Back pain More and more therapies for back problems

More and more Germans have their backs: over 60 million absentee days
Back pain has become a true folk disease. Cause of the complaints are often a bad posture and too little exercise. The number of people requiring treatment for back problems has risen sharply in recent years. Among other things, this resulted in about 60 million days lost. Avoid back pain as much as possible
Although low back pain may have psychological causes in some cases, health experts say more than 80 percent of those with back problems are muscular. Experts therefore usually advise exercises to avoid back pain. Once symptoms have resolved, sometimes special back pain exercises or heat therapy can help. In many cases, however, sufferers need medical help. Ahead of the Day of Back Health on 15 March, experts said that such conditions lead to more and more treatments and absenteeism.

Strong back pain: More and more Germans suffer from low back pain. Picture: glisic_albina - fotolia

More than 60 million absentee days due to back problems
For example, the Bavarian State Statistics Office reported that the number of people who have been undergoing inpatient treatment in the Free State for back problems in recent years has risen sharply. And the health insurance company Barmer GEK announced that Thuringian workers increasingly fail due to back problems. The Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) published on the occasion of the Day of the Back Health first preliminary data from its annual health report. As can be seen from a press release from the health insurance fund, the current evaluation shows that back problems also caused high absences in the past year. Accordingly, of the 15.4 days, the average TK-insured persons in 2015 sick leave, accounted for almost ten percent (1.4 days) alone on back problems. Extrapolated to the over 43 million economically active persons in the Federal Republic this results in more than 60 million absentee days.

Third place of causes for sick leave
Gudrun Ahlers, who is responsible for health reporting at the TK, said: "For a medium-sized company with 150 employees, that means 210 days of production downtime per year. In other words: The company is the only cause of damage to the amount of annual salary due to back problems. "According to the TK, the main nonsense diagnosis of back problems is the very nonspecific diagnosis of" back pain ", which alone accounts for half of the complaints. Back pain in 2015 was ranked number three in the main causes of sick leave, behind respiratory infections and depressive episodes. On average, women were on sick leave longer than men.

Some professional sectors are more affected
A previous study of the health insurance, the TK-Back Atlas, shows that there are clear differences between the industries. "Above all, activities in the construction industry, professional drivers, caregivers and cleaners are associated with above-average back problems," said the TK expert. According to the TK, there are also marked regional differences: whereas the Baden-Württemberg residents have the least back problems per capita with 1.1 back-related days lost, the average workforce in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is hit hardest with just under two days. For prevention, the TK recommends regular moderate exercise. "Because as well as unhealthy physical stress and lack of exercise is a trigger for back problems," said Ahlers.

Good medical care for patients
In addition to the commitment to back health in occupational health management, it is of great importance that patients receive medical care in order to avoid lengthy and painful sick leave. That's why TK boss Dr. Jens Baas advocates more quality in medical care, but rejects long-term rigid treatment programs: "In the case of back pain, the diagnosis is unspecific and the causes are manifold. They affect very many people in very different forms. That's why we need targeted offerings that are tailored to the individual patient, "says Baas.