America’s Leading Non-Profit Medical Society Remains Committed to Advancing Spine Care

LaGrange, IL – April 2005 - Owner’s manuals accompany most things we buy to help us better understand and care for our new belongings. Wouldn’t it be enormously helpful if we also had an owner’s manual for our own bodies and troublesome body parts? According to the North American Spine Society (NASS), eight in every 10 Americans will suffer from back pain during their lifetime, and spine-related complaints remain the single largest cause for lost work time in the United States. NASS, the nation’s leading nonprofit multidisciplinary medical society dedicated to advancing spine care, has recently published a book entitled Your Spine: An Owner’s Manual to help “owners” understand and care for their spines . The book is available for $9.99 at www.spine.org or at Amazon.com with proceeds supporting the advancement of quality spine care through education, research and advocacy.

"We published this book as a guide for the person with back or neck pain so they can better understand the conditions and treatments that are now available and the current medical position on these options from other experts in the field,” said Marjorie Eskay-Auerbach, MD, JD, editor of Your Spine: An Owner’s Manual and current board member of the North American Spine Society. “Since back pain continues to be a major medical complaint for the majority of Americans, we believe it’s vital to encourage people to have all the information at their fingertips and consult with their primary care physician or spine specialist to get the proper treatment so they can improve the quality of their lives.”

Your Spine: An Owner’s Manual provides readers with easy-to-understand overview of the many diagnoses, diagnostic tests and treatments that are available to evaluate and treat back and neck pain. The book also provides helpful information on the anatomy of one’s spine and back with helpful definitions of “parts” and what they do, as well as regular “maintenance” suggestions (including detailed instructions for stretching and strengthening exercises) and “troubleshooting” options for spine “owners.”

“With 76 million aging baby boomers living in the United States, back pain will undoubtedly continue to be an important health issue that NASS remains committed to championing,” said Dr. Eskay-Auerbach. “It is our goal to help patients remain healthy, and make sure they have access to the best, most effective care available.”

Since its start in 1985, NASS has grown to nearly 4,000 members in 22 spine-related specialties including orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, physiatrists, neurologists, radiologists, anesthesiologists and other spine care specialists.

The North American Spine Society is a multidisciplinary organization that is devoted to the education of both the specialists providing the care and the patients who receive it. In addition to Your Spine: An Owner’s Manual, NASS has also published another helpful patient education book entitled Know Your Spine. Those interested in improving their back pain can access basic instructions for home exercises on the “For Spine Patients” section of the NASS Web site at www.spine.org. For more information on NASS or to find a spine specialist in your area, please
contact (866) 960-6277.

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NASS is a multidisciplinary medical organization dedicated to fostering the highest quality, evidence-based, and ethical spine care by promoting education, research, and advocacy. Since its start in 1985, NASS has grown to nearly 4,000 members in 22 spine-related specialties. NASS members are MDs, DOs, and PhDs, including orthopedics, neurosurgery, physiatry, pain management, and other disciplines. Nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, chiropractors, physical therapists, practice administrators, and other allied health care professionals involved in spine care are also represented as affiliate members.

For further information, contact:
North American Spine Society
Toll-free: (866) 960-6277   Direct: (630) 230-3600