5 Reasons You May Have Back Pain

Updated on October 18, 2020

Did you know that back pain has been ranked as one of the leading disabilities in a lot of countries? Well, back pain can highly affect anyone from kids to elderly people. It can also affect their quality of life by causing conditions that affect other parts of their body. Back pain has become a lot more common nowadays and at some point in life, every individual has to deal with such pain. Also, if the pain persists, visit a chiropractor for back pain and get all the help you deserve.

Getting to know the cause of back pain is very challenging since there are a lot of back-ailment terms that you might be unfamiliar with. To start with, an adult’s spine has 24 bones that are known as vertebrae. It also has sacrum and coccyx bones that help in supporting and protecting the spinal cord’s major nerve fires that are connected to an adult’s brain.

 Between each vertebra, there is a disc that is always filled with gel-like materials that function as shock absorbers and also that are made of cartilage. The vertebrae is held together by muscles, small joints known as facets, ligaments and tendons. With such knowledge, it is easier to identify the possible causes of back pain that are discussed below.

Disc pain.

This is one of the leading causes of back pain that happens mostly when one of your discs dislocates. A bulging disc is usually pushed out of place which is normal since it is part of aging in elderly people. An inherited trait or even wear and tear is also likely to cause some cracked cartilage of the discs.

The disc can also rapture or press the nerves into the spinal cord. This might cause some of the back pain and also some muscle weakness. In this case, surgery is not required but it is always necessary to ease the pressure on the affected nerves.

Stress.

If some of these back pains are addressed in the right way, surgery might not need to be an option. Back pain is sometimes caused by your lifestyle changes or even so much stress that might start affecting your spine. Such lifestyle changes include lifting of heavy objects, smoking, slouching, obesity or even the way you sleep. Your sleeping style might cause some of the severe pains and discomfort.

These lifestyle habits are very unhealthy and can cause neck and back pain due to the tensions in muscles.

Spinal stenosis.

This is the most common type of back pain that affects a lot of people. Spinal stenosis is highly caused by the narrowing of the spine space and the nerves in the spine being compressed. Once you notice symptoms such as numbness, pains in your legs or arms, cramping or even weakness. In worst cases, it can cause bowel issues or even bladders problems.

This issue is highly common in elderly people above the age of 55 but can also happen at any point in your adult life. There are two types of the spinal stenosis that are classified according to the location of the spine. Cervical stenosis being one of the types, its narrowing happens around the neck portion in the spine. 

The second one is the lumbar stenosis, its narrowing also occurs at the lower back of the spine. It is also the most common in a lot of adults.

Spondylolisthesis.

This is a condition that causes the slipping of the spinal vertebrae. It mostly happens at the base of the spine. The vertebrae bone moves backwards, forward or even below it. The spinal base is always at risk since it is exposed to a lot of pressure since it absorbs, carries and distributes weight all over the body. 

As it absorbs the pressure and weight of the body, it moves in a lot of directions such as bending, rotating and twisting. Too much movement and weight can lead to such a condition known as the spondylolisthesis.

Fibromyalgia.

This kind of condition affects mostly women and is commonly known as a natural way of how the body deals with the pain. Recent studies have shown that many patients who have such pains are not because of structural abnormality. It is rather caused by deficiency of the pain-processing mechanisms that shows that your brain is sensitive to any incoming pain.

Conclusion.

It is important to note that back pains are a sign of a very serious condition. This mostly happens if your family has a history of cancer or even when you have had unexplained weight gain or loss. Back pains are also caused by uncontrollable bladder or loss of proper bowel movements.

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.