Why Back and Neck Pain Is The Modern World's Biggest Problem

619 million people are living with low back pain right now. Add neck pain and you're closer to 800 million. Low back pain has been the world's number one cause of disability since 1990, and the number of people affected is still climbing. In Episode 1 of The Back & Neck Pain Epidemic, physiotherapist Stuart Cox (Master of Public Health) breaks down the scale of the problem and why it keeps growing: we stopped moving, got heavier, sicker and more stressed, and the systems built to help have often made things worse. If you're watching this with a sore back or neck, you're not unlucky. You're in the majority. CHAPTERS 0:00 More popular than Taylor Swift 0:45 Who I am and what this series covers 1:15 The numbers 3:00 Why it's growing 5:30 Who's at highest risk 7:30 Coming up in Episode 2 THE SERIES EP1 - The Scale (you are here) EP2 - The System EP3 - The Money FREE TOOL SpinalRisk - check whether a scan or surgery is likely to be appropriate for you: https://spinalrisk.com SpinalRisk is an educational screening tool. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace individual clinical assessment. COURSES Evidence-based neck and back pain courses: https://courses.movementfirst.org/p/home General information only, not individual medical advice. New, severe or worsening symptoms? See a registered health practitioner. REFERENCES ABC News. (2018, March 22). Back pain is being 'mismanaged' with ineffective and harmful treatments, experts warn. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-2... Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024. AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burde... Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Chronic musculoskeletal conditions: Back problems. AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chron... Chang, F., Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Ge, Y., Wang, Z., et al. (2025). Low back pain among the working-age population: From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 26, 441. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-025-08... Dieleman, J. L., Cao, J., Chapin, A., et al. (2020). US health care spending by payer and health condition, 1996-2016. JAMA, 323(9), 863-884. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.0734 GBD 2021 Low Back Pain Collaborators. (2023). Global, regional, and national burden of low back pain, 1990-2020, its attributable risk factors, and projections to 2050. The Lancet Rheumatology, 5(6), e316-e329. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(23... GBD 2021 Neck Pain Collaborators. (2024). Global, regional, and national burden of neck pain, 1990-2020, and projections to 2050. The Lancet Rheumatology, 6(3), e142-e155. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(23... Hannibal, K. E., & Bishop, M. D. (2014). Chronic stress, cortisol dysfunction, and pain. Physical Therapy, 94(12), 1816-1825. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20130597 Hoy, D., March, L., Woolf, A., et al. (2014). The global burden of neck pain: Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 73(7), 1309-1315. https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2... Hush, J. M., Michaleff, Z., Maher, C. G., & Refshauge, K. (2009). Individual, physical and psychological risk factors for neck pain in Australian office workers: A 1-year longitudinal study. European Spine Journal, 18(10), 1532-1540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-009-10... Itz, C. J., Geurts, J. W., van Kleef, M., & Nelemans, P. (2013). Clinical course of non-specific low back pain. European Journal of Pain, 17(1), 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1532-2149.2... Pinheiro, M. B., Ferreira, M. L., Refshauge, K., et al. (2015). Symptoms of depression and risk of new episodes of low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Arthritis Care & Research, 67(11), 1591-1603. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.22619 Pozzobon, D., Ferreira, P. H., Dario, A. B., et al. (2019). Is there an association between diabetes and neck pain or lower back pain? A systematic review with meta-analyses. PLoS ONE, 14(2), e0212030. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... Shiri, R., Karppinen, J., Leino-Arjas, P., Solovieva, S., & Viikari-Juntura, E. (2010). The association between obesity and low back pain: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 171(2), 135-154. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwp356 Shiri, R., Karppinen, J., Leino-Arjas, P., Solovieva, S., & Viikari-Juntura, E. (2010). The association between smoking and low back pain: A meta-analysis. The American Journal of Medicine, 123(1), 87.e7-87.e35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2009... Shmagel, A., Foley, R., & Ibrahim, H. (2016). Epidemiology of chronic low back pain in US adults. Arthritis Care & Research, 68(11), 1688-1694. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.22890 #backpain #neckpain #physio Background skeleton image in thumb : Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash