Waja'al-Zahr (Low back pain): a review with special emphasis to aetiopathology in Unani System of Medicine (USM)

Abstract

Waja‘al-ẓahr (Low back pain) is marked as most costly ailment in the productive years. Low back pain (LBP) has been cited as the 2nd most common reason for which patients visit a physician. It is the major cause of activity restriction and work absence all over world and it causes an enormous financial load on individuals, families, communities, industry and governments. The prevalence of back pain in the adult population varies with age. There are a number of surveys in various countries that revealed a point prevalence of 17–30% with a lifetime prevalence of 60–80%.To combat the low back pain, medical fraternity had tried many treatment modalities; but failed to offer effective treatment, prevention and rehabilitative measures. Unani System of medicine (USM) has an edge on treating the challenging and chronic diseases. Low back pain and its classification are described in detail in classical texts of USM. This review has focussed on description of low back pain in general and aetiopathological description in special. The aim of the article is to reconsider the aetiopathology and management of low back pain.