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If you have ever suffered a backache (chances are that you probably have if you are on the wrong side of 30) you’d know that there comes a point when your back just gives up on you. The body proclaims a sentence for ‘having taken it for granted’.

Incidentally, backache is one of the most widespread medical complaints today. And diagnosing it is often impossible. It’s difficult to identify a specific cause in up to 80% of the people with back pain. “The majority of back pain is due to mechanical causes, ie weakness of the muscles or ligaments. There is no test which can diagnose the weakness or strain of muscles or ligaments. Hence in most of the cases of back pain, the cause cannot be identified by tests,” says Dr HS Chhabra, Chief of Spine Service & Medical Director, Indian Spinal Injuries Center, Delhi.

“Most people rightly blame their sedentary lifestyle, but not many know that even work-related stress can lead to backache,” says Dr Harshvardhan Hegde, Consultant and Head of the Department, Orthopedics and Spine Surgery, Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon. It’s not only the mind which suffers from emotional strain, but also the body. Ever observed how a stressed person sits — with his muscles tense, shoulders drooping and with an unmistakable slouch over the desk. Needless to add that it has a direct bearing on the muscles, joints and ligaments. Pain specialists have also begun to account for emotional stresses in their attempt to approach the subject holistically. “Up to 30% of cases of back pain become chronic. In other words it lasts more than three months. For any chronic pain emotional or psychosomatic factors come into play. The stress reduces the threshold to withstand pain and sometimes also becomes the major factor perpetuating the pain,” adds Chhabra.