Some staggering facts about back pain from the American Chiropractic Association…
- Worldwide, back pain is the single leading cause of disability, preventing many people from engaging in work as well as other everyday activities.
- Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work. One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.
- Back pain accounts for more than 264 million lost work days in one year—that’s two work days for every full-time worker in the country.
- Experts estimate that up to 80% of the population will experience back pain at some time in their lives.
- Back pain can affect people of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly.
- Back pain is the third most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, behind skin disorders and osteoarthritis/joint disorders.
- Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.
- Most people with low back pain recover, however reoccurrence is common and for small percentage of people the condition will become chronic and disabling.
- Worldwide, years lived with disability caused by low back pain have increased by 54% between 1990 and 2015.
- Low-back pain costs Americans at least $50 billion in health care costs each year—add in lost wages and decreased productivity and that figure easily rises to more than $100 billion.
It goes without saying, but if you have some sort of back pain, you absolutely need chiropractic!