Back pain not a sign of disease
A new Australian study published by the George Institute of International Health has revealed good news for people with a new bout of back pain.
Contrary to the common fear that back pain could indicate serious diseases such as cancer, research conducted by The George Institute, shows that low back pain is rarely caused by serious disease.
Researchers assessed 1,200 patients to investigate how commonly low back pain is due to an undiagnosed disease or unrecognised fracture. They followed patients who presented to their GP, physiotherapist or chiropractor with a new episode of low back pain for a period of one year.
“Many people worry that their back pain may be an indicator of something more serious. Out of 1,200 patients with low back pain, we found that only 11 cases of back pain were caused by a disease, but these were predominantly vertebral fractures, not serious life-threatening diseases. There were no cases of cancer and no cases of infection,” according to Professor Chris Maher from The George Institute.
