DEALING WITH LOWER BACK PAIN, PATIENCE MAY BE THE BEST PRESCRIPTION

SUMMARY
Lower back pain is a problem that affects a rapidly increasing number of Americans. Yet, in spite of medical evidence indicating that most back pain resolves itself within six weeks of diagnosis, a recent study conducted by HealthCore,1 WellPoint’s outcomes research subsidiary, found that more than 35,000 people had unnecessary imaging tests and almost 1,000 underwent inappropriate back surgery within the six weeks following their diagnosis.
BACK PAIN: A PERVASIVE AND COSTLY PROBLEM
According to study findings reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the number of people suffering from back pain is increasing, as are the costs for treating it. In 2005, 15 percent of U.S. adults reported back problems – up from 12 percent in 1997. The same study found that treating back and neck pain can also be a pain in the wallet – Americans spent $85.9 billion on doctor’s visits, x-rays, MRI scans, and medications in an attempt to gain relief from back and neck pain, up 65 percent from the $52.1 billion spent in 1997.2
Back pain is a condition experienced by 9 out of 10 Americans at some point in their life. Lumbar injuries result in approximately 149 million lost work days per year, and the annual productivity losses resulting from those lost work days are estimated to be $28 billion. Back pain is also estimated to make up one-fourth to one-third of total workers’ compensation costs.3