Lower Back Pain Causes, Treatment And Prevention

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Wake Spine

Your spinal column consists of 33 individual, interlocking bones called vertebrae, and the lumbar region of your spine, often referred to as your lower back, is made up of five of these vertebrae. It’s very common to experience pain in the lumbar region of the spine, and this is the leading cause of complaint for back pain. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, an estimated 80% of adults will suffer some form of lower back pain in his or her lifetime. The pain can be sudden, or it can increase gradually. It can also range from a dull ache to an intense, sharp or stabbing pain. The pain can be sporadic and positional, or it can be chronic, lasting longer than three months. Lower back pain is usually caused by a pulled muscle or ligament, a mechanical issue, or an injury, but it may also be a symptom of an underlying health condition, such as spinal problems or an infection.
Keep on reading to find out the possible causes of lower back pain.

Types Of Lower Back Pain

There are many ways to categorize lower back pain, but the two most common types are mechanical and radicular. Mechanical or axial pain is the most common cause of lower back pain, radiating primarily from the joints, ligaments, and muscles in and around your spine. Mechanical pain is often localized to your lower back, buttocks, and on occasion, the top of your legs, and it is usually the result of overloading your spine, poor posture, inactivity, and forward, backward or twisting motion.
Radicular pain, on the other hand, occurs when a spinal nerve root becomes inflamed. This type of pain is sharp, burning, or electric, and may be associated with numbness or weakness. It’s usually felt on only one side of your body.
Other sources of lower back pain include claudication pain from spinal stenosis, myelopathic pain, neuropathic pain, and pain from deformities, tumors, infections, and inflammatory conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis. It is also possible to develop lower back pain with no known cause.