A Guide To Back Pain
Posted on September 25, 2008
Filed Under Causes of Lower Back Pain |
When you have had a good look at the major muscles of the back and you will have a better understanding of how each of those muscles or muscle groups are involved with movement and even with the functions of the body. But knowing how the back can cause chronic pain with every single movement doesn’t exactly explain how that pain originates in the first place. Let’s take a closer look at what causes most back pain and injuries so that we can have a better understanding of how to avoid that pain in the first place and how to treat it once it happens.
Injury Of The Back
Perhaps one of the most common causes of pain in the back is due to injury. This may sound surprising since many will experience pain in the back and will assume that it is not due to injury because they feel that they have not even injured themselves in anyway, but it in fact they may have.
The truth is it does not take very much to injure the back muscles. As you should be aware the major muscle groups of the back extend all the way from the neck down to the lower back region, and there are literally a number of places where small injuries can occur causing a lot of pain in the back as back injury happens.
What should be kept in mind is that when you hurt even the smallest of muscles in your back, they will rarely have the time to recover and heal properly. This is because the back is constantly in use even when we are resting and asleep, the muscles continue to be stressed and strained even in this state. This can be compared with having to go to work when you have the flu, it takes a lot longer to heal when you are unable to rest simply because the body is unable to give full attention to sick parts of the body. The same holds true with your back, if you happen to injure part of any muscle, no matter how small it may be, they can’t me immobilized for the time needed to heal completely.
Injuries you may sustain or experience that cause pain are not as severe as that of a care accident or when lifting extremely heavy objects, although those can be considered as typical issues too.
A few typical examples of actual injuries to the back which can cause long term back pain include:
* Overuse of the back muscles. - This can be from a job or hobby that uses the back muscles repeatedly, such as working in the construction trades, loading or unloading objects, and activities such as bowling or golfing. Repeated use of the back muscles actually causes injury over time. Think of lifting weights - you feel the pain in your arms when you’re at the gym and you know to quit, but when you’re on the job or out playing that beloved round of golf you often ignore those simple aches and pains that mean injury to those small muscles.
* Jarring from traffic stops and starts - Even if you’re not technically in a traffic accident, slamming on your brakes means that the back must work suddenly and swiftly to protect the body from careening forward. This sudden stopping and starting makes the back work overtime in a way it’s not designed to work, which means injury.
* Overextending the back muscles from twisting side to side. - These very small muscles that are located up and down the sides of the abdomen and rib cage are very susceptible to injury this way; when they’re overextended they are actually injured.
* Carrying weight. - Carrying a very heavy backpack or even a purse puts unnecessary stress on the back. The muscles have to work hard and compensate the load and balance that this weight puts, and often strains happen without anyone even realizing it.
* Sudden stresses and strains. - How many times have you gone to hug a child only to have him or her suddenly lift their feet off the ground so that you’re carrying their entire weight when you didn’t expect it? Or have suddenly slipped or tripped and have had to catch yourself without thinking? These types of sudden and unexpected stresses and strains can cause injury to your back as it’s not ready and prepared to handle these events. The muscles can be tense and caught off guard which means they’re more prone to tiny tears and stresses.
As mention, many people simply don’t realize that injury has already happened to their back until later on in their life. The muscles have a tendency to knot up as a way to protect themselves from further injury and being knotted up in body may not necessarily allow the sensation of pain. Only when the muscles start to loosen up do we feel the pain and that we realize that something is wrong.
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