• Sprains, strains and minor injuries, usually after lifting a heavy object or making an abrupt movement, are what causes back pain in most cases, rather than serious damage or disease. This is often called "simple" back pain.
  

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  A strain or tear to the muscles, tendons or ligaments can in turn produce painful muscle tension and spasm. The pain usually only lasts for a few days.
  Although this pain often begins suddenly, and one particular movement can trigger it, the underlying cause may have been developing for some time. Inactivity and improper movements are usually at the root of simple back pain. (See risk factors).
• Herniated disc. Wear and tear or strain may cause a spinal disc to bulge or rupture (herniate). The disc's gelatinous filling protrudes and presses against sensitive nerves from the spinal cord. This is commonly referred to as a "slipped disc".
• Facet joint problems and osteoarthritis. This is the usual cause of chronic low back pain. Spinal movement is made possible by joints between the vertebrae that consist of two flat faces or "facets". If these degenerate, the two halves of the joint grate painfully against each other.
  Firstly, the disc herniates or wears down and secondly, this puts more stress on the facet joints behind it. These joints become inflamed and later wear out (osteoarthritis). The inflamed joints cause backache. Later the arthritic joints become big and swollen (like an old lady’s arthritic finger joints) and these enlarged joints protrude into the spinal canal and cause narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis). This causes pinching of the nerves running down the buttocks and legs with nerve pain and weakness down the legs (sciatica).

Other causes

Reviewed by Dr Sirk Loots, orthopaedic surgeon.

Raed more:
Sit up straight to prevent back pain
The possible causes of back pain

 

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