Back Pain

Back Pain Overview

Back Pain Overview: Back pain can be the result of multiple issues in your back. There are many harmless causes of back pain that do not result in spinal cord injury. Although these causes may not necessarily be detrimental to overall health there may be debilitating pain involved with this condition. Here are a few harmless, yet painful back pain causes:

Back Arthritis: Back arthritis is the result of wear and tear on the back. You only get one back during the course of your life. It is supposed to last until you are approximately 80 years old. That is why you want to take the best care of your back possible. Your back can develop bony spurs from constant remodeling and constant years of use. With these years the back can shift and create friction on joints. This friction leads to bone on bone contact and can create a painful result for the patient. Back arthritis is the most common cause of back pain and is also the most difficult to treat. The best thing to do for back pain of this nature is to loose weight, take NSAIDs like Tylenol and ibuprofen, as well as continue physical therapy to back support muscles. For further questions call 1 919-759-5430.

Neurological Causes of Back Pain

There are a plethora of causes of back pain that have a neurological nature. The pain that is present with neurological pain has specific symptoms that can differentiate it from arthritis.

Nerve impingement: When you have osteoarthritis you have wear and tear on the joints. Typically nerves will come out of the spinal cord and course in between the joints affected by osteoarthritis. If the nerve gets pinched between the scars and rebuilt tissue of the joint there could be severe pain associated with the nerve impingement. Symptoms of nerve impingement include one sided numbness, one sided electrical radiation pain, and tingling.

Sciatica: Sciatica can be a severe cause of nerve pain that can radiate from the back down to the posterior side of the ankle. It is typically caused by disk herniation in the joints of the back. The vertebral disk is in between every single vertebrae acting like a shock absorber commonly found on bikes. The vertebral disk is filled with a spongy material that is contained within the vertebral column. If that spongy tissue undergoes wear and tear it can rupture through the ligaments of the vertebral column and impinge on the nerves that supply the posterior size of the leg. This can cause severe electrical pain radiating down the leg to the ankle. The best way to alleviate the pain is to take Tylenol and ibuprofen as well as participate in physical therapy. If the pain becomes unbearable an MRI may be warranted if there is accompanying neurological symptoms. If you have further questions about sciatica then call our hotline. For further questions call 1 919-759-5430.

Emergency Causes of Back Pain

If you are having neurological symptoms of back pain such as numbness, weakness, or bowel/bladder incontinence then your back pain is an emergency. Causes of emergencies include:

Spinal Stenosis: Spinal stenosis that causes these symptoms can be the result of wear and tear as well as remodeling of the spinal canal and the joints contained within it. Once this remodeling occurs the canal narrows and becomes affected by the decrease in space. MRI's are warranted in this case as well as possible evaluation by a surgeon.

Disk Herniation: If you are experiencing the symptoms above then it may be necessary to be evaluated immediately by urgent care. Disk Herniation could be a cause of your symptoms. It is typically caused by wear and tear of the spinal canal to the point where contents may herniate onto the spinal cord. For further questions call 1 919-759-5430.