Low Back Pain prevalence in the UK

Low back pain prevalence in the UK: If you have low back pain, you are not alone.

Between 2018 and 2019 alone, 498,000 UK workers were reported to suffer from workplace related musculoskeletal disorders. Out of this number, 20% (200,000), suffered from low back pain.

Low back pain prevalence

Low back pain is a common disorder, with nearly every UK worker affected by it at some point in time.

In 2018, the Lancet published three papers relating to low back pain. According to Martin Underwood, co-author of the Lancet series of research papers, almost everyone experiences back pain at some point in their lives.

Low back pain affects people of all ages. However, statistically It tends to affect middle aged people and women more than men.

The effect of low back pain on our health and economy

With 540 million people affected worldwide –the UK alone has witnessed a 12% increase in the likelihood of a person experiencing disability as a direct result of low back pain.

According to data released by the Office for National Statistics, nearly 31M work days were lost in the UK in 2016 as a direct result of musculoskeletal problems, which included low back pain. The cost of this is estimated to be at £12.3B each year with individuals spending an estimated £1.6B on treatment.

Surgery is not always the answer for low back pain

The majority of UK spinal surgeons tend to avoid surgery for nonspecific low back pain. The risks are just too high. Instead, most GPs look to safer activities, exercise and manual therapies, such as Chiropractic first before medicating or considering surgery. Indeed, Chiropractic is considered as effective for helping with low back pain.

Prevention sometimes better than cure for low back pain

That said, the lancet reports gave notice of some additional risk factors that you can address if you are concerned about your risk for low back pain. Certainly “People with physically demanding jobs, physical and mental comorbidities, smokers, and obese individuals are at greatest risk of reporting low back pain“. Thus it does make sense to do all you can to focus on all aspects of biopsychosocial health to reduce your likelihood of low back pain. You can do a lot worse than our simple back stretches and exercises or booking in to see us for our initial consultation if you are suffering right now.