A must for the millions who experience lower back pain. A friendly, practical guide to coping with lower back pain--from pinpointing problems to determining proper treatment. The sometimes crippling, often prolonged back pain that afflicts 2.5 million Americans at one time or another is harder to diagnose than it is to cure. Dr. Loren Fishman, a distinguished clinician and a trailblazer in the treatment of sciatica, believes there"s only one road to relief: patients must become partners with their doctors in finding the cause of their pain and in making treatment decisions. Back Talk teaches patients which specialist to see, how to talk to doctors responsibly, what a physical exam should entail, and when to consent to diagnostic testing. It offers clear advice about treatment, surgery, and strategies for pain control. Based on the latest research and Dr. Fishman"s fifteen years of experience in successfully treating patients, Back Talk is filled with pain-saving advice and instructional facts: * most back pain is curable; less than 10 percent becomes chronic * more than four days of bed rest can make a back ache worse * patients who choose chiropractors visit them twice as often as those who choose medical doctors * more than 25 percent of people who go to orthopedic surgeons have referred themselves * the initial treatment any doctor is likely to prescribe is aspirin.