Why Do We Get Back Pain?

Most Common Causes of Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain or back pain in general, can be a multi-factorial issue.

We could categorize the causes of back pain into two big groups of causes:

  1. Body Structural Issue ( Spine Abnormalities ).
  2. Body Functional Issues.

1. Structural Issue Of The Spine

We can have different types of anatomical modifications of the spine such as:

  • Scoliosis
  • Flat Spine
  • Kyphosis
  • Lordosis

All these structural modifications of the spine compromise the shock absorber function of the entire body which the spine represents the main actor.

The shock absorber function of the spine is built by two skeletal systems:

  1. Spinal Curvatures: (Cervical concave curvature; Thoracic convex curvature; Lumbar concave curvature).
  2. Spinal Discs.

Spine's Structure and its modification

Modifications of the physiological curvatures of the spine compromise the shock absorber function of the spine itself.

In the same way, structural issues of the spinal discs ( disc dehydration, disc rupture ) can lead to the reduction of the shock absorber function of the spine.

Spinal Issues can lead to nerve compression due to Bulging or Herniated Discs.

Bulging Disc is a more common condition, often temporary, caused by overloading the lumbar spinal tract.

Herniated Disc is a less common condition of the bulging disc but with similar causes, even if with more effects on the spinal structure and back pain symptoms.

Bulging-Herniated-Disc

2. Functional Issue Of The Spine

Functional issues of the spine are caused by all our incorrect postural body behaviors and overload of our musculoskeletal system during our daily lifetime:

  • Incorrect Posture at the Desk.
  • Job-related incorrect posture ( Desk Job, Manual Work, Physical Labour ).
  • Incorrect workout posture.
  • Muscles Overtraining.
  • Muscle Overload from Muscle Weakness ( Inactivity ).

For example, increased stiffness of the back muscles is the most common cause of back and lower pain. this stiffness can come from muscle weakness or muscle overtraining.

Incorrect posture at the desk can create muscle stiffness in specific areas of the lower back and hip such as lumbar muscles, gluteus muscles, hamstring muscles, and hip flexors muscles.

Incorrect posture during the execution of specific exercises such as the Dead Lift can bring an excessive load on the lumbar vertebras of the spine that can cause a bulging disc with compression of the sciatic nerve.

How to cure back pain

The first approach to cure back pain is to treat the symptoms.

Treating the symptoms of back pain is a short-term therapy to reduce the pain and reestablish an adequate range of motion of the spine.

If we want a therapy with long-term effects, and reduced chances of back pain coming back, It is important that the back pain treatments aim to treat and cure the root causes that have generated the back pain.

In fact, even if we treat and cure back pain symptoms ( pain, inflammation, soreness ), it can come back again after a short time.

To tackle the problem of “Back Pain“, It is essential to consider and analyze all the possible root causes that have produced it.

Underlying causes of back pain could be muscle imbalances or structural issues of the spine as discussed above.

They could both be assessed through a high-tech Postural Assessment to check all the forces distribution of our body with the ground and structure of your spine.

Muscle stiffness caused by overloading or postural issue can be treated with targeted sports therapy such as a Sports Massage.

If you have back pain we advise you to get the help of your trusted physiotherapist or sports therapist for the best solution for your issue as each patient has different needs and different conditions.

 

How to prevent back pain

To prevent lower back pain we have to keep our musculoskeletal system fit. 

More specifically, we have to keep fit the muscles in our back and the core muscles of our body.

In order to reduce the chances to get lower back pain follow these simple tips:

  • Stay active by doing at least 30 minutes of activity every day ( walking, running, cycling, swimming).
  • Strengthen the core muscles ( abdominal and glutes ).
  • Strengthen your muscles by combining weight-lifting workouts with more dynamic activities such as HIT classes or any other kind of sports to increase your body’s flexibility and mobility.
  • If you have a desk job, stand up every 45 minutes to reduce the pressure on the lover’s back e mobilize the spine and hip joints.
  • Maintain an optimal hydration status as it is important to keep the intervertebral discs hydrated for a better shock absorber function.
  • Do a daily stretching workout to improve the flexibility both of your muscles and related joints.

3 Comments on “Why do We Get Back Pain?

  1. Pingback: What is the best posture at the desk? - Mr Salus Sporting Lab

  2. Pingback: Why do we get sciatic pain? - Mr Salus Sporting Lab

  3. Pingback: Herniated and Bulging Disc: Diagnosis, causes and treatments - Mr Salus Sporting Lab

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