there are certain ailments that are not universal and some that invariably strike irrespective of whether it is a man or a woman, working, self-employed or even a housewife. Back pain is one such complaint that is increasingly topping the list of serious urban health problems. There is enough epidemiological data to show that as many as 85 per cent of all adults have back pain at some point of time in their life. Health experts estimate that at any given time, about 30 per cent of the patients visiting doctors complain of backache.

In the us, back pain is the most common cause of activity limitation among productive people (below the age of 45), and ranks as the second-most common reasons for visits to the physician, the fifth-ranking cause of admission to hospitals and third common cause of surgical procedures. The estimated health costs are also staggering: a hefty us $30 to us $70 billion per year. In the uk and rest of Europe, besides being the single-largest cause of absence from work, bad back is the reason given for about 15 per cent of all sick leaves.

Not surprisingly, back pain is receiving serious attention