Does Back Pain Differ in Men and Women?

A recent research study distributed surveys to health care providers who treat back pain.

The purpose of this study was to compare how men and woman perceive and suffer back pain.

Is there a difference?

The study was designed to learn why people get back pain and what they do about the pain as well as looking at if men or women suffer more from back pain.

Because back pain is a common malady impacting many Americans today, it is hoped that this study will help us to understand if there are actually differences in between the back pain experienced by women versus the back pain experienced by men.

It is thought that there are huge differences between the causes of the back pain as well as the cures when it comes to women and men who have back pain. This study was designed in hopes of proving that theory.

It should be no surprise that almost 50% of men say that the cause of the back pain is related to their work while 37% of women report that house work and childcare are the cause of their back pain.

Funny… both causes are related to work. Typically men still do far less of the household activities than women and it is rather rare for a man to go to their health care provider and report a back injury from house work. Yeah, that wouldn’t look too good. It really doesn’t matter the cause of the back injury but it is generally seen that almost 90% of those injured will recover in less than six weeks time.

Another source of back injury for men is sports. The most common sports that cause back injuries in men are golf, basketball, football and weightlifting. No a shock at all but women injured in sports are most commonly related to running. Other sports such as tennis and weightlifting can also cause back pain in women.

Men are more likely to suffer with back pain longer before visiting their physician, while women will seek medical treatment for back pain and injuries much sooner than a man and women will actually follow their healthcare provider’s instructions more accurately than a man. Most physicians believe that those suffering from acute back pain, wait far too long before seeking medical care.

This research study also discovered that 36% of back pain sufferers, regardless of whether male of female, will see their health care providers four or more times in a twelve month period because of back pain. Women are less likely to say that their back pain is severe enough to warrant time off from work while men are much more likely to request time off from work because of back pain.

Yes, it seems the study shows that men and women differ in many ways when it comes to back pain. Know the differences and you will be better able to get back pain relief that you are seeking.