Causes of Lower Back Pain
Causes of lower back pain can sometimes be difficult to identify. For up to 85 percent of sufferers, the source will never be determined. The following causes of lower back pain, however, are among the most common.
Lower Back Pain Causes: How Did This Happen?
There are plenty of causes for lower back pain. Here, we’ll go over a number of them and how you can deal with them.
One of the most common lower back pain causes is the exertion required to be competitive in athletic activities, regardless of age. Trying to keep up with their 15-year-old son or daughter on the basketball court has punished many parents in their 40s and 50s. Many other sports such as football, weight lifting, surfing and running take a tremendous toll on one’s back as well. Extra precaution should be taken to loosen up before all sports activities.
Lower Back Pain Treatments
About 85 percent of the population will experience disabling, lower back pain at least once during their lives. That’s almost all of us. The problem is so bad that, at any one time, 6.8 percent of the U.S. adult population is suffering from an episode of back pain lasting more than two weeks. That’s a lot of bad backs. The estimated cost of this problem in the U.S. is over $50 billion a year.
The standard medical approach to back pain varies depending on the severity of the condition. Muscle relaxers, painkillers, rest, and physical therapy such as traction, diathermy, ultrasound, hot packs, and cold packs are sometimes used. However, this approach has not been found very helpful. If the problem doesn’t improve or worsens, then surgery may be performed.