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It is estimated that there are well over 200 separate causes of Back pain, ranging from the temporary injury of a sudden twist all the way to cancer.

The low back is an strong, complex and intricate structure where bones, muscles, ligaments, fascia, tendons and discs are connected to support the body, create movement and protect the delicate spinal nerves in the area. Of all these, the low back muscles and disc tissue are the two elements of the low back that are most responsible for backache, no matter what the specific cause might be. The difficulty of giving you an answer to this question is that many times a person will have several different problems going on at the same time ( for example, having Arthritis, being overweight, weak muscles, and falling down the stairs) that it is practically impossible to say which of several problems is the actual cause of backache when it occurs.

Acute Back pain (lasting for one to three weeks) is usually caused by an injury of some type or an aggravation of a deep fundamental problem of the low back (birth defect or Arthritis). The younger the person with back pain, the more likely the back pain is related to direct injury.

Chronic back pain (lasting three months or longer) tends to related some type of degenerative problem of the spine (disc thinning or bone spurs) that is part of the aging process, or secondary to disease of the area. The older the person with back pain, the more likely the back pain is related to spinal degeneration (spondylosis).

Just a brief list of what could go wrong to cause backaches:

  • Strains and sprains from overuse and direct trauma to soft tissue of the back
  • Prolonged inactivity and simply being out of shape
  • Cumulative effects of obesity
  • Disc herniation, disc tearing, disc thinning
  • Facet joint hypertrophy, facet joint arthritis
  • Sciatic neuritis
  • Degenerative joint disease
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Lumbar joint misalignment (subluxation)
  • Muscle spasm
  • Sacroiliac joint inflammation or structural instability
  • Kidney problem of any type
  • Pregnancy
  • Referred pain from gynecological problems (ovaries, uterus)
  • Referred pain from prostate problems
  • Aortic aneurysm (major weakness and bulging of aorta artery)
  • Bone tumor

Always consult with a doctor if your backache cannot be explained (backache that starts the day after you move a refrigerator) or for back pain that does not respond in one week to ice, rest and over-the-counter pain mediation.

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