Research needed to end back woes

DESPITE the fact about two million Australians experience chronic back pain, it is a little understood and under-researched affliction, according to internationally-renowned pain specialist Professor Nik Bogduk.

Professor Bogduk told the Spine 09 conference, hosted by the new Lismore Private Hospital over the weekend, he and his team of researchers had worked to identify the causes of between 60 and 80 per cent of back pain patients.

But many sufferers were misdiagnosed and treated inappropriately because back pain had not attracted the scientific attention it deserved, the University of Newcastle Professor of Pain Medicine said.

“For something that is so common there’s been very little intellectual industry,” Professor Bogduk said.

Acute back pain often hits people in their 30s, largely as a result of wear and tear, causing a degrading of the spinal discs known as ‘fatigue failure’.

“Over time the discs degrade. It’s like driving around on a flat tyre and not noticing it,” Professor Bogduk said.

 “Your car would be hurting if you kept doing that.”

Back pain can also commonly stem from joints and from within the pelvis.

But most patients can recover with the help of correct diagnosis, stretching, exercise and time, Professor Bogduk said.

The Spine 09 conference, held at Invercauld House on Saturday, is the first in a series of conferences to be hosted by the Lismore Private Hospital in an attempt to make Lismore a regional hub for medical research and practice.

The next conference, focusing on Parkinson’s disease and stroke, will be held later this year.