Lower Back Pain - Causes and Cures
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
About 80 percent of the population experiences back pain, frequently lower back pain, at some point in time. Because it’s an ailment that almost everyone experiences, you really need to understand what causes lower back pain. It’s important to understand how you can keep lower back pain at bay by controlling these factors.
Causes of Lower Back Pain
As we age, we lose a lot of our body’s natural muscle tone and elasticity. We also tend to lose bone strength as we age. Our spinal discs lose flexibility due to the loss of fluid. This results in less protection for the vertebrae. Simply growing older can be a cause of lower back pain.
If the ligaments or muscles in your back experience a sprain, spasm, or strain, the spinal discs can burst or bulge. This in turn places pressure on the nerves in your spinal cord. Our back lets us know about this with the neural signals we know as pain. What are the causes of these strains, sprains and spasms? Generally these are injuries which are caused by trying to lift heavy weights or overextending muscles.
Lower back pain can also be caused by diseases like osteoporosis and arthritis. Other causes include disc or joint irritation, viral infections, or spinal abnormalities.
Lower back pain can also be caused by various physical conditions. Being out of shape or overweight, having poor posture, experiencing stress and even being pregnant are all examples of this. Hip pain and lower back pain sometimes come as a distressing package deal. Another cause of lower back pain can be scar tissue from old injuries - this can also lead to further, more critical injuries.
When to Worry About Lower Back Pain
You should take your lower back pain seriously if it comes along with other symptoms. Watch out for weakness in the muscles, particularly in the legs, loss of bowel or bladder control, fever or coughing. If you experience any of these symptoms along with your lower back pain, see your doctor right away. They may indicate a pinched nerve or other underlying problem. If you are diabetic, lower back pain may indicate neuropathy.
Avoiding Lower Back Pain
By taking good care of your back in daily life, most lower back pain can be avoided. Poor posture is often the root cause of lower back pain that never quite goes away. There are ways to change this. Try exercises to build up strength in your lower back, stand up straight, and don’t forget to use your legs to lift objects instead of your back. Be certain that you pay attention to workplace ergonomics while on the job. This can go a long way towards preventing lower back pain.
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