The most commonly encountered cause for low back pain is mechanical, that is strain/sprain injuries of muscles and ligaments, and disc injuries. Common causes for injury are postural stress, occupational stress, sporting injuries and falls.
Postural stress: Sitting at the desk, working under a car, sleeping on your stomach, any position that you find yourself in for a prolonged period will place your body under stress. Poor prolonged postures result in stretching of ligaments known as "creep", if left too long this can destabilise joints and result in pain. The best advice in avoiding postural stress is not one "ideal posture" but rather to move around as often as you can and try to put yourself in varying postures. Correct posture requires muscle balance which is why exercising plays such a large role in achieving optimal health.
Occupational stress: Injury can occur with repetitive movements, this is known as Occupational Overuse Syndrome (OOS) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Movements involving lifting and twisting can be especially damaging to the spine. These types of injuries occur over a longer period of time with gradual degeneration. The only way to prevent these types of injuries is to vary your movements and balance your body with exercise.
Sporting/recreational injuries and falls can injure your spine and joints in your body through direct trauma or from over stretching. Having a strong core will help prevent injury, increase stability and improve recovery time.
The simple answer to preventing and reducing back pain is use it, or lose it. By varying movements of the body or regularly exercising potential or actual trouble areas, pain can be alleviated or averted but it needs to be the right sort of exercise.
