Your Aching Back and Why It's So
By Sara Butler
Back pain is going to happen to you – or it’s likely to. At any given time there are millions of Americans experiencing back pain, and you have an 80 percent chance of experiencing it yourself at some point in your life. Why is back pain so prevalent? Here are a few of the reasons and how you may be able to avoid it with the help of your chiropractor.
Why Back Pain Occurs So Frequently
The simple truth is that any activity can cause back pain. Do you like to golf on the weekends? You could suffer from back pain. Do you like to spend time working in your garden? Yep – back pain can occur. Even activities you do every day such as pick up your child or doing laundry can cause back pain.
Most back pain is short-term, or what your chiropractor refers to as acute back pain. Acute back pain can last for a few days or a few weeks. If your back pain lasts beyond three months then you have a condition called chronic back pain. Both acute and chronic back pain should be addressed with your chiropractor.
The Causes of Back Pain
There are many things that can cause back pain, and most of those causes are mechanical. Some examples of mechanical back pain causes include:
- Strains and sprains – This is an injury to the ligament or muscle, and the culprit behind a large percentage of acute back pain. Twisting, moving suddenly or lifting something heavy can all be the harbingers of acute low back pain.
- Disc degeneration – Your back ages right along with the rest of you and the discs between the bones in your spine aren’t immune to the aging process either. Over time these discs can lose their flexibility, which results in a decrease in the shock-absorbing abilities of the discs, leading to pain.
- Traumatic injury – If you fall, are in a car accident or receive an injury from exercise or sports, then you can experience back pain.
- Sciatica – The nerve that runs from your lower back down your legs can become compressed for a variety of reasons and lead to some rather intense pain.
What You Can Do
Your chiropractor is happy to work with you to help prevent back pain caused by mechanical issues. You can greatly improve your odds against back pain by having regular chiropractic adjustments, maintaining good posture at work and home, lifting properly and exercising. If you have any questions about other ways to prevent back pain, discuss it with your chiropractor the next time you’re at The Joint!