Nearly three out of four people will some day suffer from backache. In France, lumbago (lower-back pain) is the second most frequently cited reason for consulting a general practitioner. During the past 20 years, the number of reported backaches has increased sevenfold. Also known as “the illness of the century”, backaches concern people of all ages — children, teenagers, adults and senior citizens — and when they become chronic or recurring they seriously handicap sufferers’ professional and personal lives. This book is a thorough guide to current medical knowledge about the causes of backaches, how to prevent them and how to treat them. For years, doctors have been prescribing massages, medication and rest. But the authors recommend a new approach: exercise instead of rest, “schools” to teach people how to deal with back problems, and, particularly, the use of other disciplines to understand back problems. The six parts of the book deal with the following issues:
Part 1: Your backache
Part 2: How to treat backaches today
Part 3: Why you get backaches
Part 4: Your back in daily life
Part 5: Why are backaches so difficult to heal?
Part 6: Some answers from a holistic point of view
In addition, there are practical appendices containing the following: information on related French labour laws, statistics, associations, useful addresses, a glossary, an index. More than 60 illustrations demonstrate good posture.

Bernard Duplan, a rheumatologist, heads a department at the rheumatology hospital in Aix-les-Bains.

Marc Marty is a rheumatologist at the Hospital Henri Mondor, in Creteil, near Paris. They are both members of the French Society of Rheumatology.