Lower Back Pain Causes: Common Causes of Lower Back Pain

There are many possible causes of lower back pain, and I’ll review the most common causes and symptoms here, as well as some good lower back pain exercises and lower back pain treatment that helps.  Lower back pain causes usually include over-using or over-straining the back, bad posture or positioning, lifting heavy objects or awkward movement, accidents, falls or other injuries or traumas to the back or spinal column, etc.

Lower back pain causes usually include muscle strain that can lead to overall imbalance of the muscles and spinal column.  This can lead to constant tension on muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and discs, which makes your back more prone to injury.  Many times these are cumulative, or add on to each other, because you’ll move differently to avoid the pain, or use muscles that aren’t sore.  This can cause you to overcompensate, straining these muscles in addition to the ones you’ve already strained or injured.

The most common causes of chronic lower back pain include what I indicated above:

• Over-use, strain or injury to muscles, ligaments and joints including the sacroiliac joint.
• Pressure on the nerves in the spinal column including the sciatic nerve, which can be caused by a herniated disc
• Fractures to the vertebrae caused by an accident, fall or other trauma to the spine, compressing it
• Osteoarthritis, which is a degeneration of the joints including the hips, usually when we get older
• Vertebra defects that cause vertebrae to slide over each other (Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis)
• Narrowing of the spinal canal which can also develop with age (Spinal Stenosis)
• Spinal deformities that cause a curvature of the spine like Kyphosis or severe Scoliosis
• Compression fractures most commonly found in post-menopausal women with Osteoporosis, which even a sneeze can cause a compression fracture, or after extended use of a “corticosteroid”.
• Kidney or ovary problems, tumors and pregnancy and other less common issues can all contribute to lower back pain

Lower Back Pain Exercises

Lower back pain exercise is VERY helpful in alleviating most types of back pain, including chronic lower back pain and acute back pain.  Lower back pain exercises include stretching and strengthening the muscles of your stomach (abdomen) and back (spine), which help reduce and prevent back problems.  This will also help improve your posture, which is Key, and keep your spine in the correct position.

You should warm your muscle up with a light activity like walking before doing stretching or strengthening exercises.  Wear loose clothes and DON’T do any low back pain exercises that hurt unless you’ve talked with your doctor.  They can also help you develop an exercise program.  NOTE:  If you have a herniated disk or other disk problem, you should also check with them First.

Some good lower back pain exercises can be found at my Back Strengthening Exercises page and here: Lower Back Pain Exercises

Lower Back Pain Treatment

Other lower back pain treatment can include ice and heat, back pain massage therapy, back pain medicine including anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers or injections depending on the lower back pain cause, spinal decompression therapy, physical therapy or alternative back pain therapy like accupuncture for back pain, and other back pain therapies.  Electric muscle stimulators like a TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) is Great.  I still use mine when I need to.  Muscle strains including lower back muscle strains usually heal with Time (couple days to few weeks).  Resting for a couple of days helps, but no more than that.

Lower Back Pain Massage Therapy

Lower back pain massage therapy like the Homedics back massager, Jeannie Rub massager (hand held massager), a back massage chair, or car back massager are all great back pain massage options, and some include deep tissue massage therapy.

Back Pain Massage Therapy

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Causes of Muscle Spasms

The causes of muscle spasms vary, but the results are the same.  Muscles spasms or muscle cramps is the stiffening shortening feeling you get with a sudden contraction of the muscles.  This can be cured easily and effectively with simple treatments you can do with little to no cost, and can help right away.

Your muscles are responsible for your body movements.  They contract and lengthen when your brain sends a signal to the muscles when moving.  Things like moving suddenly, at a bad angle, lifting awkwardly or bulky, heavy items, or strenous activity like sports are big causes of muscle spasms.  A lot of times, muscle spasms are caused by simple muscle fatigue or non-use.  Sometimes, nerve damage can result in “contracture”, which is a permanent shortening of the muscle. 

I’ll review some of the causes of muscle spasms, and treatments you can do easily and quickly to get rid of your back pain symptom and involuntary muscle spasms, such as muscle stretching exercises, low back pain exercises, back pain medications, and back pain relief products to help you get on your way to recovery immediately.

Some of the main causes of muscle spasms are:

1.  Dehydration is probably the biggest cause of muscle cramps, which can also cause a loss of sodium.  If you drink plenty of water, it will elasticize your muscles and reduce cramping.  Increasing salts can also help.

2.  A poor supply of oxygen to the muscles is also a big cause of muscle spasms or cramps.  This can be treated with deep and slow breathing, and a gentle massage or slow stretching can also be very effective.

3. An electrolyte depletion is a lack of potassium and calcium.  You can overcome this by taking calcium and potassium supplements.

4. Menstruation is one of the big causes of muscle cramps in varying degress.  You can relieve this by using heat such as heating pads, stretching, and pain relievers or anti-inflammatories such as Motrin, Aleve, Ibuprophen, etc., as well as some other back pain relief products.

5. Nocturnal Spasms are muscle cramps that you get at night, such as a “Charley Horse” in your calves or feet.  They can be very painful if you’re also dehydrated and/or you have low levels of things like calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, or sit too long.  Bananas are a great source of potassium.  When I eat more bananas, my muscle cramps go away.

6.  Muscle trauma is an excessive strain on the muscles, which can cause mild to several muscle cramps.  It becomes inflamed, swollen, or red.  Sometimes you’ll hear a ’snapping’ sound when this happens.  Slow muscle stretching exercises and low back pain exercises are very useful for relieving this right away. 

Whatever your causes of muscle spasms are, it’s important that you take all the preventive measures you can to alleviate them, including:  slow, deep breaths, drinking more water, taking supplements, applying heat, muscle stretching exercises or massage, taking anti-inflammatories / back pain medications, and recommended back pain relief products you may need to help reduce or remove your back pain cause.  As always, I encourage you to see your physician for any chronic back pain symptoms.

There are some very helpful back pain relief products and providers I can recommend that have great results, guarantees, and customer service.  Some of these are:

Nature’s Inventory

Core Health Home Solutions

Fitness Equipment for a Healthy Life

Healthier You

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