Idiopathic Back Pain

Back Pain

Idiopathic means of unknown cause and often of spontaneous origin. Idiopathic back pain is back pain that doctors cannot explain because there is not obvious structural cause of the pain like a herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, or stenosis. Idiopathic back pain is the “diagnosis” given by doctors to patients that have chronic (over 6 months) back pain and they have been unable to figure out why.

Idiopathic is used to define other problems in the body also. Idiopathic scoliosis, which accounts for 80% of all scoliosis cases, is the name given to scoliosis that wasn’t caused by a birth defect, neurological condition such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy, or an injury. But something caused the scoliosis to form, it’s just that doctors haven’t figured it out.

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