Millions of people suffer with lower back pain. The causes of this debilitating pain are many and not always easily identified.
Low back pain causes can include:
- Back structural problems
- Inflammation
- Body mechanical imbalances
- Secondary response to diseases and conditions
- Soft tissue and muscle injury
- Social/psychological factors
Most patients of lower back pain have structural pathology that cannot really be identified in order to explain what really causes the pain. The specialists usually attribute this kind of pain to some musculoskeletal factors that are still unknown as of this moment. This is the reason why “idiopathic” is the term that is usually used.
The causes of low back pain are not always easy to identify.
It’s important that the causes of lower back pain be identified as much as possible. A proper diagnosis can help to serve as guide for therapeutic strategy. These low back pain causes are grouped into several categories that may show the underlying source of the problem.
Categories of low back pain causes
1. Mechanical causes- these are the functional or anatomical abnormalities of one’s spine
2. Muscle strain – 70 percent of the major low back pain causes is found in the so-called myofascial system. This system is composed of the tendons, ligaments and muscles which bind together and support the spine.
3. Osteoarthritis- This is a condition where the spine’s moving joints or cartilage in disks suffer from damage. Even though this is supposed to be a painless condition, it is still not known why people who suffer from this arthritic spine feel some pain.
4. Spinal stenosis- This is a condition when the spinal canal narrows down. There are plenty of causes behind this and the most common would be the combination of osteoarthritis and herniated or bulging disks. This is usually associated with a pain syndrome in the legs, referred to as “neurogenic claudication.” It is said that this condition accounts for about 3 percent of low back pain causes.
5. Vertebral fracture- This kind of condition is usually suffered by osteoporosis’ patients. Osteoporosis is most usual for women who have reached their postmenopausal stage, the older ones, people with history of this disease in their family and patients who have malnutrition history.
6. Congenital diseases- Abnormalities of one’s spine might also become one of the lower back pain causes. A good example would be scoliosis which accountable for below 1 percent of the pain in the lower back.
7. Infections- One of the lower back pain causes would be infections. Vertebral bodies can be invaded by bacteria or they can also cause abscesses within the pine. Chronic infections like Lyme disease can also affect the interior structures of the spine. Viruses like zoster virus that causes shingles can also attach to some spine levels and result in an aching back.
Lower back pain can drastically affect the life not only of the individual but also of his or her family. If left untreated lower back pain may become chronic back pain, for this reason, it is important that you know what the causes of low back pain are in order to identify the best treatment.
