Lumbar Back Pain Causes: Top Reasons Why Your Back Hurts

Lumbar Back Pain

Are you suffering from back pain? Do you feel pain in your back while doing normal work? The pain in the back can be a symptom of lumbago. Do you know around 70% of the adult population is now suffering from lumbar back pain or also known as lumbago! If you are one of them and looking for some way to get relief from such chronic back pain, you have arrived at the perfect place. Generally, the symptoms of lower back pain are due to benign musculoskeletal problems. You can effectively deal with the condition, but for this, you need to have proper knowledge about the causes of low back pain. Read through the article to learn more about these.

What do you mean by Lumbago?

Lumbago is often caused by the muscles straining of the lower back. Such a situation can occur due to sudden bending and twisting or due to improper technique while lifting heavy objects. It has seen that sometimes people don’t feel the muscle strain immediately. It increases gradually as the area tightens up. Lumbago is muscular in origin, there a lot of ways through which lumbosacral pain symptoms can be reduced. For example, by improving posture, reducing body weight, doing various cardiovascular exercises, weight training, and stretching.

Different Categories of Back Pain

The lumbar spine supports the weight of your body. It is prone to injury and can develop terrible pain in the lumbar region. Lumbar back pain can vary from mild to severe. But it depends on the type of injury that you have received. You may suffer from two types of back pain:[1]

Acute back pain arises abruptly and heals within a few days to weeks. The source of acute back pain can be the ligaments, discs, joints and muscles. Generally, such type of back pain occurs from tight muscles, degenerative discs, and inflamed joints.

Such kind of back pain can last for around three months and more. During such a condition you may feel pain while doing some specific activities. It is difficult to detect the source of back pain, but it can develop due to scarring of tissues, damage to your nerve, arthritis and more. Both acute and chronic back pain can indicate either minor issues or serious conditions.

Causes for Your Sharp Back Pain

One of the most common causes for back pain is the strain. Possible causes of the strain can be overuse or overstretching. Overstretching can affect the back tendons and the muscles. Back pain may develop after sitting for a long time in the same position, from poor posture, etc. In some cases, the lower lumbar strain is caused by injuries after lifting heavy objects. In the case of lumbar strain, you need to treat it as soon as possible.[2]

This is also called as idiopathic mechanical pain and generally occurs due to strain in muscles and moving your body in ways you generally do not. Idiopathic pain generally develops in the lumbar area which supports your body’s weight.

PMS related pain is visceral pain, and it comes from the body organ. During this a cram in the uterus affect your lumbar, causing pain. You may also suffer from back cramps. Following the back cramps, women can feel pain in the lower back and pelvic area. In such conditions you can for lumbar pain treatment you can go for dry heat or can take NSAIDS medicines such as naproxen, ibuprofen etc.

Muscle knots are very sensitive spots. However, there is no such guarantee that the pain of muscle knots is caused by muscle injury. Sometimes the reason can be an injury in nerves. Massage therapy can help you get a lot of relief from such a condition. Lifting a heavyweight or helping the neighbors to move a bed can overstretch the muscles and ligaments. As a result, you will end up with sprains. However,  that such type of back pain usually heals in a few days to weeks.

Most of the pregnant women suffer from lower or lumbar back pain. As the weight and size of the belly grow, this tilts the pelvis forward, stretching the curve of the lumbar spine. This is called lordosis, and it puts a lot of strain on the muscles of your lower back. Such a condition can also lead to sciatica. If you have some lumbosacral pain symptoms during your pregnancy, to lower the pain, you can strengthen the core muscles, maintaining proper posture and by using quality abdominal supports belt which is used during pregnancy.

This is also called as a slipped disc, and this is one of the most common causes of lower back pain. This condition can develop in the middle and upper back, but common in the lumbar area. In this condition, the gelatinous material of the disc leaks out and irritates the nerves surrounding the area

The largest nerve of the body is sciatic, and the root of this nerve is located in the lumbar sacral area.  One of the major lumbosacral pain symptoms is sciatica. Such type of pain generally arises only one side of the body. The pain will move through your lower back to the back of your leg and can affect your ankle. It sometimes causes unbearable back pain, numbness, and will limit the movement the back and foot.[3]

Sometimes back pain may happen due to your kidney stone condition. The reason behind this is the kidneys are located toward the back. Many people don’t even realize that they have the kidney stone. They become aware of the stones when they try to pass through the urinary tract. But those which are large, grow with time, causing pain.

This condition is also known as pyelonephritis. Pain related to kidney infections can spread from the kidney to lower part of your stomach. Kidney infections can cause bleeding.

Spondylosis is a condition which causes pain in the neck. When the joints and ligaments get too loose, your bone can get slipped off. When this happens, it put pressure against the nerves. Spondylosis generally affects the neck and lumbar.

Fibromyalgia generally affects women. It happens when there is a disturbance on the natural way the body manages pain.

Rheumatoid arthritis leads to pain and stiffness in the hands, wrists and feet joints. This causes the vertebrae of the neck to break down, causing pain in the spine.

Scoliosis causes a curvature of the spin and can limit your ability to move. You may even feel discomfort while breathing.

You will feel pain in your neck or lower back and the level will increase with time.

The most common reason behind such condition is osteoarthritis. Under spinal stenosis, you will feel pain in nerve compression.

It occurs due to normal wear and tears on the discs. With age discloses the water content and sponginess, causing pain.

There will be a breakdown of cartilage and can affect the joints in the spine. The back may feel rigid, and you will feel pain after standing or walking.

Osteoporosis is also called as brittle bone disease. The bones lose density and become weak. It is easier to prevent such condition by maintaining the level of calcium in your diet.

It occurs when a backbone collapses. The fractures are generally found not because you have pain, but because you become shorter.

The pain from pancreatitis begins in the upper abdomen. The pain will travel to the back, and will usually be on the right side.

Severe trauma to your neck can break the neck. It is a serious injury which develops pain in the lumbar area. In such a condition, you may need emergency medical treatment.

In this condition, you will feel pain in the lower back and upper buttocks, genitalia, and thigh. A lot of mechanical and malignant situation can lead to such a condition.

The pain from the abdominal aortic is sudden. It is felt in the abdomen and is often described as a searing sensation.

You will feel heavy stiffness than pain from meningitis and the stiffness will be aroused in the neck area. There are vaccines available for children and adults which can prevent such condition.

Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack which can affect both men and women. However, you may not experience this kind of powerful chest pain during a heart attack. Women may feel pain in the upper back area.

Cancers such as the breast, lung or thyroid generally spread to the bones in the back. During such a condition, you may feel extreme pressure and swell at the end of the spinal cord.

The infection caused by bacteria starts somewhere else and spreads into the vertebrae. The symptoms are back pain and fever.

References

1..https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5859963_Classification_of_low_back_pain

2..https://www.orthopt.org/uploads/content_files/ICF/Updated_Guidelines/Low_Back_Pain_Clinical_Practice_Guidelines___JOSPT_2012.pdf

3..https://www.buoyhealth.com/current/27-reasons-for-back-pain/

4..https://www.physio-pedia.com/Lumbar_Discogenic_Pain