What can cause lower back pain?
There are quite a few possible causes of lower back pain, some of the most commonly encountered of which we have listed below.
- Strains and sprains – Whether from repetitive movements or a single movement that puts too much stress on your back, muscle strains and ligament sprains are a common cause of lower back pain. In many cases, a combination of pain management and physical therapy is an effective way to treat strains and sprains. Adjustments to your lifestyle may also be required in the event of frequent recurrences of the original condition.
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) – Even if you avoid putting unnecessary strain on your lower back, the aging process can sometimes cause problems. The loss of fluid in spinal discs is one of these problems and DDD, as it is known, can lead to severe lower back pain. If you want to know how to fix lower back pain caused by DDD, you should consult a local spine specialist. Common options may include compression, strength exercises and physical therapy but if these conservative treatment options fail to provide relief, surgical treatments may include: endoscopic spine surgery, artificial disc replacement or spinal fusion.
- Herniated disc – A herniated disc may result from DDD. It may also result from placing too much load on your spine with a single movement. In either case, a discectomy is one of the surgical treatment options that is often offered to patients. However, for less severe cases, a regimen of pain medication and manual therapy may keep the pain at acceptable levels.
- Spinal stenosis – This condition is a narrowing of the canal in your spine in which the nerves are located. The compression of these nerves causes consistent lower back pain. Pain management, physical therapy, corticosteroid injections and lifestyle modifications may be recommended in many cases. Surgical treatment options for spinal stenosis include spinal decompression, endoscopic spine surgery, or spinal fusion for cases in which instability of the spine is a concern.
If you are searching for information on how to fix lower back pain, you first need to identify what is causing the pain. As you can see, there are a number of common causes, to which can be added less common conditions such as compression fractures, deformities and osteoarthritis. Consulting a spinal specialist and asking him or her the right questions will help you to choose the best course of treatment for your specific condition.
If you are suffering from lower back pain and you’re in Texas or able to travel here, please call or email us to make an appointment to see one of the experienced spine specialists on our medical staff.