What causes back pain?

Here are some of the common causes for back pain.

1.    Bad Posture

You probably fall into one of two categories; you have bad posture due to back pain, or you have back pain due to bad posture.  Slouching, of course, increases bad posture and also strains the muscles of the back, which can cause both upper and lower back pain.

While it seems this may be a catch-22 situation, one can improve your posture with specific exercises and just by increasing your postural awareness, but the best time to correct posture is during youth.

The first recommendation is to make sure there are no back abnormalities causing the back pain and/or bad posture.  Once you are sure your spine is structurally sound, then you can move on to helping ease the pain.

What causes bad posture?

Postural habits start early in life and will continue into adulthood.  Getting out of the habit of bad posture is not as easy as learning good posture from the start.

1. A change of activity level can lead to bad posture.
2. Weak postural muscles.
3. Fatigue is one of the leading reasons for poor posture.  The skeletal structure needs support, and tired muscles cannot do a sufficient job of that.  Sometimes, bad posture is more pronounced in one position than other.  For example, your sitting posture may be worse than your walking posture.  Your standing posture may be worse than your sitting posture, and so on. Our modern lifestyle involves a profound lack of movement and lots of sitting. This can be an important contributor of back pain.
4. Become aware of your posture.  Think of an imaginary plum line connecting your ear, shoulder, hip and ankle.  Sitting up straight, not slouching may sound like your Grandmother’s advice, but she was right!
5. Try to get as much movement as possible into your day.  If you sit at a computer all day, try to take breaks to get up and stretch, as well as relax the back muscles.  If you spend long hours standing, try to do some walking, or sitting whenever possible.
6. Do specific exercises that will strengthen your postural muscles.  This will help you to improve your posture and also to maintain a good posture for longer.
7. Quick posture tips:
   1. Suck your belly button in and tighten your abdominal muscles at the same time.
   2. Try to lengthen your spine. (Become taller)
   3. Pull your shoulder blades down and towards each other.
   4. Pull you chin in to align your ears and shoulders.

How can I improve my posture?

Treatment for back pain due to poor posture:

Chiropractic treatment will help to relieve your pain.  Pain is a symptom of the poor posture, once you correct the posture, the pain should stay away.  Poor posture puts extreme pressure and tension on back and neck muscles, which is a cause the pain in the first place.  So, sit up straight, and say goodbye to back pain!

2.   Physical Condition

Our modern lifestyles unfortunately often result in a profound lack of movement and lots of sitting. This can be an important contributor of back pain.

Your physical fitness is critical to the health of your back.  I always say: “Movement is medicine for your spine”.  Joints are made to move, so a daily 20-30 minute cardiovascular workout (of any type) is essential to your spinal health.

You can also focus on strengthening your deep abdomen muscles and buttocks. Exercises like Pilates and Yoga are great for flexibility and strength. Especially the posture called, “The Plank Pose”. It’s easy to do and there are many variations.

Wear and Tear

Aging is inevitable and with it joint degeneration.  Joint degeneration or osteoarthritis is a side effect of aging and can be hereditary.  It also can be caused by injury, fractures around a joint surface and repetitive joint overuse. Metabolic disorders (e.g. hyperparathyroidism) and obesity also increase the rate of joint degeneration.

Osteoarthritis of degenerative joint disease results in joint stiffness, pain and joint swelling usually getting worse as the day progresses.

Regular chiropractic joint adjustments can relieve the symptoms and slow the rate of normal joint degeneration.

In a study done by David Biedebach, DC, CCFC, James Brantingham, DC, CCF and Randy Snyder, DC, CCFC it revealed that chiropractic spinal manipulation can help reduce spinal degenerative joint disease and disability.

The goal of chiropractic care in treating degenerative joint disease is to optimize motion in the spine, treat the spinal discs, reduce muscle spasm, and improve muscular strength.

3.   Automobile Accident Injuries

Automobile accidents often are the cause of many other chronic spine and joint related symptoms as the impact from such an accident is enough to disrupt the structures and biomechanics of the joints.  Symptoms from such accidents, however small it may appear at the time, often shows up years later if not treated appropriately at the time.

Whiplash is a common cause of acute and chronic neck pain and dysfunction.  Neck sprains such as whiplash are very common in automobile accidents.  This occurs when the impact from the accident disturbs joint structures within the neck to move and changes the normal curve of the upper back and neck.  It commonly also over stretch and even tears muscles and ligaments in the neck.