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As the school year comes to a close, you may wonder why you have chronic back pain and are looking for treatment options. With the hybrid in-class and virtual school year, several factors can contribute to back pain. In order to help prevent long-term back muscle strains, we have listed the common types of low back pain.
Common Types of Low Back Pain
Mechanical Pain
Most common type of low back pain comes primarily from the muscles, ligaments, joints, and bones of the spine. Usually stays localized to the low back, buttock, and occasionally the top of the thighs.
Radicular Pain
Occurs when the spinal nerve root is impinged or inflamed. Radicular pain may follow a nerve root pattern or dermatome down into the buttock and/or leg. This pain includes a specific sensation of sharp, electric, burning-type pain, can be associated with numbness or weakness (sciatica). It is typically felt on only one side of the body.
Causes of Low Back Pain
Acute Injury: Usually lasts for days to weeks, comes on suddenly. The pain is usually severe.
Lumbar sprain/strain: Muscular strain or ligamentous sprain = tears or damage to the soft tissues surrounding the joints of the spine.
Causes: Lifting heavy objects, twisting the spine while lifting, sudden traumatic movements like a fall, poor posture over time, sports injuries.
Chronic Low Back Pain: Lasts longer than 3 months, exceeds the body's natural healing abilities.
Herniated Lumbar Disc: Disc bulge/protrusion, prolapsed disc (nucleus pulposus remains intact), disc extrusion (nucleus pulposus breaks thru annulus fibrosus), sequestration (nucleus pulposus spills out into spinal canal. Most serious – usually surgery is needed.)
Degenerative Disc Disease: Discs lose hydration, wear down and weaken. Can develop tears in outer walls that lead to herniation. Can also cause stenosis.
Facet Joint Dysfunction: Joints can be arthritic or can affect the joint capsule that covers them.
Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction: Primarily shock absorber between upper and lower body. Can become painful if there's too much or too little joint movement.
Spinal Stenosis: Narrowing of the spinal canal or foramen.
Spondylolisthesis
Osteoarthritis / Degenerative Joint Disease
Deformity: Soliosis, kyphosis, hyperlordosis
Compression Fracture: Weakened vertebrae from osteoporosis/osteopenia
Prevent Back Pain With Chiropractic Care
Effective, Noninvasive, and Safe
Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of the safest drug-free, non-invasive therapies available for the treatment of back pain, neck pain, joint pain of the arms or legs, headaches, and other neuromusculoskeletal complaints. Although chiropractic has an excellent safety record, no health treatment is completely free of potential adverse effects. The risks associated with chiropractic, however, are very small.
Many patients feel immediate relief following chiropractic treatment, but some may sometimes experience mild soreness or aching, just as they do after exercising. Current literature shows that minor discomfort or soreness following spinal manipulation typically fades within 24 hours.
In addition to being a safe form of treatment, spinal manipulation is incredibly effective, getting patients back on their feet faster than traditional medical care. A March 2004 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that chiropractic care is more effective than medical care at treating chronic low-back pain in patients who have experienced symptoms for one year or less.
Similarly, a study published in the July 15, 2003, edition of the medical journal Spine found that manual manipulation provides better short-term relief of chronic spinal pain than a variety of medications.
Moreover, a 2012 study in Spine found that only 1.5 percent of workers with back injuries whose first point of treatment was a doctor of chiropractic required surgery, compared to the 42.7 percent of workers whose first contact was a surgeon.
If you are looking for more information on the causes of back pain or if you have acute low back pain, contact our Naperville or Wheaton office to schedule an appointment to find relief.
NAPERVILLE - (630) 428-2299
2112 Winding River Dr, Naperville, IL 60564
WHEATON - (630) 949-2431
1600 N Main St, Suite B
Wheaton, IL 60187