A staggering 52 million working days are lost due to back pain in the UK each year.
Back pain is a symptom that affects almost all of us at some time. Around one in five adults will report back pain in middle age and 5% of us will consult a GP with symptoms over the course of a year.
So is this inevitable - a consequence of older age?
On Tuesday (December 4),in the final of this series of the University of Aberdeen's Inaugural Lectures, Professor Gary Macfarlane will review what we have learnt about the causes of back pain and other chronic pain symptoms. Chronic pain is a pain that lasts longer than three months.
In his talk Chronic Pain – is it all in the brain? Exploring causes and management, the Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Aberdeen's Department of Public Health, will outline some recent studies conducted into back pain.
And he will also review how successful we are at treating back pain within primary care and how current research is seeking to improve the outcomes for patients.
Professor Macfarlane, who is an expert in population studies of chronic pain, said: "I've chosen back pain as the main example in my talk as it is the most common type of chronic pain.
"I hope my lecture will enable people to understand more about the causes of back pain and also get an understanding of the different methods of managing back pain. This includes what they can do themselves.
"Patients are just as important as the medical profession when it comes to obtaining a good outcome for managing back pain."
Professor Phil Hannaford, Grampian Health Board Chair of Primary Care and Director of Research at the University of Aberdeen, will chair Tuesday's lecture which is open to the public, begins at 6pm, and takes place at the Auditorium within the University's Medical School at Foresterhill.
A few seats for the lecture are still available - to book your free place please email href="mailto:events@abdn.ac.uk">events@abdn.ac.uk</a> or ring 01224 273874.
For more details about the inaugural lecture see: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/inaugurallectures/