HOLISTIC - A pain in the back!

The Australian Chiropractors Association (ACA) has released new national survey data which reveals that 86.7% of Australian women suffered back pain in the past 12 months.

Of those women afflicted 57.5% experienced mental fatigue, 54.8% reported it added to their mental load, and 47.6% experienced a moderate-to-extreme mental health impact as a result of back pain.

The survey also highlighted spinal health issues in the context of family households revealing that back pain extends well beyond individual sufferers affecting 9.7 million

Australian households (89.7%) with respondents reporting that in 5.4% of households a child under 18 is also living with back pain.

ACA Women In Chiropractic Chair Dr Ali Young said, “Although it’s well documented that back pain and mental health conditions are linked and can cause an impaired quality of life, the survey data is unambiguous with women suffering from back pain reporting higher rates of mental exhaustion, sleep disruption, depression and mental load compared to men; and were less likely to have sought diagnosis or professional treatment.

“With 53.7% of women suffering back pain reporting they’ve never sought a formal medical diagnosis, saying the barrier is partly financial; 49.7% of women said the cost of living has prevented them from seeking treatment which was 10.9 percentage points (a relative increase of 28.1%) higher than men (38.8%).

“The survey results should prompt a serious national conversation about how women can improve their spinal health because back pain is not just a musculoskeletal problem; it incorporates mental health, equity and quality-of-life issues that deserve far greater attention," she said.

“With numerous studies finding people living with chronic back pain are at heightened risk of experiencing mental health problems including a study by the International Association for the Study of Pain (2021), the significantly high number of women reporting chronic back pain is concerning,” Dr Young continued.

"Women are managing back pain alongside the mental, physical and financial demands of family life with the data showing the combined load is substantial.”

“With back pain posing a major public health burden impacting millions of women across Australia and long-term chronic back disorders projected to cost the Australian economy an estimated $638 billion in lost productivity over the next decade; greater awareness of the back pain burden women carry, early intervention and improved affordability would make a meaningful difference to the health and wellbeing of

Australian women and their families," Dr Young concluded.

Women are encouraged to access free spinal health resources, practical guides and information for families and schools at spinalhealth.org.au to improve their spinal health and overall wellbeing.