Back pain a big mass problem Just under 37 million in treatment

Almost every second German citizen is being treated for back problems
Back pain has become a true common disease. The number of people requiring treatment for such complaints has risen sharply in recent years. Last year, almost every second German visited a doctor's office because of musculoskeletal or connective tissue diseases.

Almost 37 million back patients
Almost half of the German population (36.7 million patients) went to a doctor's office last year for musculoskeletal or connective tissue disorders. This emerges from the current infographic "The most common diseases in German medical practices" the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV). 22.1 million of these patients had problems with the spine and the back.

Back pain has become a real folk disease. Almost every second German citizen visited a doctor's office last year because of musculoskeletal or connective tissue diseases. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com)

Strengthen your muscles
Back pain can sometimes also have psychological causes, but health experts say over 80 percent of these conditions are muscular. Experts therefore usually advise to strengthen the back muscles. If symptoms have set in, special back pain exercises or heat therapy can help. Other tips against back pain: avoid overweight or reduce it if necessary and do sports regularly.

Diseases of the respiratory system in second place
In second place of the largest disease groups are diseases of the respiratory system (35.1 million), such as sinusitis. The third most common are endocrine diet and metabolic diseases (29.5 million). This is followed by diseases of the circulatory system (28.5 million) such as high blood pressure and psychological behavioral disorders (25.6 million). These include, for example, anxiety disorders.

Over 550 million cases of treatment
According to KBV, the greatest increase since 2010 in neurotic, stress and somatoform disorders is observed. "This diagnosis increased by 19.6 percent, making it the most common in the mental disorder group. 13.6 million patients were treated for this in 2015, "the experts write in a statement. According to the KBV, doctors and psychotherapists in private practice recorded around 552 million cases of treatment in Germany last year. (Ad)