Sometimes people wrongly think that certain physical ailments are only attributed to aging or only afflict older people. When it comes to back pain, they couldn’t be more wrong. While low back pain definitely afflicts the elderly and aging, it can also affect a healthy adult or even a teenager or child.
The back consists of many different parts. Down its centre is the spinal column, which holds the back in place and also protects the spinal cord and its adjoining nerves. The spine is made up of different types of vertebrae, each of which are separated by round cartilage pads called discs. There are also ligaments and tendons that hold the vertebrae in place and connect the muscles of the back to the spine. Vertebrae are divided up into parts such as the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and root or sacrum. The lumbar area of the back is where low back pain happens.
Depending on how long someone suffers from back pain, their pain may be considered acute or chronic. Low back pain that endures for a few days to a few weeks, or at least less than three months, is considered acute. Chronic back pain, on the other hand, lasts longer than just three months.
Given the tough job the spine and back have to do, it’s no wonder that posture alone can cause low back pain. Things like obesity, weight gain during pregnancy, and a poor physical condition in general make it hard for the back to do its job of keeping the spine straight. Weight loss and healthy living alone can often improve back pain tremendously.
Trauma to the lower back is a serious cause of low back pain that has to be examined as soon as it occurs. Car accidents that whip the body around can cause back pain, as well as people who overstretch when reaching or pick up something too heavy. These things can cause trauma to the back, causing the discs between the vertebrae to bulge. Nerve and muscle tissue can become irritated, bone lesions can occur, and left untreated, these things can become much more serious.
Sciatica can often be a result of untreated low back pain. This condition is caused when herniated or ruptured discs in the spine press down on the sciatic nerve that runs down the spinal column to the pelvis. People with sciatica experience shock like or burning pain in their back that shoots through the buttocks and down a leg, often traveling to below the knee.
Americans pay almost fifty billion dollars tending to back pain each year. Men and women experience low back pain in equal numbers, and though old age can cause conditions like osteoporosis that result in back pain, even teenagers can experience it. Gardening, housework, improper posture when lifting things and even something as benign as bad sleeping positions can cause people to experience shooting or stabbing back pains as well as lowered flexibility and an inability to bend or stand up straight.
Whether back pain is a result of trauma or just seems to happen, any kind of low back pain that persists longer than a few days should be treated by a doctor. Back pain that doesn’t heal on its own could become something more serious. Visit a doctor if you have any questions, to avoid an improper diagnosis of something more severe.
Sometimes individuals wrongly think that certain physical ailments are only attributed to aging or only afflict older individuals. When it comes to back pain westchester, they couldn’t be more wrong. More info on the best Back pain doctor westchester, now a click away!
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