PREVENTION OF LOW BACK INJURIES IN ATHLETES

Low back injury is very prevalent among athletes. Stanitski (1982) holds that low back pain is one of the most common complaints of athletes. Mutoh(1978) reported 60% of 53 competitive swimmers experienced low back pain while Aggrawal(1979) found 48% of 25 track and field athletes and 40% of 25 weightlifters experienced backaches. Kotani(1971) found an even higher incidence of 92% in 26 career weight lifters who had lifted for 4 or more years. Similarly, the author found 86% of 43 professional modern dancers treated for more than one injury presented with low back pain on one or more occasions. These high incidences of reported low back pain suggest that better preventative efforts should be made