Back pain in young people – parents play important part in treatment choice

The common complaint of back pain also affects young people

Pain associated with the spine is one of the most widespread and expensive illnesses of our time. It is the most common cause of absence from work for men, and the second most common cause for women. For both men and women, it is the most common grounds for early retirement or invalidity. It has been estimated that over 80 percent of the adult population reports low back pain at some time in life, and for children the lifetime prevalence increases with age, reaching 70 percent in late adolescence.

A Spanish study has now demonstrated that adolescents with low back pain have a very different situation from that of middle aged or senior citizens. “That leads us to think that young people should be offered different therapies” says Dr. Garcia-Fontecha: "We compared 76 teenage patients with an average age of 14.1 firstly with healthy teenagers, and then with others who suffered back pain but who had not yet sought medical advice for it. What surprised us was the quality of life of the teenage patients as measured by the so-called KIDSCREEN health parameters: in nine out of ten aspects of life as analysed by KIDSCREEN, the quality of life of teenage patients, despite their back pain, was actually higher than that of school pupils who were not in pain. Only in the area, ‘physical health’ they did score worse than their peers from the general population.”

This contradiction could be related to the fact that school age patients generally don't seek medical advice on their own initiative, but at the behest of their parents; those who sought treatment may have had parents who paid more attention to them, and who took their remarks about pain seriously.   “This is supported by the fact that the teenagers who were treated – which is also a result of our study - had a greater sense of well-being and significantly better relationships to parents and friends than those who were not treated, with or without back pain“,  says Dr. Garcia-Fontecha.

London Spine Experts

The suggestion is that teenagers with back pain need a quite different treatment regime than that of adults. In these circumstances, it is important to seek advice from experts with specific experience in treating children and teenagers, such as Mr Khai Lam at Guy’s & St Thomas’ teaching hospital.