From DISCS' Chairman

Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java(tm). In my 30-plus years as a spinal surgeon I have been continually intrigued by the problem of back pain. I have seen patients with a vast range of different symptoms – some easy to treat but others condemned to great suffering and disability.

What’s often missing in these latter cases is a thoroughgoing understanding of the cause or causes of the pain. The common view that back pain results from mechanical failure of the disc is now believed to be wrong. New evidence points to a process of inflammation and degeneration in the disc caused by cell death; but the fundamental reason for this cell death is unclear. Potential reasons include "starvation" of the disc through lack of nutrients, blockage in the oxygen supply, and viral infection - all of which may be exacerbated by mechanical stress.

Only through research can we begin to unravel the mystery that is back pain.
It is my ambition to transform this charity into the leading force in UK back pain research, so illuminating our understanding and radically improving our treatment of back pain.

Sean P F Hughes MS FRCS Ed Orth FRCS FRCSI