 Chronic pain is defined as pain lasting more than three months duration. Between one third and one half of the population of the UK are affected by chronic pain. This corresponds to just less than 28 million adults. Chronic low back pain is an important contributor to the chronic pain burden. Up to a third of UKs population is affected by low back ache each year and 20 visit their general practitioner for advice. The result is that nearly 2.6 million people are seeking medical care for back pain in a year. This translates into a huge economic burden on the already stretched healthcare budgets. The health care cost of low back ache was estimated to be 1632 million in 1998.4 However the indirect cost of low back pain mainly due to lost productivity is much higher and conservative estimates put it at 3440 million in 1998. It would not be hard to imagine what the present economic burden of chronic low back pain would be if inflation is factored in to the above figures. Apart from the fact that chronic low back pain has a huge economic impact, it does cause significant loss of function from an individuals perspective, damaged relationships and difficulties at workplace. 