Low Back Pain – Mechanical and Degenerative Causes
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Low Back Pain (LBP) or sometimes referred to as lumbago, is one of the most common musculoskeletal ailment facing us today.
A survey conducted by the Back Society of Singapore found that over the previous 6 months prior to the survey, 18% or 1 in 5 adults had suffered an episode of neck or back pain. 50% of back pain sufferers had experienced an attack at least once a month or more frequently.
Unfortunately, from a relative perspective, the 99% of lower back pain stems from benign musculoskeletal problems such as muscle or soft tissue sprains and strains. Therefore, these cases are referred to as non specific low back pain.
Mechanical:
- Apophyseal osteoarthritis
- Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis
- Degenerative discs
- Scheuermann’s kyphosis
- Spinal disc herniation (“slipped disc”)
- Thoracic or lumbar spinal stenosis
- Spondylolisthesis and other congenital abnormalities
- Fractures
- Leg length difference
- Restricted hip motion
- Misaligned pelvis – pelvic obliquity, anteversion or retroversion
- Abnormal Foot Pronation
Causes
Low back pain caused by spinal degeneration and injury.
Generally, back pain often develops without a cause that your doctor can identify with a test or an imaging study. Hence, conditions commonly linked to back pain include:
- Muscle or ligament strain. Repeated heavy lifting or a sudden awkward movement can strain back muscles and spinal ligaments. If you’re in poor physical condition, constant strain on your back can cause painful muscle spasms.
- Bulging or ruptured disks. Disks act as cushions between the bones (vertebrae) in your spine. The soft material inside a disk can bulge or rupture and press on a nerve. However, you can have a bulging or ruptured disk without back pain. Disk disease is often found incidentally when you have spine X-rays for some other reason.
- Arthritis. Osteoarthritis can affect the lower back. In some cases, arthritis in the spine can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis.
- Osteoporosis. Your spine’s vertebrae can develop painful fractures if your bones become porous and brittle.
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