What Causes Lower Back Pain?
Lower back pain is one illness that seems to keep affecting a growing number of people every year. It also causes excruciating pain and makes the patient unable to go about their normal lives. How, or why, do people get affected by this problem? Here is a look at some of the causes.
Our spine has a number of discs working like cushions or buffers between vertebral bones. They protect the spinal cord, the nerves passing through the spine. But with age these discs lose their strength and elasticity, become flatter, get broken and parts of them may stick out and come into contact with the nerves. This causes a biting pain through one or both legs of the patient. Such damaged discs are called herniated discs or slipped discs.
With aging, the spine itself gets worn out and the passage through it becomes narrower. Movements like bending can cause the spine to come into contact with the nerves, causing severe pain.
Apart from these age related factors, there might be other causes which are accidental in nature. An accidental fall or collision in course of our daily life, including those suffered during sports and outdoor activities or workouts, may lead to lower back pain.
Diseases like kidney stones and addictions like smoking may also lead to degeneration of inter-vertebral discs and lower back pain.
Finally, bad posture (i.e. slouching) when sitting down for long periods of time at the office, while driving or watching TV may also lead to lower back pain.
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