Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

talking to you about back pain and sciatica. And you can find written notes on this topic at

zero definals.com slash back pain or in the orthopedic section of the zero definals surgery book.

So let's get straight into it.

Lower back pain is very common and it has many causes.

Lombago is another term for lower back pain.

Non-specific or mechanical lower back pain refers to the majority of patients who do not

have a specific disease that's causing the lower back pain. Sciatica refers to the symptoms

associated with irritation of the sciatic nerve. Acute lower back pain should improve

within one to two weeks. Recovery can take longer for

sciatica lasting four to six weeks. Chronic lower back pain can have a massive impact on a patient's

quality of life and can be difficult to manage. There are several challenges when managing patients with lower back pain.

This includes identifying any serious underlying pathology that may be there,

speeding up recovery, reducing the risk of chronic lower back pain, and managing the symptoms

if the patient develops chronic lower back pain.

Let's talk about the causes of mechanical back pain.

The causes of mechanical back pain include muscle or ligament sprains,

facet joint dysfunction affecting the facet joints on the vertebra,

sacro-eeliac joint dysfunction, a herniated disc, spondylolisthesis,

which is anterior displacement of a vertebra out of line with the vertebra below,

scoliosis, which refers to a curved spine, and degenerative changes meaning arthritis, affecting the discs and the facet joints.

Let's talk about the causes of neck pain. The causes of neck pain include muscle or ligament

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