SHR # 2339 :: Lower Back Pain: What Causes It and What To Do About It - Dr. Craig Banks - About 80 percent of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lifetime. Most low back pain is acute, or short term, and lasts a few days to a few weeks. But many suffer from chronic life-long pain that makes doing anything, even lying down, unlivable. The magnitude of the burden from low back pain has grown worse in recent years. In 1990, a study ranking the most burdensome conditions in the U.S. in terms of mortality or poor health as a result of disease put low back pain in sixth place; in 2010, low back pain jumped to third place, with only ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ranking higher. What's going on?