Top 5 Causes Why Your Back is Hurting
San Rafael Chiropractor Shares Advice
According to the Arthritis Foundation, an estimated 50 to 80% of American adults will experience back pain. When your back hurts, you want to know the cause so you can do something about it.
But, reasons vary and they are often hard to figure out. We all have 24 vertebrae that can get knocked out of line, strained, twisted, or compressed and that can happen in many different ways leading to pain.
Reason #1: Too much exercise can cause your back to hurt
This is both true and false. If you’re new to running, cycling, hiking, or other aerobic sports, it’s always wise to start slowly and work your way up to longer workouts. Otherwise, you can feel neck and back pain from too much exercise. Form is important with exercise. People who push themselves too hard tend to loose proper body mechanics which can cause injury.
On the other hand, if you don’t exercise enough, your back may get stiff from inactivity. Plus, exercise increases muscle flexibility, burns fat, and maintains a healthy weight –– all of which can prevent your back from hurting.
Reason #2 Poor Posture
Posture is an issue because it changes the alignment and range of motion of the spinal joints. This creates inflammation, can lead to arthritis and irritates nerves causing pain and tight muscles.
The main goal of chiropractic adjusting is to restore proper alignment and movement. If you have had bad posture for a long time you may find it difficult to sit up straight because your joints are stuck.
Reason #3: Arthritis can be painful
Arthritis affects most people as they age because your spongy cartilage gets thinner, which leads you to developing calcium deposits and bone spurs that cause pain. Many forms of arthritis can affect your joints, back muscles and or vertebrae in your neck down to your sacrum, but your lower back is the most common area of back pain.
Exercise is helpful for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and other arthritic conditions because movement increases blood flow and flexibility. However, frequent chiropractic adjustments, heat and cold therapy, physical therapy, massage therapy, and reducing inflammation can relieve some of your pain. Regular chiropractic treatment has been shown to prevent or slow the progression of osteoarthritis because it keeps the joints moving well.
Reason #4: Muscle strains can cause your lower back to hurt, too
Heavy lifting, a sports injury, or an especially intense exercise regime can commonly cause pain, especially in your lower back. These muscles are under pressure all day long, particularly if you sit for long periods of time or you’re overweight, causing more strain on your low back.
A muscle sprain can cause your muscle to over stretch or tear, while a lumbar strain overstretch or tear a ligament. Both have the same symptoms –– localized, sudden pain, sometimes accompanied by muscle spasms. Adapting to strains and sprains can cause alignment and movement issues for the spine resulting in more problems.
Reason #5: Disc injuries can cause a backache
When your discs, which are the padded cushions of your vertebrae bulge or rupture, that herniation can cause shooting, severe pain. It could be caused by an injury or from long term wear and tear, which in turn, causes inflammation and pressure on your nerves and possibly even Sciatica, pain down the leg.
If any of these reasons sound familiar, it might be time to seek professional help to discuss your history and determine exactly what caused your back to become painful in the first place and create a treatment plan to resolve it.
