Understanding Back Pain and the Reasons Why They Happen
Back pain affects a majority of people in the population, whether they are old or young, none is exempt. This can happen in many parts of the vertebral column; at the middle back, upper back or lower back areas. The pain can be sudden or gradual; it can be permanent or can move form one portion of the vertebrae to another. Sometimes, it could even affect proximal areas such as the neck and the arms.
There are several reasons why people experience back pain. One of are the muscles surrounding the back are itself. Muscles strains are due to bad posture; this could also be caused by overuse of the muscles and too much activity. Muscle strains are most common in the lower back area. Low back pain or lumbago is triggered most frequently when people pick up heavy object without using the correct posture of doing so.
Other reason for back pain is a ruptured disc. This sometimes happen with accidents or due to weak bone structure.
The third reason why back pains occur is spinal stenosis. This is the common back pain experienced by the ageing population. As the fluid between each joint dry up during ageing, the spinal canal becomes too tight. This pressure can then lead to the occurrence of chronic pain in older men and women.
The fourth reason for back pain is osteoporosis. Most women are the targets of this disease, but men are not exempt also. Osteoporosis happens when the normal structure of the vertebral column is compressed to a shorter height due to the thinning and the degeneration of the bone. As the bones grow weaker and weaker, the possibility of fractures increases making them very vulnerable under this condition.
The fifth cause of back pain is spondylolisthesis. This happens when the stabilizing structure of the spine starts to degenerate causing one of its discs to slip down. And because of this instability, pain occurs in the back area.
When people have back pains, it is very difficult to pinpoint the specific underlying reason unless you are subjected to medical tests and examinations. Sometimes, back pains could even be caused by a simply sleeping on a wrong position of by just carrying too much heavy load, so we can never tell for ourselves.
People treat back pain in many ways. Some may find relief in cold compress, hot compress or even pain relievers. But these treatments may just be superficial and are just targeting only pain relief and not the real reason for the pain. So to patients, always be aware of your condition. If the back pains are becoming more and more frequent, persists for several days, gives you difficulty in movement, gives you fever or chills and any other suspicious symptoms, then it is time to seek help from a doctor.
Back pains may be the most natural thing but you should never ignore this condition as it could possible lead to serious and more complicated problems if the pain and the condition is allowed to be prolonged and remains untreated.
