Top 5 Low Back Pain Causes
Top 5 Low Back Pain Causes
Top 5 Low Back Pain Causes
If you want to prevent low back pain or if you already suffer from it, you need to understand what causes it. Here are the five most common low back pain causes:
1. Muscle Imbalances
Many people are not familiar with muscle imbalances. In simple terms, a muscle imbalance occurs when you have overdeveloped and tight muscles in one area of your body while the opposing muscles are weak and stretched out of their normal position. Muscle imbalances can happen anywhere on your body and there are several things that can contribute to and create them, such as how you sit, stand and walk, what you do for work, how active you are, what activities you frequently do, and what types of exercise you perform.
Muscle imbalances pull your bones and joints out of their normal alignment, and this results in what are called postural dysfunctions. Postural dysfunctions cause constant tension and increased wear and tear on your bones, ligaments, joints and discs. Postural dysfunctions include abnormal alignment of the pelvis and abnormal curvature of the spine, and this often leads to low back pain.
Muscle imbalances often cause you to feel pain in one part of your body, such as your lower back, when the pain is actually originating in another part of your body, such as your hamstrings or thighs.
The good news is that muscle imbalances are relatively easy to identify and address. Once you know what muscle imbalances you have, you can then correct them by performing the right combination of corrective exercises and stretches.
2. Overuse, Strain or Injury
Low back pain is often caused by overuse, strain or injury. For instance, people often hurt their backs performing common activities such as pushing, pulling and lifting things, bending over a workbench, cleaning out the garage, or working in the garden or yard. Sports, accidents and falls are also frequent causes of low back pain.
3. Medical Conditions
Many medical conditions can cause or contribute to lower back pain. These include spinal deformities, such as scoliosis (which causes curvature of the spine), kyphosis (Scheuermann's disease) and spondylolisthesis, various forms of arthritis, including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal column that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves). Other causes of low back pain include pregnancy, kidney stones, infections, tumors and fibromyalgia (which causes fatigue and widespread muscle pain).
4. Age
As you age, the discs between the vertebrae of your spine, which act as shock absorbers and allow your back to move, deteriorate and provide less cushioning, and this often leads to lower back pain. Your bones and muscles also tend to lose strength as you age, which increases the risk for the types of injuries that can cause lower back pain.
5. Emotional Stress
Although the causes of low back pain are usually physical, emotional stress can play a role in how severe low back pain is and how long it lasts. Stress can affect your body in many ways, including causing your back muscles to become tense and more painful.
In conclusion, by understanding these common low back pain causes, you'll be better able to prevent low back pain or be better able to get relief for low back pain if you already suffer from it.
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