Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments: Lower Back Pain
What Causes Lower Back Pain ?
Lower back pain is a common cause of doctor visits worldwide. The modern sedentary lifestyle, where we spend hours at a desk, can take a toll on the lower back. The result is pain that limits our ability to move.
You may be one of the 16 million people that struggle with back pain daily. If so, this article is for you as the experts at Mimico Physiotherapy will discuss the causes, symptoms, and treatments of lower back pain.
What Causes Lower Back Pain
Pain can result from any injury to the muscles, nerves, or ligaments in the lower back. Understandably, the causes of lower back pain are many.
Sudden movements can over-stretch and tear muscles leading to back pain. On the other hand, sprains develop more slowly following repetitive movements that damage ligaments. Common causes of a back sprain include lifting heavy objects and a hunched-over posture.
Beyond the muscles and ligaments, a jelly-like disc—called the lumbar disc—fills the spaces between adjacent vertebrae. This is responsible for spinal lubrication and protecting nerves as they leave the spinal cord. However, the lumbar disc weakens with time and may herniate in older individuals leading to pain.
Similarly, the canal carrying nerves to your back and lower limb narrows with time. Eventually, this can compress spinal nerves leading to chronic pain.
On rare occasions, one of the vertebrae in the spine may slip out, causing damage to the spinal cord—and surrounding muscles and nerves. This is dangerous and can lead to paralysis and chronic debilitating pain.
Other rare causes of back pain include infections, malignancies, and joint degeneration disorders.
What Symptoms Are Related to Lower Back Pain
Many symptoms accompany lower back pain because back injuries can often involve the spinal cord. The spinal cord controls many bodily functions such as bladder and bowel control and pain transmission. Thus, in addition to bowel and bladder dysfunction, pain radiating down the legs is a common symptom associated with back pain.
In addition, if you are suffering from an underlying infection or malignant process, symptoms such as weight loss, weakness, and fever are also common. In more extreme instances, one may also experience paralysis of one or more limbs.
What Treatments Can Help Treat Lower Back Pain
Treating back pain depends on addressing the underlying cause.
Most sprains and strains can recover following a period of rest and recovery. Over-the-counter medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs also help relieve pain and boost recovery. Steroid injections and muscle relaxants can also help.
Prevention is key, so working on your posture and practicing good body biomechanics when lifting heavy objects helps prevent back pain. Strengthening and stretching exercises can also help. Even if your back does get injured, a more muscular back and an upright posture can help you get back to a pain-free state quicker.
In addition, physiotherapy is a popular treatment that can help you with any back or body pain. This is because a physiotherapist can advise you on the best practices to develop a healthier body. Not just that, a physiotherapist can also help you get back on your feet quicker following an injury.
Get Rid of Your Back Pain Today!
Back pain may be common, but that does not mean you have to live with it. Mimico Physiotherapy is a reputable physiotherapy and chiropractic clinic that is here to help you move through life pain-free, naturally.
Call 647-351-4000 or visit our website to book a consultation with one of our experts, and take the first step to get rid of your back pain today.
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