ABSTRACT
Back problems affect 80% of all people at some time in their life. There is no specific category of subjects who suffer back pain more frequently than others-labourers are affected as often as clerks, men as often as women. Important contributory factors are hard physical work, lifting, static working postures, and vibration. In spite of the fact that the heaviest industrial tasks are now carried out by machines, the number of people seeking advice for back pain does not seem to have decreased. Of all sufferers, 70% return to work within a week and 90% within 3 months, regardless of the treatment they receive.
