| Back pain is mankind's bane. It is one of the most | | | | between each vertebra. It is elastic but wears out |
| common reasons for visiting the doctor, and around | | | | with age, and an injury or an accident can rupture it, |
| 90 percent of adults have at one time or another | | | | causing a portion to slip outside its normal boundary, |
| experienced it. The pain we feel can originate from | | | | causing back pain. |
| any one of our numerous bones, joints, muscles, | | | | While arthritis usually occurs in the joints of the |
| tissues and ligaments in the back. In terms of pain, | | | | extremities, such as the fingers and knees, |
| our back can be divided into four sections. There is | | | | sometimes it can affect our joints in the spine as |
| the tailbone pain, the lower back pain, the pain in the | | | | arthritis can affect all the joints in the body. This is a |
| upper back and the pain in the neck. Pain can come | | | | condition known as lumbar spine arthritis. Arthritic pain |
| and go, it can be mild or excruciating, and it can also | | | | comes and goes, and happens in varying degrees. |
| be chronic. It can start in one place then radiate to | | | | Discogenic back pain occurs at the lower region of |
| other parts of the back. There are back pains that | | | | the back, caused by injury to the intervertebral disc |
| radiate to the arms, legs and feet, and sometimes | | | | where the disc is not herniated. A discogram is used |
| radiating even to the head. Sometimes the pain is | | | | to diagnose this type of back pain. |
| accompanied by a tingling sensation, even numbness | | | | Back pain can also come from osteoporosis, or |
| and weakness. | | | | "brittle bone disease". This condition causes the |
| What keeps us upright is our spine, which is a | | | | weakening of the bones, and its increased |
| complex interconnection of bones, nerves, joints, | | | | susceptibility to breakage. Osteoporosis can cause a |
| ligaments and muscles that are all susceptible to injury | | | | broken hip or a spine fracture. This is usually |
| or damage which in turn can cause pain. What ensues | | | | prevented by taking calcium to strengthen the bone. |
| is a brief look at some of the causes of back pain. | | | | Never mind the back pains, osteoporosis could be |
| The number one cause of back pain is lumbar muscle | | | | quite debilitating and life-threatening if it remains |
| strain, which can be due to a variety of causes, and | | | | unchecked. |
| a patient may not be able to pinpoint what happened | | | | Spondylolisthesis is another cause of back pain. It |
| to trigger the muscle strain. The upside of this type | | | | occurs when adjacent vertebra becomes unstable |
| of back pain is that it subsides over time and may be | | | | causing it to slip. Degenerative changes causes |
| completely resolved in weeks. | | | | spondylolisthesis, this is when the stabilizing structures |
| As we age, our spinal canal can be constricted and | | | | of our spine are lost. An unstable back is a painful |
| cause back pain. This is known as spinal stenosis, and | | | | one. |
| is common among the elder population. The | | | | Understanding the causes of back pain would make it |
| constriction of the spinal canal can be caused by a | | | | easier to control or eliminate altogether, but we are |
| number of reasons the most common of which is | | | | still the best judge of whether our back pain is |
| arthritis. | | | | something we can manage, or if we would need to |
| A herniated spinal disc is another cause of back pain. | | | | seek medical attention. |
| The spinal disc is a cushion located in the gaps | | | | |