Back pain is now the world’s leading cause of disability.
Worldwide, years lived with disability caused by low back pain have increased by 54% between 1990 and 2015.
Most people with low back pain recover, however reoccurrence is common and for small percentage of people the condition will become chronic and disabling.
Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.
Back pain is the third most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, behind skin disorders and osteoarthritis/joint disorders.
Back pain can affect people of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly.
Back pain affects half the population in a given month and close to 90% of people at some point in their life.
Every year in the UK, more than 2 million people develop chronic or persistent back pain that may never go away.
70% of people with back pain said it impacted their ability to work.
80% of people with back pain said it impacted their home life.
83% of people with back pain said it impacted their ability to take part in leisure activities.
Economic Cost:
In the US, the overall economic cost of back pain has now just reached £2 billion.
Living with persistent back pain is associated with significantly higher rates of job loss, divorce, depression and suicide.
12 million hours of work are lost every year due to back pain in the UK.
Managing back pain costs the UK government more than cancer and diabetes combined. Most of these costs are related to treating people with ongoing pain.
Low-back pain costs Americans at least $50 billion in health care costs each year – add in lost wages and decreased productivity and that figure easily rises to more than $100 billion.
Golf
Based on data collected at TPI from over 31,000 golfers, 28.1% of all players deal with lower back pain after every round.
Altered motor control or joint mechanics in golf leads to 80% of all chronic back problems
According to TPI, over 23% of pro golfers already play with lower back pain.
The prevalence of low back injuries in professional golfers has been estimated to be up to 55%.
Cycling
58% of cyclists have had back pain.
In a study on 116 professional road cyclists, 94% of the cyclists had suffered some kind of overuse injury during that period.
41% of cyclists have had to get medical attention due to back pain.
In a study on 116 professional road cyclists, 94% of the cyclists had suffered some kind of overuse injury during that period.
In another study of 111 Swiss elite cyclists, 51.4% of athletes had severe back pain in competition.
Baseball
Often affecting players new to the game, poor form while pitching and batting can place added pressure on facet joints and other vulnerable parts of the spine.
Back and core injuries may represent as many as 12% of all injuries that result in time out of play from MLB
59.7% of baseball players show signs of disc degeneration
89.5% of the baseball players studied reported having low back pain at some point during their life
Cricket
For fast bowlers, back pain causes 30% of lost game time.
Fast bowlers have an unusually high prevalence of up to 67%, compared with the general population, in which the prevalence is about 6%.
On average, around 9% of cricketers have an injury at any given time, although in fast bowlers over 15% are injured at any given time.
Research has suggested that bowling is by far the most common cause of injuries in cricket (41%).