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Your sore back is a nuisance, or worse. It may prevent you from doing what you need to do — for example, work — or what you want to do, such as enjoyable pastimes. You may have reached the point of wondering: "Will I be able to keep my mind off the nagging pain today? Will my back pain ever go away? When can I get better and become more active again?" If you're like millions of other Americans who deal with chronic nonspecific back pain, you're more than familiar with these questions.

Chronic nonspecific back pain is different from the occasional sore back you might have for a day or two after too much gardening or painting the ceiling. Unlike instances of acute back pain, chronic nonspecific back pain is:

• Long lasting. To be termed chronic, back pain usually has been present for three months at a time
• Recurring. Even after resolution of one long episode of back pain, pain tends to return. However, the recurrence is highly variable among people and unpredictable.

Chronic nonspecific back pain is the kind of back pain that, by definition, is "nonspecific." In other words, in most cases the cause is unknown or difficult to pin down. If this kind of back pain describes your pain, then this decision guide is for you. If you need information about back pain that's associated with a herniated disk, especially back pain that involves radiating leg pain or leg muscle weakness, see this guide's "Related links" section for a link to another guide dedicated to that topic.

Think of you and your doctor as partners in managing and treating your chronic back pain. You'll want to carefully consider all your options and the risks and benefits of each in relation to your lifestyle and what's important to you. The information in this decision guide is intended to help you understand the various treatment options, from more conservative to more invasive techniques, and help you decide which treatment — or combination of treatments — is best for you.

You'll read about people who made different treatment choices, and watch a Mayo Clinic specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation answer frequently asked questions about back pain. This guide also frames key questions to help you in this important decision-making process.

Take about an hour to go through this information in sequence by following the links at the right or at the bottom of each page. This provides proper context and helps you understand more about chronic back pain, your treatment options, why other people made the choices they did, and the pros and cons to consider in making your decision.

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About chronic nonspecific back pain

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