WHAT ARE LOW BACK PAIN AND SCIATICA?
Most people will have at least one backache during their lives, and many will live with recurrent or prolonged back problems. While discomfort can affect any area of the back, pain most often afflicts the lower part, which supports most of the body’s weight. Indeed, low back pain is among the most common reasons why Americans visit the doctor, and it is a leading cause of work-related disability. In many backaches that cause significant disability, the pain or numbness radiates down the leg or into the foot, a condition known as sciatica. The Spine The back is highly complex, and pain may result from damage or injury to any of various bones, nerves, muscles, ligaments, and other structures. Still, despite sophisticated techniques that provide detailed anatomical images of the spine and other tissues, the cause of most cases of back pain remain elusive. Vertebrae. The spine is a column of small bones, or vertebrae, that support the entire upper body. The column is grouped into three sec
