Low Back Pain Fast Facts Indispensable Guides to Clinical Practice

In 70% of cases, low back pain has no obvious etiology or pathogenesis, so what makes the back hurt? Most back pain is actually muscular or ligamentous in origin, rather than skeletal, and so radiography, including computed tomography (CT), will usually provide no meaningful information, despite the emphasis placed on it by doctors and patients. Ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), however, may show a soft tissue abnormality. Close clinical examination may often reveal the site of the pathology and the opportunity for cure. This book describes the causes and clinical assessment of low back pain, and aims to provide guidance on making appropriate therapeutic choices to gain optimal relief for each individual back pain patient