In the United States, back pain is one of the most most common neurological ailment, second only to headaches.

The nice part about lower back pain is that it will usually disappear in a few days. After you have a minor fall or some other injury that can cause you to have a muscle pull or a ligament strain, it is very common to have some lower back pain.

Sometimes you can find pain relief with the use of anti inflammatory medicines like, ibuprofen. The next best thing to do for the pain is rest and ice. This should improve the pain and give relief over the next 5 to 7 days. Believe it or not, back pain just doesn't happen to adults. There are studies that have shown that 10 to 40% of middle and high school students do experience some form of lower back pain.

Muscle fatigue and low back pain can often be very debilitating, insidious with its gradual onset or even arbitrary when a sudden occurrence happens and there is no obvious precipitating event. The back is a very complex anatomical structure so it is difficult to diagnose. The back is made up of bone, ligaments, muscle, tendons and a major network of neurological components.

All countries have back pain problems and there is much knowledge about the subject. Even with the medical advances we have on the subject we do not know the many causes of back pain. In fact a lot of times back pain is caused by other body parts not functioning as they should. Fatigue in the muscles or low back pain are not a diagnosis but just a symptom. More than 80% of all Americans suffer from some type of back pain at some time in their lives. Back pain is one of the leading causes of disability for younger people under 45 years old.

Back pain is very common and can be classified into three different categories, based on the length of the symptoms:

Acute - Back pain that last for six weeks or less. Subacute - Back pain that will last for six or twelve weeks in duration. Chronic - Back pain that remains for twelve weeks or more.

Common causes for back pain are:

Nerve impingement problems (pinched nerve) herniated disc problems (slipped disc or ruptured disc) spinal degeneration osteoarthritis muscular problems sciatic back pain

To provide detail of the discs in your back, in cases of degenerative disc disease, isthmic spondylolisthesis, herniated discs or spinal stenosis, MRI scans are very useful and are helpful in ruling out tumors or spinal infections. MRI scans have become the most prevalent test to check the lumbar spine. These MRI scans don't require needles and are painless. MRI scans are usually taken after x-rays have been taken.

Back spasms are often treated with medications known as muscle relaxants. You should not take these types of drugs for long periods of time because they often are known to cloud the mind. The drugs are also known to be controversial because they are known to have side effects such as: dependency to the drugs and they can make you sedated.

Relaxing the muscles in the back is the best treatment for back spasms. Many ways to relax the back muscles are by gentle stretching, massaging the area, using heat and using a tens unit. Back pain can remain as long as there is some type of imbalance with the muscles usually caused by a muscle strain or pull.