Back pain belongs to into one of the most widespread chronic pains, which, from a diagnostic point of view, presents as a mutlietiological problem. The most common cause is the disturbance in the anatomical structures of the spine, as well as functional changes, where the dominant syndrome presents as pain. Intervertebral disc herniation, with a 1-3% prevalence in developed countries, is the most common reason for a back surgery.
Almost every person experiences back pain - the statistics say that back pain occurs at least once in 80% of the population. There is no difference between the genders, it affects men and women equally, usually at the age of 30-50. However, it is not uncommon for people in their 20’s to get back pain either, due to it being a so-called civilisation disease. A degenerative disease or any pathological changes of the spine due to an accident or surgery are both signals to visit a specialist. An early treatment will bring about a more effective and permanent result, which can lead to a significant time-delay in the recurrence of problems associated with back pain at later stages.
Disc degeneration usually begins around the 30th year of life in the area of the cervical spine and slowly makes its way down the other parts of the spine At the age of 60, degenerative changes are present in every person. Sources indicate, that 56% of the adult population suffer from disc herniation. The human spine has altogether 23 discs and the most common place for a herniation to occur is at the L4/L5 and L5/S1 levels.
