Reasons Behind Your Lower Back Pain

If you’re looking for back pain relief near The Woodlands, it might help to know the cause of your back pain. You can practice much more effective pain management techniques if you understand the triggers of your lower back pain. Here are some of the most common causes behind lower back pain.

Back Muscle Strain

The most common cause of lower back pain in adults is a pulled or strained muscle in the back. Your spine is surrounded by several groups of back muscles, and each group is responsible for a different movement or action. An injury, strain, or sprain of any muscle in the lower back will cause lower back pain. A back muscle strain will cause difficulty moving, a dull, aching pain that travels to the groin, buttocks, and upper thigh, muscle spasms, and tenderness to the touch. The severity of the pain can range from mild to severe, and can be very debilitating.

Lumbar Herniated Disc or Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease is a spinal condition that occurs with aging. As you age, the discs between the vertebrae in your spine begin to dehydrate and become more brittle. Even a slight injury or lifting a heavy item can cause a disc to herniate or slip out of place. When a disc is damaged and places pressure on or irritates the sciatic nerve, you will experience lower back pain. You will also experience sciatica symptoms, which include lower back pain that radiates to the buttock, hip, thigh, and leg, numbness or tingling in your limbs, and muscle weakness.

Lumbar Spinal Stenosis or Degenerative Spondylolisthesis

Lumbar spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis both put pressure on the nerves near the base of the spine. This can cause you to experience leg pain and back pain. You might find lower back pain relief quickly after sitting down, but the pain will begin again when you stand up and move. The symptoms may appear and disappear, and can range from mild to severe. You may also suffer from sciatica.