Specific and Non-specific Back Pain
Learn more about common pain conditions, their development, and pain mechanisms.
The term “back pain” includes all pain conditions in the back area, regardless of the cause. In 10-15% of cases, these are clearly defined medical conditions, known as specific back pain, which have a recognizable cause and a precise diagnosis, such as herniated discs, vertebral joint arthritis, scoliosis (curvature of the spine), or systemic diseases (e.g., ankylosing spondylitis or osteoporosis). Often, however, an exact assignment to a defined medical condition is not possible. This “non-specific symptom presentation” occurs in 85-90% of cases. Non-specific back or lower back pain is thus much more common. Recent surveys even suggest a prevalence of over 90%. These are usually presumed to be mechanical issues, such as movement and posture problems, or less serious muscular causes. However, psychosocial problems can also be behind them.
The classification into non-specific and specific back pain can also have a misleading or evaluative component, which is incorrect. The classification serves as a working hypothesis for professionals to assess diagnostic and/or therapeutic measures and should not be used in an evaluative sense.
