title: Soft tissue determinants of low back pain.
abstract: Low back pain is one of the complaints most commonly seen in the clinical setting. Correctly or incorrectly, these patients are often given the diagnosis of fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, disk herniation, or some other label. It is important to recognize the soft tissue causes of low back pain and understand how they can be most appropriately diagnosed and managed. Nonligamentous disorders of the low back region may occur in isolation or in combination with underlying discogenic, ligamentous, and facet-mediated causes of pain. Therefore, in order to fully evaluate and treat a patient with low back pain, it is necessary to consider and address these soft tissue conditions. This paper reviews soft tissue causes of low back pain and discusses how they are most appropriately diagnosed and managed.
authors.affiliation: Spaulding-Wellesley Rehabilitation Center, 65 Walnut Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA. jborgstein@partners.org
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borg-Stein
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilkins
mesh_terms: D005205:Fascia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009209:Myofascial Pain Syndromes / Q000503:physiopathology; D013710:Tendons / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology