What is the cause
(or causes) of lower back pain?
Can you pinpoint
the exact cause of your pain, so that you can treat it and get rid of the pain
immediately? Sometimes you can. Though you need to be careful as back problems
and symptoms have different causes.
The Treatment
Paradox
Many people on the
internet offer information on exact causes to help sell you a cure, and no
doubt some of them even work. However, the concept of "cause" can be
a tricky one - even to a doctor or other medical professional. Very often your
acute (or short term) pain will disappear naturally. In fact, most people have
back pain during their life. It is a normal occurrence. And many times the pain
goes away on its own without any type of treatment.
If you are using
some type of treatment and your pain symptoms disappear, you might attribute
the disappearance to whatever treatment you were receiving, when - in fact -
the pain simply disappeared on it's own - the way a fever, cold, or a bad mood
might simply go away on its own.
Likewise, human
beings are complicated. We have unique lifestyles, beliefs and experiences.
Consider the popular medical idea that bone strength, muscle elasticity and
muscle tone decrease with age. And that as we age the "discs" in the
spine begin to lose flexibility and their ability to cushion and protect the
vertebrae. That may be true. But does it cause the pain in your lower back? Not
necessarily.
A person's bone
density will decrease with age and perhaps even the disks in parts of their
spine. But some people have damage in their lower disks and they have
no pain. Your experience needs to be considered.
Here are some
purported cause of back pain, especially pain in the lower areas of your back..
But keep in mind, many people also have the symptoms or conditions below but NO
PAIN.
Injury or trauma to
the back
Degenerative conditions such as Arthritis
Osteoporosis or other bone disease
Viral infections
Irritation to joints or discs
Spine abnormalities that a person is born with
Degenerative conditions such as Arthritis
Osteoporosis or other bone disease
Viral infections
Irritation to joints or discs
Spine abnormalities that a person is born with
Let's not forget
so-called life-style factors such smoking, obesity, weight gain from pregnancy,
stress, general bad posture, and bad posture in certain tasks such as when
lifting heavy objects. There are also factors such as a pinched or compressed
nerve.
So when all is said
and done, it is important to not use a treatment for your pain that is
expensive or irreversible. For example, surgery for back pain is almost never
recommended. Why? Because the symptoms may go away on their own or may go away
with some type of gentle treatment such as massage, exercise, Feldenkrais
sessions or other non-invasive (and cheaper) treatment.
