Causes of Back Pain and Prevention Tips
Back pain is one of humanity’s most frequent complaints. One of those pains that can make you give up and bow to the life, back pain is felt in the back, mostly originating from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine. About nine out of ten adults experience back pain at some point in their life, and five out of ten working adults have back pain every year. Low back pain is second only to the common cold and is also one of the most common reasons to visit a doctor. Doctors usually refer to back pain as acute if it sustains for more than a month and chronic if it lasts for an even longer period of time. This article deals with the major causes of the back pain.
Causes of Back pain
Back pain is more so a symptom than a disease. Most common causes of back pain involve disease or injury to the muscles, bones, and/or nerves of the spine. Many intra-abdominal disorders, such as appendicitis, aneurysms, kidney diseases, bladder infections, pelvic infections, and ovarian disorders, cause pain that might be referred to the back. This is called referred pain. Normal pregnancy can cause back pain in many ways, including stretching ligaments within the pelvis, irritating nerves and straining the low back.
Some major causes of this dreadful pain are given below:
- Herniated discs – These are produced by the spinal discs when they degenerate or grow thinner. The jellylike central portion of the disc bulges out of the central cavity and pushes against a nerve root causing severe pain. Herniated discs are found in one-third of adults older than 20 years of age. Only 3% of these, however, produce symptoms of nerve impingement.
- Spondylosis – This occurs when inter-vertebral discs lose their moisture and volume because of aging, finally resulting in the decrease of the disc height. Even slight trauma under these circumstances can cause inflammation and nerve root impingement, which can produce classic sciatica without disc rupture, i.e. severe back pain.
- Cauda equina syndrome – It is a medical emergency in which the spinal cord is directly compressed. The nerves are compressed because of expansion of disc material. The affected person experiences pain, possible loss of sensation, and even bowel or bladder dysfunction. This might also include inability to control urination or even incontinence or the inability to begin urination.
- Myofascial pain – Pain and tenderness over localized areas (trigger points), loss of range of motion in the involved muscle groups, and pain radiating in a characteristic distribution but restricted to a peripheral nerve constitutes the myofascial pain. Stretching of the involved muscle group results in pain relief.
Apart from these, other skeletal causes of low back pain may include osteomyelitis (infections of the bones of the spine). Tumors, cancerous or normal, can also be a source of skeletal pain. Herpes zoster virus can also result in severe back pain by inflating nerves from the spine that causes shingles. This can occur in the thoracic area to cause upper back pain or in the lumbar area to cause low back pain.
Prevention of back ache
Though the prevention of back pain is in itself a controversial or misinterpret subject, it is not as difficult to adopt as it is perceived. It has always been believed that exercise and an all-around healthy lifestyle would prevent back pain, which is not necessarily true. In fact, several studies have found that any wrongly performed exercise such as high-impact activities may increase the probability of a person to suffer from back pain. Nevertheless, exercise is important for good and energetic health and must not be avoided. Low-exertion activities such as swimming, walking, and bicycling can increase overall fitness without straining the back and at the same time make the vertebras strong and help in preventing back ache. Let’s discuss some of the main preventive measures one can take to avoid surfing the back pain road.
There are certain exercises that, if performed regularly, can help in relieving back ache. One should always consult a physician on how to perform these safely to extract the maximum possible benefit and most importantly, prevent the back ache. Even the daily body postures play a major role in the prevention of back ache. These include:
- Abdominal crunches – When performed properly, abdominal crunches strengthen abdominal muscles and may decrease the tendency to suffer back pain. Although other stretching exercises are not considered that useful to relieve back pain, yet they are helpful in alleviating tight back muscles.
- Lumbar support belts – People involved in frequent heavy lifting work are often required and advised to wear these belts. There is no scientific proof that these belts prevent back injury but they do support the lumbar vertebras of the spine.
- Standing – Even your standing posture can help prevent this dreadful pain. It is medically advised to keep your head straight and stomach pulled in while standing. If one is required to stand for long hours, keeping a small stool to rest one foot at a time is advised. Wearing of high heels also invites back pain.
- Sitting – Chairs of appropriate height that provide lumbar support are preferable to avoid putting stress on the back.
- Sleeping – Advised sleeping conditions vary from person to person. For some people soft mattresses and for some hard mattresses might invite back trouble. One should customize one’s sleeping posture and conditions based on personal experience.
As discussed, even minimal care can help you prevent or improve the state of your back ache. Hope the ones suffering would be benefitted from this piece of writing.
