Back pain causes | Back pain in females, Males | Other common causes of back pain

Back pain is often uncomfortable and debilitating. It makes people miss work. This is the most common problem across the globe in people of all age groups. People from different walks of life and professions experience back pain at some point in their lifetime. This is, in fact, the number one reason for people to remain absent from work and seek medical treatment.

Back Pain is Common to All

Nowadays people of all age groups have become vulnerable to back pain as back pain is striking people of any age for different reasons.

Women and Elderly people are at Risk

Women are more likely to suffer from back pain compared to men. Elderly people – especially older women are at increased risk. As one ages the chances of developing lower back pain increase – owing to previous occupation, lifestyle, weak bones, the reduced mineral density of bones, and degenerative disk diseases.

Back pain causes female

It is a common condition in the majority of women. Some women experience back pain before menstruation, during and after menstruation as well. This is due to hormonal changes. In general back pain is more common in women compared to men. This may be due to many different things women tend to do and don’t do throughout the day. In women, back pain is mostly related to lifestyle triggers. The most prominent among those include sedentary life, wearing the wrong type of heel, doing daily chores that involve unstable and abnormal movements. Weight gain, menstrual issues, premenstrual syndrome, hormonal imbalances, pregnancy, and childbirth are some of the known factors leading to back pain. In women, there are some unidentifiable causes that can trigger events that may lead to back pain.

What causes lower back pain

The breakdown of the fibrous cartilage in the facet joints (these joints act like cushions between vertebrae) may lead to back pain. Osteoarthritis is the prominent cause of the loss of cartilage in these joints – owing to which the vertebral bones rub against each other and cause lower back pain. The symptoms include pain in the upper and lower back, thighs, buttocks, and groin.

Back pain Causes

Back pain is mostly related to Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction in women. It is a severe condition. Women have the curved, smaller architecture of this joint. The sacrum which is wider and uneven causes problems with the SI joint. The dysfunction or misalignment of this joint causes sciatica-like symptoms including stabbing sharp or shooting lower back pain that radiates to the buttocks, thighs, and the lower part of the thighs.

Back Pain Causes Related to Coccyx

The coccyx is the tail-end of the spine. coccydynia – tailbone pain, is common in women mostly due to injury from childbirth.  Any injury to the coccyx – the weight-bearing bone causes severe pain in the lower back. The pain associated with coccyx becomes prominent and aggravates while someone sits on hard surfaces, stands up suddenly from a sitting position, leans backward while sitting or standing. The pain is prominent while sitting for long.

The pain related to coccyx subsides when a person suffering from it stands up.

Sudden back pain causes

Age is not a criterion for the sudden type of back pain because many people suddenly suffer from back pain. It can occur irrespective of age and sex. It happens mostly due to lifting heavy objects, heavyweights during exercise, heavy workouts, wearing poor sandals; improper body mechanics, and sudden body movements. Back pain can also occur due to back injuries, a sudden blow to the back, sudden falls, and vertebral fractures.

The most common causes of back Pain

Muscle strain, muscle tension, muscle spasm, strained muscles and ligaments, muscle injury, damaged disks, sudden falls, injuries, fractures are the most common causes of back pain.

Strain – improper lifting of objects and weights, lifting heavy objects suddenly, and making sudden and abrupt body movements are the activities that strain muscles and cause back pain. This type of problem has become a common finding in people who involve in sports, activities that strain the back, heavy workouts, weight lifting.

Pinched nerves

There are many problems and conditions that cause compression of the nerve roots due to vertebral disk compression, fractures, and a combination of other conditions. All these factors may lead to back pain.

Muscle Spasms – Spinal cord injuries and pinched nerves can cause the most disturbing and painful muscle spasms in the back muscles.

Nerve damage: Back pain, in some cases, may be due to chronic conditions – such as fibromyalgia, failed back syndrome, cancer, and diabetes.

Herniated disk, bulging disks, degenerated disk, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis are some of the major structural causes of back pain in both the sexes.

Knowing the cause is important

You can prevent the episode of back pain by “first of all” by knowing the exact cause of back pain and then taking appropriate measures to prevent those nagging bouts of back pain episodes.

Why women should not ignore lower back pain?

In women lower back pain may be linked to several causes that may include the involvement of nerves, bony structures, spinal cord, spine and discs, lower spine, lower back muscles, and the discs between vertebrae. The pain could also mean an indication of some underlying health issues such as – problems with the pelvic region, uterus, internal reproductive organs, and the skin around the lumbar area. Pain in the upper back may be due to heart diseases, tumours in the chest, and spine inflammation.

Lower back pain causes female

Back pain in women is sometimes due to problems with the reproductive organs such as ovaries and uterus. Endometriosis is a condition in which the uterus tissues grow outside the uterus. The prominent symptoms of endometriosis include lower back pain, abdominal pressure, pelvic pain, pain during menstruation, and lower abdominal pain.

In post-menopausal women – especially in middle-aged women, Lower back pain is common due to low levels of Estrogen. Hormonal imbalances in post-menopausal women lead to osteoarthritis. The ligaments loosen owing to age-related issues and therefore – vertebral discs degrade causing vertebrae to slip (degenerative spondylolisthesis). The symptoms include pain while walking and lower back pain that radiates to the legs.

Surgery is Needed only in a Few cases

Some people are not able to keep back pain under control – which could probably be due to their negligence or failure to prevention. Even if some of the preventive measures don’t work, expert advice, simple home treatment, and proper body mechanics often heal back pain within a couple of days to weeks. Unless the problem is very severe and related to nerve compression, vertebral fractures, slipped or protruding disks, or herniated disc – surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain.

What are the risk factors for back pain?

Risk factors for back pain: a sedentary lifestyle, occupational activities, old age, poor physical fitness, pregnancy, medical conditions low, osteoporosis, arthritis, cancer, low testosterone levels in males, hormonal changes in females, genetic factors, low levels of vitamin D3 and calcium, improper lifting of weights, strenuous physical activity, contact sports, smoking, obesity and excess body weight are the risk factors for developing lower back pain.