Cause of Back Pain: Make the Treatment Fit the Cause

Back pain can be traced to a number of causes. The root of your problem may be the spine itself. It may be the muscles and ligaments surrounding the spine. It may even be another part of the body that is radiating pain to your back. You may have a pinched or compressed nerve that causes numbness or weakness. That numb or weak sensation may travel down through one leg and even into your foot.

Discovering the source of your back pain is the first step you will want to take in determining the cause of the pain. When you find the culprit that is causing the pain, you can fit effective treatment to that cause.

Cause of Back Pain – Simple

Simple back pain is common in people between the ages of 35 and 50: middle aged people. This back pain comes and goes. It is usually caused by a change in your level or type of activity – or by poor posture:

* You went from a daily desk job to a weekend of helping a friend move.
* You decided to be a weekend sports hero instead of a couch potato.
* You stood, with bad posture, watching a long parade.
* You carried two 5-gallon bottles of water up a flight of stairs.
* You slouched in your seat throughout a 4-hour movie.
* You tripped while hiking, and fell headlong across a rotting log.

Activities of this nature can strain or injure the back and surrounding muscles, causing simple back pain. A warm heating pad will give temporary relief, but the treatment that best fits these causes if activity and exercise. Take it easy, and increase gradually to strengthen your back.

Cause of Back Pain – Spine-related

Some causes of back pain originate within the spinal column itself. A disc may be herniated, bulging outward. A disc may have fallen out of alignment, a condition known as a slipped disc. Both herniated discs and slipped discs can result in inflammation and pressure on nerves around your spinal column. This inflammation and pressure will, in turn, produce back pain. Spinal stenosis, another back condition, is characterized by narrowing vertebrae. A result of aging, spinal stenosis can lead to serious back pain and stiffness, especially when you first awaken in the morning or after sitting in one position for a long period. Your physician will be able to diagnose spine-related causes of back pain through x-rays.

Cause of Back Pain – More Serious

Rarely, more serious causes of back pain occur, such as infections and tumors. The seriousness of these makes it important that you always seek a physician’s advice before treating back pain on your own.

The cause of back pain sometimes remains a mystery. Treatment with heat and careful exercise will, in time, alleviate or eliminate most of such pains.