Five Causes of Back Pain
Hermann Wellness
Chiropractor in Bloomington, IL
Robert Hermann DC
This video explains five common causes of low back pain. As a chiropractor, in Bloomington, Illinois, I frequently treat low back pain. It is important to determine which anatomical feature is generating the back pain. Some low back pain generators are:
1. Sacroiliac joint (SI joint) - The sacroiliac joint is the joint between your tailbone and your pelvis. Your tailbone is also called your sacrum. The top part of your pelvis is called your illium. The joint between your tailbone and your illium is your sacroiliac joint. Sacroiliac inflammation can cause a very sharp pain on one side of your lower back just below your belt line. It will cause pain when laying on your side with the painful side down. It will also give you cyclic pain while walking, which is pain in the sacroiliac joint every time you put weight on that side by stepping forward.
2. Facet joint - The facet joint is a joint located between each individual vertebrae. They are located toward the back of the joint and interlock with the joint above and below it. The facet joint can be a generator of low back pain. Pain is felt above the belt line on either the right or left side and about the size of a quarter. The pain can be easily located. Facet pain will be aggravated upon leaning back.
3. Disc Injury - The disc is a pad of cartilage that separates the vertebrae. The outer portion of the disc has nerve fibers that are sensitive to pain. If enough pressure is put on a disc, the gel in the center of disc will try to break through the disk and cause a herniation. The tears in the disc or the herniation can irritate the nerve fibers on the outer portion of the disc and cause pain. If the disc is a pain generator you will have pain on both sides of your back. The pain will be a dull achy pain that is hard to localize. There is usually pain going from sit to stand. There is usually pain and stiffness getting out of bed in the morning.
4. Pressure on a nerve - If the herniated disc puts pressure on one of the nerves that exits your spine in your lower back you will have numbness and tingling usually below the knee. There can also be back pain and pain down the leg, but the predominant symptom is numbness and tingling below the knee.
5. Muscular strain - If you strain a muscle in your lower back that can generate low back pain. Muscles have good blood supply and generally will heal fairly quickly. If your pain is not improving in a few weeks, you probably have more than a muscle sprain. Muscle sprains cause a dull aching pain over the muscle. Pushing on the muscle or palpating will reproduce the type of pain you are experiencing. The muscle that is sprained will often be in spasm or weak.
For more information please watch the video on this page.