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.

Neck and Back Pain Location

Neck and Back Pain as a combination is more technically termed cervical Back Pain.

Your back consists of 30 small bones called vertebrae. These bones are stacked on top of each other, and connected by ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Your stack of connected vertebrae is divided into four regions. From the base of your skull down to your pelvis, these four regions are:

1. Cervical vertebrae – the top 7
2. Thoracic vertebrae – the next 12
3. Lumbar vertebrae – 5 more
4. Sacrum and coccyx – 6 fused bones at the spine’s base

Neck and Back Pain occur in the cervical, or neck region of the back.

Neck and Back Pain Causes

The neck and Back Pain combination is most likely to be caused by one or more of these:

1. abnormal stress
2. habitually poor posture
3. lack of adequate exercise
4. past injuries that haven’t healed well

In brief:

1. Neck and Back Pain can be caused by abnormal stress. While stress seems to be an emotional matter, many have found that abnormal stress settles in the neck and upper back. Muscles tighten, neck and Back Pain result.

2. Habitually poor posture is another potential cause of neck and Back Pain. Poor posture puts the nerves of your cervical region under stress. Those nerves send a pain message to the brain, making you keenly aware of neck and Back Pain.

3. Neck and Back Pain can occur when the back gets too little exercise. Adequate exercise is needed to keep the back strong. As with all of the body’s muscles, your back muscles need to be strong to support your skull and back. Ignoring it can produce neck and Back Pain.

4. The neck and Back Pain combination is likely to occur if you strain old cervical injuries that have not yet completely healed. Give them time.

Neck and Back Pain Treatment

Be sure your pillow is giving you correct support to avoid neck and Back Pain. The support in your mattress is also important. A pillow and/or mattress that is too soft or too firm will cause your head to lie in the wrong position. This, in turn, will lead to neck and Back Pain.

The muscles in the cervical spine area shift in order to support the head properly. When a pillow throws the head out of line with the spine, the muscles must work harder to compensate. Overworked muscles become painful, producing neck and Back Pain. Correct support will ensure that muscles can relax and rest during the night.

If you have neck and Back Pain, think consciously about relaxing. Feel your shoulders and back lowering away from your head. Sit in a relaxed position and apply a heating pad to your neck and Back Pain for 20 minutes. Follow this with an ice pack. Repeat until you begin to get relief.

If your neck and Back Pain are not readily relieved, see a qualified health care provider for advice.

What causes back muscle pain?

* POSTURE. Among the most common causes of back muscle pain is incorrect posture. This is especially true of incorrect sitting posture. Think through your day. Do you spend long hour:

o sitting at a desk at work?
o in front of a computer?
o in front of the television set?
o behind the wheel of a vehicle?

Improper posture is the source of much back muscle pain. The muscles of the back are constantly struggling to keep your spine aligned. When you allow yourself to slouch or bend forward too much, you encourage back muscle pain. When you lean on an arm rest too long, you ask for back muscle pain.

* SHOES. Unhappily, your shoes may be causing your back muscle pain.
Shoes that do not fit properly can shift your weight slightly to one side or the other. Your muscles fight this shift, and back muscle pain results. Women’s high heels tend to shift the weight forward, again causing back muscle pain.

* STANDING / WALKING. If you walk a lot during the day, or stand for long periods of time, you may strain your back muscles. This strain can bring on back muscle pain.

* EXERCISE. Exercise is great, and your back needs exercise, especially Back Pain exercise. However, exercise without proper warm-up and cool-down times can cause back muscle pain. Incorrectly performed exercise is also a cause of back muscle pain.

How should I treat back muscle pain?

1. Begin with a hot bath. Epsom salts may be added, but make the bath hot. It will relax your back muscles.

2. Get a massage – or use an electric massager / massage cushion.

3. Begin regular Back Pain exercises, such as those found on this site.

4. Alternate heat from a heating pad (low to medium) with ice packs.

How can I avoid back muscle pain in the future?

* Work on your posture, especially sitting posture.
* Be sure your chair supports your lower back.
* When walking or standing for long periods of time, exchange stylish high heels for sensible heels.
* Exercise regular, with proper warm-up and cool-down.

Contact a physician to determine the cause of your individual back muscle pain, treat it with his or her approval, and then take precautions to avoid future back muscle pain.

Back Pain during Pregnancy – Causes

Your spine, muscles, tendons, and ligaments are all working overtime. They are trying to cope with several changes.

* added weight in front
* shift in your center of gravity
* reduced balance
* pressure on the spine

Back Pain during pregnancy is to be expected when you consider the increased work load your muscles have. And while it can be experienced at any point in pregnancy, it is more common in late pregnancy when baby’s weight increases. As your posture changes to maintain balance, the muscles of the lower back are especially strained. For this reason, Back Pain during pregnancy is most often lower Back Pain.

Back Pain during Pregnancy – Obesity

Overweight women are more likely to experience Back Pain during pregnancy than are those of healthy weight. The back is already straining to support a load that is too heavy for its structure. When the load of pregnancy is added, muscles are easily strained to the point of injury and pain.

Prevention and Treatment of Back Pain during Pregnancy

You can use simple treatments for Back Pain during pregnancy. Your healthcare provider will tell you which to use, and how often. Most doctors recommend continuation of physical activity and exercise to strengthen your back.

In addition, ask him or her about the following:

* get sufficient sleep – on your side, with pillows under knees
* elevate your feet several times during the day
* avoid high heels
* wear support under your abdomen
* when picking something up from the floor, kneel on one knee
* lift with your legs
* alternate hot and cold compresses

If Back Pain during pregnancy persists, visit your physician.

“I have upper Back Pain between my shoulders,” says one person. “My upper Back Pain is in my neck,” says another. “I have pain in upper back when swallowing,” says a third person. It is unusual to have pain with swallowing that is related to back muscle pain, and this person will obviously want to see a physician if symptoms persist.

But what causes the more common upper Back Pain?

Upper Back Pain Means Something Is Amiss

Pain is always a warning signal, so you will not want to ignore upper Back Pain. It may be something as simple as muscle strain, or it may signal something more.

Much upper Back Pain is the result of a muscle strain. Your back muscles constantly work to keep your spine aligned and healthy. To do so, they gently tug left, right, up and down. If they are forced to pull too long or too suddenly in one direction or another, they can become strained. This happens most frequently when unexercised muscles lack strength, or when muscles become injured because they are forced to repeat motions (overuse injury).

Causes of Upper Back Pain

The following is a limited list of upper Back Pain causes.

* Prolonged time hunched over a computer keyboard
* Unmanaged stress in workplace or home
* Improper sleeping posture
* Muscle injury caused by sports
* Muscle injury caused by improper exercise

Even wearing clothing that is too tight or too heavy can cause upper Back Pain.

As you can see, common upper Back Pain is usually a result of either muscular irritation or joint dysfunction.

1. Muscular Irritation

Upper Back Pain is frequently caused by irritation of the large muscles that attach your shoulder girdle to your shoulder blades and the back of your rib cage.

TREATMENT: Gentle exercise is a good treatment of upper Back Pain. Massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic or osteopathic treatments are also options. The focus is to stretch and strengthen muscles to relieve present pain and avoid upper Back Pain in the future.

2. Joint Dysfuntion

Upper Back Pain is less frequently caused by improper functioning of the two joints that connect your ribs with your spine in back.

TREATMENT: This upper Back Pain is usually treated by manual manipulation to mobilize the joints. You will want to have this performed by a therapist. Again, gentle exercise is vital.

What Should I Do?

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We always recommend seeing a physician if Back Pain seems unusual or persists more than a few days. Upper Back Pain is no exception.

In rare cases, upper Back Pain may be connected with thoracic disc disease. This condition needs to be diagnosed with x-rays or CAT/MRI scans and medical advice given by a trained professional.