背痛包括有肌肉、神经、骨骼、关节或与脊柱相关的其它方面的疼痛。背痛可以分为颈部疼痛、肩部疼痛、腰部疼痛和尾椎疼痛，又可分为急性或慢性、持续或间歇性、同一部位或多个部位的疼痛。麻木、刺痛或者是灼烧感都是常见的症状。背痛也可能会扩散到手臂、双手、肩部、或者腰部，甚至是下肢或者脚部。背痛是患者问诊最常见的原因之一。在美国，急性腰痛是第五大问诊的疾病，平均每10个成年人中有9人一生都至少会有一次背痛的经历，而每10个工人中有一半每年都会患有背痛。 脊柱是人体中结构复杂的中轴骨，连接丰富的神经、关节、肌肉、筋腱和韧带，而这些组织都会引起或触发疼痛。脊柱内的中枢神经连通到手臂和腿部，因此疼痛会转移到四肢。

Back pain is pain felt in the back. Episodes of back pain may be acute, sub-acute, or chronic depending on the duration. The pain may be characterized as a dull ache, shooting or piercing pain, or a burning sensation. The pain may radiate into the arms and hands as well as the legs or feet, and may include paresthesia (tingling with no apparent cause), weakness or numbness in the legs and arms. The anatomic classification of back pain follows the segments of the spine: neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) with the lumbar vertebrae area most common for pain.