From back pain to joint pain to muscle pain, chronic pain is far from uncommon both here in the United States and all throughout the world as a whole. As a matter of fact, it has been estimated that as many as one and a half billion people are dealing with some level of chronic pain, and these people can be found in many parts of the world. In the United States alone, the number of people suffering from chronic pain is quite high as well.
When it comes to chronic pain, back pain is a common form of it, especially here in the United States. In fact, up to 80% of the total population here in the United States – more than three quarters of all the people living here – will deal with back pain at some point in their lives. In addition to this, about half of the working population of the United States reports dealing with some level of back pain on a yearly basis as well. For some people, this back pain will be relatively short lived. For others, however, the back pain will become chronic and difficult to deal with on a day to day basis, even debilitating.
Lower back pain is particularly commonplace, and this lower back pain is often influenced by lifestyle choices. In fact, there are more than 30 million people suffering from lower back pain at any given time, and that’s just here in the United States alone, let alone elsewhere in the world as a whole. Lower back pain can be genetic or come with age, but it can also be caused by improperly sitting for long periods of time, as many people unfortunately do when they are working. With more and more people sitting hunched over computers for entire work days, it should really come as no real surprise that the rates of back pain in the United States have gone up quite considerably.
Of course, injury can cause back problems as well. From car accidents to simply lifting something too heavy to sports injuries, back pain and back injury can result from any number of different places. For all too many people, the pain that results from these back injuries can be long lasting, lingering far past the time that the injury has actually healed. In some cases, this pain can even become all too easily debilitating.
Fortunately, there are a number of ways that chronic pain and especially chronic back pain are able to be addressed. First of all, getting up and moving more frequently can work wonders on back pain, especially as muscles are strengthened over time and are then better able to support the back, thus lessening the levels of pain that are ultimately felt. Yoga is a great way to do this, and more than 36 million people participate, at least to some extent, in yoga here in the United States.
Of course, some cases of back pain will be much more severe and these sufferers are likely to benefit quite significantly from seeing a chiropractor. Chiropractors can be hugely helpful in helping people who are dealing with back pain disorders, even just for simply relieving the pain. In some cases where dislocations are present in a patient, chiropractors can help a patient avoid heavy medication or the expenses of an emergency room visit. In fact, up to 80% of all people in the United States very strongly feel that chiropractic care can be hugely helpful for back and neck pain alike.
Seeing a spinal disorder expert can also be ideal for those who are suffering from back pain, especially when it comes to discovering the root cause of the pain in question. Spinal disorder treatment can be more specific and intensive (as well as extensive) than simply treating chronic pain caused by a lifestyle choice (such as sitting for much of the day). Therefore, it is likely to be a good idea to consult with a spinal disorder expert if you can’t get to the root of your back pain.