It has long been thought that chronic low back pain worsens with age. A study published in the European Journal of Pain¹, however, is shedding a new light on that myth. It seems that chronic low back pain remains fairly constant across all adult age groups. The three groups tested were young adults (17-44 years of age) , middle-age adults (45-65) and older adults (65+ years of age). After examination and reporting, 14,479 people were tracked for one year. The results were surprising, as the older adults actually reported having less intense back pain than did the other two groups. The seniors did have slightly more leg pain and depression reports, but those differences were noted as small. The changes in pain intensity and disability did not change across age groups.

This study implies that chronic back pain is consistent across all age groups. For this reason, successful treatment of back pain, and who gets that care, should not be determined by age.

1. Manogharan S, Kongsted A, Ferreira ML, Hancock Mj. 2017. Eur J Pain. May;21(5):866-873.