6 Common Causes of Back Pain

December 7, 2008 by soreback 

So we’ve looked at the major muscles of the back and have a better understanding of how each of those muscles or muscle groups are involved with movement and even with the functions of the body.  But knowing how the back can cause chronic pain with every single movement doesn’t exactly explain how that pain originates in the first place.  Let’s take a closer look at what causes most back pain and injuries so that we can have a better understanding of how to avoid that pain in the first place and how to treat it once it happens.

INJURY

Probably the most common cause of pain in the back area is an injury.  This might seem surprising to many since they often have pain in their back but don’t think they’ve actually ever injured themselves in any way.

In reality it doesn’t take that much to injure any of the muscles of the back.  While we’ve covered the major muscles and muscle groups that extend from your neck to your lower back, there are literally dozens of smaller muscles that can cause tremendous amounts of pain when injured or hurt.

What is especially important to remember about injuring your back is that when you hurt any of these smaller muscles they rarely have time to heal properly.  Since the back is constantly in use even when we’re at rest, these muscles are always being stretched and strained.  It’s much like having to go to work when you have a cold or the flu – it takes that much longer to heal when you can’t rest because your body can’t give the sick parts the attention it deserves.  So it goes with your back – when you hurt any of those muscles, no matter how small, they just can’t be immobile for the hours and days needed to heal completely.

The injuries that you experience in your back that cause pain aren’t always as severe as a car accident or when lifting incredibly heavy objects, although of course those are typical problems as well.

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Here are some typical examples of actual injuries to the back that can cause pain long-term:

  • Overuse of the back muscles.  This can be from a job or hobby that uses the back muscles repeatedly, such as working in the construction trades, loading or unloading objects, and activities such as bowling or golfing.  Repeated use of the back muscles actually causes injury over time.  Think of lifting weights – you feel the pain in your arms when you’re at the gym and you know to quit, but when you’re on the job or out playing that beloved round of golf you often ignore those simple aches and pains that mean injury to those small muscles.
  • Jarring from traffic stops and starts; even if you’re not technically in a traffic accident, slamming on your brakes means that the back must work suddenly and swiftly to protect the body from careening forward.  This sudden stopping and starting makes the back work overtime in a way it’s not designed to work, which means injury.
  • Overextending the back muscles from twisting side to side.  These very small muscles that are located up and down the sides of the abdomen and rib cage are very susceptible to injury this way; when they’re overextended they are actually injured.
  • Carrying weight.  This can mean a very heavy backpack, purse, or other item that puts undue stress and strain on the back.  The muscles work hard to carry and balance this weight and often suffer tears and strains without anyone even realizing it.
  • Sudden stresses and strains.  How many times have you gone to hug a child only to have him or her suddenly lift their feet off the ground so that you’re carrying their entire weight when you didn’t expect it?  Or have suddenly slipped or tripped and have had to catch yourself without thinking?  These types of sudden and unexpected stresses and strains can cause injury to your back as it’s not ready and prepared to handle these events.  The muscles can be tense and caught off guard which means they’re more prone to tiny tears and stresses.

As said, people often don’t even realize that they’ve injured their back until much later, after the injury occurs.  Muscles often knot up as a way of protecting themselves from further injury and as long as they’re knotted the body may not sense pain.  It’s only later when they begin to loosen up that a person realizes something is wrong.

ARTHRITIS

We often think of those who have arthritis as being of a particular age and often assume that it only happens in the fingers or knees.  In reality many people who suffer from back problems have arthritis that has developed in the back and they often don’t even realize it.

A slow burn.

Typically arthritis in the back develops over many years of physical activity and wear and tear on the back – overuse of those muscles, straining and stresses, improper posture, and obesity are long-term causes of arthritis in the back.

When a person has arthritis in the back there is a deterioration of the discs between the bones of the spine.  This means that the bones are taking on more impact than they should and there is pain and stiffness, and eventually arthritis builds.  A person does not need to be prone to arthritis to develop it in the back and may not realize that it is developing until it’s too late, and then they suffer from the chronic and constant pain.

DISK PROBLEMS

The little squishy disks between the bones of the back work as shock absorbers to keep the bones and joints safe.  This is not just when you walk or have any other jarring activity but when you move at all.  Every time your hand or other part of your body makes contact with anything else, there is shock that needs to be absorbed by the body.  These disks help to absorb that shock and cushion the impact.

There are some 50 nerves that come out of the spinal cord and when the disks in the back are injured these nerves are alerted and there is pain.  Damage to these disks also means compression on the sciatic nerve which runs from the spinal cord to the leg.  Many people with back problems have shooting pains up and down their legs because the sciatic nerve has been triggered or damaged.

It doesn’t always take a traumatic injury or activity to cause problems to the disks of the back.  Normal wear and tear over time can cause them to erode away and to slip or be herniated.  Other causes of disk problems can be genetic disorders that cause them to shrink on their own and just old age.

OSTEOPOROSIS

Many think of osteoporosis as being a woman’s disease and it’s true that more women than men seem to suffer from it, but under no circumstances does this mean that men can never get this condition and have back pain because of it.

Calcium density in the bones decreases with age.  As the bones become less dense they become more porous and brittle; at a certain stage this is called osteoporosis.  Both men and women can have this happen to them.  And when the bones in the back get brittle and weak this can cause pain during everyday activities but especially when it comes to bending and lifting.  Tiny compression fractures can happen without a person knowing it – except of course for the pain he or she feels up and down the back.

Tip from the experts:  You can get a bone density scan from your doctor to check if your body is losing bone mass, but a quick symptom you can check at home is to be mindful of your fingernails.  Nails are made up of mostly calcium, and while the toenails are much thicker and stronger, your fingernails can be a symptom of a lack of calcium in your body.  If they are very thin and are constantly tearing then you may have a lack of calcium in your system.  Most pharmacies sell calcium supplements and of course you can speak to your doctor to see if it’s recommended in your case, but women especially should be mindful of considering a calcium supplement.  If you don’t eat a lot of dairy or drink a lot of soda, you are probably robbing your body of needed calcium, so check with your doctor if this is not causing back pain in your case.

FIBROMYALGIA

Fibromyalgia is one of those conditions that cannot be exactly pinpointed on an x-ray or other exam and so of course there is some controversy surrounding it; some deny that it actually exists and claim that patients are just making things up or are exaggerating their condition.

This chronic condition is marked by excessive fatigue and weakness as well as chronic pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons.  This includes the areas of the lower back.  A doctor usually takes a history of a patient’s condition and diagnoses fibromyalgia after three months or so of this chronic and constant pain, if everything else has been ruled out as causing the pain.

Because doctors have not yet pinpointed the exact cause of fibromyalgia there may be no way to actually cure it permanently, but it is something that needs to be acknowledged.  Those who have it can have pain that is often debilitating and overwhelming.

Sufferers of fibromyalgia have pain in areas other than the back as it often affects most muscles and ligaments.

STRESS AND BACK PAIN

Have you ever noticed that when you’re under stress or are upset, angry, nervous, frustrated, or are experiencing other negative emotions that your body starts to hurt?  You might get a headache, a stiff neck, dry mouth, be suddenly hot or cold, and even experience nausea or dizziness.  Why is this?  Is there really a connection between how you feel in your head and how you feel in your body?

There actually are some connections to these two conditions and understanding how and why they happen can help you better understand why tension and stress can give you backaches as well.

When the body is under emotional or mental stress it often does react physically.  Much of this goes back to the “fight or flight” response that is hardwired into humans in order to protect itself from an attack or to ready itself in case a person needs to flee from an attack.  When the body signals that fight or flight response it diverts blood and oxygen from other areas to the important leg muscles so that they can be ready to run or to assist in an attack.  This blood and oxygen come from secondary systems such as the digestive system, the fingers, and areas of the back.  This explains why many people feel nauseated when they’re upset or anxious – they’re not getting as much blood and oxygen in their stomach and digestive as they would otherwise, so their digestion is slowed down causing them nausea.

A person might also experience dizziness because they’re not getting as much blood and oxygen to the brain either.  Their fingers get tingly and may feel cold because the blood circulation is slowing down in that area as well.

The back may also experience pain when you’re under stress or feeling angry or negative because we have a tendency to clench or stiffen all our muscles when angry or irritated.  This too is in response to the fight or flight reaction, as relaxed muscles are usually no good during a fight.  The body tenses up to make itself ready for a physical altercation and this includes the back.

When the back muscles are unnaturally tense for any length of time they of course start to feel pain.  The blood circulation is cut off as is the flow of oxygen.  Think of what happens when you keep your fingers tightly wrapped around anything for any length of time – once you pull them back, they hurt!  Muscles are not meant to be tensed like that for a long period of time, and this includes the back muscles.

It’s also typically true that when a person is under stress he or she is not giving thought to taking care of their body the way they should.  The posture suffers as they tend to curl up as a protection against outside attacks, and their sleep is often interrupted as well.  People are often surprised, once their stress or anxiety has passed, that they suddenly feel a rush of tingling across their neck and shoulders and realize that they’ve been keeping themselves tensed up in this area of the body without even realizing!  They may have their fists and jaw clenched, their toes curled, and their neck unnaturally stiffened.  All of these things can cause additional back pain.

Our bodies are not designed to be at a heightened state of alert and readiness for hours and days on end, but when a person is stressed, nervous, anxious, angry, irritable, frustrated, and feeling all these other negative emotions that’s exactly what he or she is doing to their system.

Some doctors and patients still scoff at the connection between stress and body pain, and some think that they should just be “tough enough to take it” and dismiss this connection.  But the bottom line is that the human body is meant to work a certain way and will react adversely to misuse or abuse, and keeping ourselves under extreme stress or emotional duress for any length of time is a form of abusing the body.  It can and does cause pain, including pain in the back.

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