Overview
Back pain is the most common cause of disability among young adults. Various factors including physical, psychological and occupational are attributed to causing back pain. The pain in the back usually originates from muscles, nerves, bones, joints, or other structures in the spine. It can normally be segmented into either neck pain, upper back pain, lower back pain, or tailbone pain. Its occurrence can either be chronic or sudden onset, constant or intermittent, staying in one place or radiating to other areas.
Symptoms
Back pain symptoms can range in intensity from mild to severe. For a large number of sufferers, back pain can be self-managed with health and lifestyle changes. However, cases including those who experience numbness or tingling, those who have a persistent condition that does not improve with exercise or rest, or maybe had an onset of pain following an injury; In these cases and others, the best person to talk to would be your family physician.
Even though the causes of back pain may be different, the symptoms are typically the same:
– Persistent aching or stiffness anywhere along your spine
– Sharp, localized pain anywhere along your spine
– Chronic aches in the spine, especially after sitting or standing for long periods of time
– Pain that radiates from the lower back down to the buttocks, thigh and calves
– Sharp pain that prevents you from standing straight without muscle spasms
Causes
The causes of back pain are many. Some are self-inflicted due to bad habits, while other causes include accidents, muscle strains or sprains, or sport injuries.
Solutions
Understanding the cause of your back pain is the key treatment of the problem, and your healthcare provider is the best person to seek diagnosis from. Sufferers should however know that many episodes of back pain resolve within a few weeks, but still there is no quick remedy. The methods for managing back pain vary from exercise and massage therapy, to heat therapy and medications. In the most extreme cases surgery has been used to provide relief to sufferers.