Back pain is one of the main reasons why people miss work or go to the doctor. The treatment and missed work days cost the USA a whole lot every year. It’s a painful and unpleasant condition we would that can’t be ignored. What’s even worse, back pain is pretty hard to get rid of.
To eliminate the pain, you need to find the underlying problem first. The main reasons for back pain are obvious (injuries, sedentary lifestyle), but there are some factors you probably didn’t know can cause back pain. Here are some of them:
1. Stress
Stress can tighten your upper and lower back muscles, which can be very painful. Anxiety can be the problem as well, which is why you should work on reducing your stress with meditation, yoga, stretching and some breathing techniques.
2. Improper Lifting
Do you lift weights at the gym? Improper lifting is a bit cause of back pain. It occurs when you lift with your back instead of your legs when you’re doing leg press. If you back started to hurt all of a sudden and it gets worse after the gym, you might have to work on your form.
3. Improper Seating
Spending hours hunched in front of your PC isn’t good for your spine. This may cause lower back pain and increase the pressure on the bones, joints, ligaments and discs. You can easily improve your sitting position – keep the forearms parallel to the floor, the head and torso aligned, the feet flat on the floor and the thighs parallel to the floor. Your back should have proper support at all times, so make sure to get a chair with lumbar support.
4. Giving Birth
Many new moms are suffering from lower back pain due to the physical stress the spine endures during and after pregnancy. Keeping the child on one side of the body and hunching when breastfeeding may result in muscle imbalance which affects the natural spinal curve. To resolve the problem, change your position often and keep a proper posture.
5. Unbalanced Muscles
As everything in our body is connected, back pain can be caused by tight tendons and weak abs. If all of the muscle groups aren’t properly balanced, it will result in overloaded back muscles as they try to keep a proper spinal curve. In this case, exercise is your best ally. However, in order to recognize the muscle imbalance, you may need help from a physiotherapist.
6. Herniated or Slipped Discs
The discs between the spinal vertebrae act like shock absorbers. However, they deteriorate as we age and may also snap under stress, which will result in excruciating pain. If you’ve experienced this pain, you should immediately visit a doctor.
7. Diseases and Conditions
Serious health problems such as an inflamed pancreas, ulcers or kidney disease may also cause pain that might expand to the lower back.
8. Being Overweight
Being overweight can put too much strain on your back muscles and cause back pain. This isn’t the kind of back pain you can subdue with pills. It’s constant and pretty painful.
The only way to stop it is to lose weight. Start exercising and put yourself on a diet. Being overweight can lead to much bigger problems than back pain, so you’ll be doing yourself a lot of good.
In most cases, back pain usually goes away in 6 weeks. However, should it linger for longer, you need to visit a doctor. You also need to visit a doctor if you suddenly have limited movement or your back hurts after a fall.
Don’t ignore the pain – leaving back pain unresolved can seriously affect your mobility. Popping pills is only a temporary solution – until you find the real culprit, the pain won’t stop.