Most Common Chronic Back Pain
Causes and Best Treatments
Common chronic back pain causes are identified. Discover the best treatment without surgery. There are both acute and chronic back related pain.
Acute pain has existed for 3-4 weeks or less and can result in severe lower back pain.
Chronic lower back pain has existed for 3 months or more. The back pain can be mild or severe but if it is longer term in nature it is chronic. Most back pain falls into the mild category because many people choose to manage mild lower back pain symptoms either by ignoring it or taking pain killers.
What they don’t understand is that their body is using the pain to tell them that their back is weak and something needs to be fixed.
There are several chronic back pain causes but you were likely injured when you were young. The ignorance of youth combined with “I am bulletproof” lets us think that we escaped without serious injury. As we age past the second decade of our lives our body is less able to cover up the sins of our past that have not been corrected.
Let’s examine a few of the most common causes of chronic back pain.
Pinched Nerve
Various things including ligament sprains can cause a pinched nerve in your lower back. The nerve root exits between a hole created by the vertebrae above and below. When one or both of the vertebrae become twisted they will touch the nerve root. This will many times cause lower right side back pain.
The nerve also controls several bodily functions and when those become disrupted various other neck, mid back and lower back pain symptoms typically arise. This is not understood by most people, even doctors, so it is typically misdiagnosed. When the twisted vertebrae irritates the nerve root it and is likely the most common of all chronic back pain causes.
A pinched nerve can also cause back pain in a child. A newborn will often end up with a pinched nerve in the neck coming through the birth canal. An infant’s back muscles are not yet developed and are not able to keep the spine aligned. A child can experience lower back pain as well, sometimes severe, after contorting themselves in weird positions.
Degenerative Disc
An injury that is not properly diagnosed and not allowed to heal properly deprives the disc of needed nutrients. This will vastly accelerate the aging process and over time will cause the disc to shrink in size, essentially degenerating. Since the lumbar area is the focus of most injuries this is also known as lumbar disc disease and one of the causes of lower back pain.
It is also very similar to discogenic back pain. This in itself can cause lower left side pain but a degenerative disc will help to create spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the nerve canal. This results in a nerve being impinged and chronic lower back pain is a common result.
Herniated Disc
A person can injure their spine and create a bulging disc in their back but often times will not feel pain immediately. Excess pressure is put on the disc when injured causing the center of the disc, the nucleus pulposus, to protrude towards the outside. This causes the disc to bulge.
Ultimately the nucleus pulposus protrudes through the outer annular wall causing a herniated disc. Chemicals are secreted irritating the nerve root causing symptoms of a herniated disc such as numbness or tingling typically one one side of the body including pain in your lower left back.
If you are like most chronic back pain sufferers you have good and bad days. Your body is telling you that you have a weak link in your spinal chain. Small mistakes will focus on this weak area making it worse. Think of how your current pain is now compared to a few years ago. It is very likely worse. This pattern will continue.
Chronic back pain means your spine is weak. One minor injury can force you to back surgery.
You must get an accurate diagnosis and seek treatment. Severe lower back pain and many chronic back pain causes can be cured with spinal decompression therapy; a non-surgical approach where the spine is gently distracted. Recent studies have had success rates as high as 86%.
There is a window of time that your problem can either be fixed or at least arrested from getting worse. Take action and make your health a priority.
Educational Videos
These 3D animations with voice-over are to help you better understand your condition and the possible course of action to treat it.
The simple to use interface will allow you to see and hear the explainations of many conditions, inculding their treatments. The Amazing Spine area will explain the human spine and each vertebrea’s affect on the internal organs and nerves.
To your better health!
