It is reported that lower back pain is a common muscular skeleton disorder affecting 80% of people at some point in their lives. The causes can be classified as mechanical, non-mechanical and referred pain. Mechanical pain is mainly related to movement. The pain gets worse when certain movement is being carried out while relieved by rest. Majority of lower back pain belongs to this category. The causes of non-mechanical pain include infection, inflammatory, metabolic and neoplastic disorder of the spine. The referred pain meant the pain from internal organs, such as kidney.

acupuncture has been taken as an effective treatmen in relieving the mechanical pain. As reported by American National Institute of Health (NIH), a large, rigorously designed clinical trial in May 2009 found that acupuncture was more effective than conventional treatment for relieving chronic low-back pain. In acupuncture clinic, it is common to see patients suffering chronic lower back pain. They complaint consistent lower back pain, either from bending lifting or long hour sitting. In worse scenario, pain went down to the legs, even calf and toes. It was originally thought the pain was mainly due to prolapsed disc pressing on the nerve root. But in recent years, it has been found that the pain might be due to lower back muscle spasm as a result of a partially prolapsed disc therefore it getting worse by certain movements, such as bending and lifting. This actually explained why acupuncture helps relieve chronical lower back pain since acupuncture has a very good effect on relieving muscle tention.