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Back pain in older adults

Different differential, same first-line: keep moving

Moderate evidenceOutline3 sourcesUpdated 20 Sept 2026Medical review pending
Outline only

This article is planned but not written yet. What it will cover, and the sources already gathered for it, are below.

What this article will cover

Different differential, same first-line: keep moving.

Planned sections

  • What it is
  • Why it happens
  • How it is recognised
  • What the evidence says
  • What helps
  • When to see a clinician

Sources gathered for this page

  1. 1Age-related hyperkyphosis: update of its potential causes and clinical impactsReview · 2017
  2. 2Targeted spine strengthening exercise and posture training program to reduce hyperkyphosis in older adults (SHEAF RCT)Rct · 2017
  3. 3Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populationsSystematic review · 2015

General information, not medical advice. Every claim carries its source; where the evidence is thin, the page says so.Editorial policy · How we grade evidence · All sources · Disclaimer

Keep reading

How your back works

How the spine changes with age

Disc degeneration appears in 37% of pain-free twenty-year-olds and 96% of eighty-year-olds. Most of what a scan calls degeneration is ordinary ageing.

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Hyperkyphosis

SHEAF trial: targeted spine-strengthening reduced both radiographic and clinical kyphosis; only ~40% of severe hyperkyphosis involves fractures

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Osteoporosis of the spine

Bone health page linking straight into the nutrition section

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