Electrophysiology (for example: EMG – electromyography, nerve conduction assessment, evoked potentials) allows to identify and to quantify causes and lesions of muscles and nerves, which facilitates to develop therapeutic concepts. This applies to different disease entities such as discal prolapse and recurring nerve root compression, muscle diseases and diseases of the peripheral (i.e. outside the brain) nerves such as myopathies, polyneuropathies, Guillain-Barrée-Syndrom etc.. In general therapeutic nihilism has been replaced by pragmatic, but realistic, scientiifcally based therapeutic approaches. The popular catchword „back pain“ can be neurologically complemented by different therapeutic avenues.