Low back pain: the riveting history with unexplored ancient Indian knowledge

Abstract

Introduction: Low back pain affects 70–85% of the adult population at some point in life. In total 45–75% of patients continue to experience pain after 12 months of onset. Low back pain is a major health hazard in today’s technological era. The history of low back pain is as ancient as human civilization. There are pieces of evidence of low back pain and sciatica in the past era, which was a problematic concern for the population of that time. There was a practical approach of different cultures toward the low back and sciatic pain at that time. The rich history of Indian medicine guides us to the classic developments and thoughts of that era. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to illuminate descriptions and understandings of low back pain from previous historical reviews as well as fill gaps in previous reviews that ignored the hidden knowledge of low back pain from ancient Indian literature. Materials and Methods: Here published scientific articles in reputed journals regarding the historical background of low back pain, sciatica, and lumbar radiculopathy have been reviewed from PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and so on, and low back pain conditions from ayurveda classics have been extracted and conceptual understanding to low back pain by ancient Indian ayurvedic scholars have been revealed. The lacunae in previous reviews of missing the knowledge of ancient Indian ayurvedic texts have been tried to fill by this work. Observations and Results: The review showed that the understanding of various conditions associated with low back pain such as katishoola, katigraha, gridhrasi, trikshoola, trikvedna, and so on. and its pathophysiology was well developed in ancient Indian culture. Conclusion: Numerous earlier studies on low back and sciatic pain have overlooked the historical significance of the Indian subcontinent. The existing information must therefore be revealed along with these crucial descriptions. The world’s focus will be directed toward ayurvedic medicines and low back pain management solutions when the concepts of ayurveda are revealed historically. As a result, this article will aid in promoting the traditional Ayurvedic medical method.