Types of Back Pain| PatientsEngage

Back Pain

Over 600 million worldwide suffered from back pain in 2020, 10% of the global population. This number is expected to grow to over 800 million by 2050 according to a Lancet report. Back pain is also a significant contributor to societal and economic burden and a growing issue in Asia and Africa. Let us understand it better and work towards preventing this condition.

Submitted by PatientsEngage on 24 March 2025

Back Pain is also classified and analysed according to location or site of the pain and the character and duration of the pain. Location means the part of the back - upper, middle, or lower back.

According to the location/ site of the pain:

Upper back: Neck pain may be due to muscle spasm, disc issues, poor posture or tension headaches.

Mid back: Due to strained muscle, costochondritis (inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the breastbone in the centre), thoracic spine causes like infections, inflammation, degeneration, injury etc.

Lower back: Most commonly involved. The commonest cause is poor posture, ligament strain, muscle strain, hernia or prolapse of the disc, lifting heavy weights etc.

According to the duration/character of the pain:

Acute: Sudden onset pain that lasts only for a few days.
Subacute: May start suddenly or develop over a period of time and lasts for 4- 12 weeks.
Chronic: Backpain that lasts more than 3 months and is present almost every day.
Referred: It is the backpain that originates from some other body part/organ but gets radiated to the back, eg. issues related to the gall bladder, kidney stones, urinary tract infections etc.

https://www.physiotutors.com/wiki/lumbar-referred-pain/ 

Changed

16/Aug/2025

Condition

Back Pain

Stories

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