Pain in the lower back (lumbar and gluteal region), with irradiation in the leg or not – one of the most common ailments of our time.
According to researchers from the German Institute for Spine Research, degenerative changes of the intervertebral discs are found in 100% of people older than 30 years old.
Moreover, even with the spread of this disease, doctors rarely make the correct diagnosis and clarify the cause of the back pain. Setting the right diagnosis for back pain is the most common medical error in the world.d.h according to other data (Bogduk, 2000, Caspar 2001, Deyo, 2004).
According to the epidemiological survey (Institute for Spine Research at the Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany), in 36% of cases pain located in the cervical section, and in 62% – lumbar part of the spine. Although according to other data (Bogduk, 2000, Caspar 2001, Deyo, 2004), the picture is as follows: back pain 93%, back and leg pain 5%.
As a result of misdiagnosis, physicians prescribe an incorrect tactic of treatment with low or no efficiency.
Typically, the cause of back pain, doctors in most cases, mistakenly, determine:
• Osteochondrosis (in post-Soviet countries)
• Hernia (prolapse) of the intervertebral disc
• Protrusion of the intervertebral disc
In reality, hernia (prolapse) and protrusion of the intervertebral disc lead to back pain in less than 12% of cases. And all known organic pathologies are the causes of pain – in less than 25% of all cases of back pain.
