Chronic Back Pain: Causes and How to Treat It

Your chronic back pain may become a hindrance in your day-to-day affairs. To treat it, you must first try to understand its cause. There are many causes of chronic back pain, you need to know what is the cause in your specific case. Here are some causes and common treatments for your long lasting and recurrent back pain. ~ Ed.

You have no idea how much your back is affected with every little move you take. Your back helps you move your legs, hands and neck and head properly.

Back pain is one of the most common physical problems people of all ages face, all over the world. It affects millions of people at some point during their lifetime and can progress, if ignored, to prevent them from doing their usual daily activities.

When a person suffers from chronic back pain, even the simplest of tasks can become impossible to achieve.

However, sometimes the problem is not even in your back. In order to treat those chronic pains, one must first understand their causes.

4 Main Causes of Chronic Back Pain

The cause of your chronic back pain may lie in a deformity of your spine, arthritis, or wrong movements resulting in a strain. Here are some more causes and their explanation for a better understanding.

Genetic/ structural problems

In some cases, chronic back pain starts at a young age. This can be a result of a certain deformity or structural problem in the spine. Those deformities can sometimes be visible in the form of posture problems and can in some cases cause chronic pains.

A lot of the time people with such conditions would have to undergo reconstructive surgeries to their spines or fix the damaged parts. But thanks to modern technology in medicine, those procedures are minor and do not require a long recovery period.

Arthritis or other disk problems

This condition usually hits the lower parts of the back, affecting the joints and causing severe pain. It affects the cartilage or joints of the spine, making them thinner and gradually increasing the pain; this is known as arthritis.

Disk problems are relatively similar, where the disk part which lies between the spine’s vertebrae shrinks, causing the vertebrae to chafe with one another which in turn causes chronic back pain.

Damage resulting from strain

One of the most common causes of back pain, especially in lower areas or the neck region is muscle and ligament strains.

Wrong movements or overworking of certain muscles around your back can cause those shooting pains that can take long periods to recover. A person can already have weak back muscles that are susceptible to strains, thus overworking those muscles by heavy lifting or vigorous exercises would lead to a bad strain.

According to the experts at the Align Integrated Medical Clinic, certain massage or rehab sessions can help in the healing process of muscle strains. It differs from one person to the other depending on the severity of the problem and could take some time, but more times than not, this kind of physical therapy can prove effective.

Kidney stones

Chronic back pain is not always caused by problems in the spine or in the muscles attached to it. Sometimes the pain could be a warning to check whether or not another organ in your body may be affected.

Kidney problems like kidney stones are among the most popular causes of lower back pain. The symptoms of this condition vary from one person to another, but a lot of the time all affected patients suffer from lower back pain. This means that once you start feeling the pain increase, seeking professional medical help to get the right diagnosis before jumping into any conclusions is essential.

Do Read: 4 Tips to Avoid Pain From Prolonged Standing Jobs

3 Common Treatments for Chronic Back Pain

Similar to other chronic pain, in order to be able to treat back pain, one must first understand the cause. Once you know the cause and the area of the back that is being affected, with the help of a medical professional, the next logical step is to come up with a plan to treat those pains.

There are different methods when it comes to treating chronic back pain depending on the case and the severity of the condition.

Home Remedies

Treating back pain, no matter how severe, must start with self-care. The essential, initial steps include eliminating excessive activities or heavy lifting. You can also try massaging the affected areas or going for professional massage therapies to help relax any affected muscles.

Certain over the counter medications can prove effective in such cases, as well. Things like back pain ointments and creams as well as pain-relieving tablets can help you control the pain until you consult with a medical professional.

Medically Guided Exercises and Rehab

Some conditions causing chronic back pain can be treated with some time spent in physical rehabilitation. This form of treatment is usually done under the supervision of a professional physical therapist, who would examine your condition and work with you accordingly to come up with a tailored program.

This program would fit with whatever condition is causing back pain. Those types of exercises would work on strengthening the muscles and pain reduction, in the case of muscle strains in the back.

Surgery

This treatment option is usually saved for the most severe cases or for conditions where all other treatment options have been exhausted. There are different types of surgeries to relieve chronic back pain depending on the condition and the diagnosis of each patient.

But thankfully, modern technology in medical surgeries has allowed most of these surgeries to be done with minimal incisions and with very quick recovery times. Most patients would be out of the hospital and back to their normal lives within a few days after the surgery.

Wrapping Up

Every person is born unique and different, and so are their symptoms and causes of chronic back pain. Consulting with a medical professional is a must in almost all cases in order to get the right diagnosis.

Once you know the exact cause of your misery, you can start working on a customized treatment plan that fits your condition.

If the pain is not too severe or if it is caused by a simple strain in one of the muscles, you can start by trying certain home remedies or over the counter medications. Alternatively, you can try visiting a physical rehabilitation center and taking part in some medically guided exercises.

If the case is too severe, then surgery might be the only option. Whichever the case, make sure you speak to a doctor to work out what would be best for you.

Over to you

Have you ever experienced chronic back pain? What caused it and how did you treat it? Share your tips and experiences in the comments to help others.