Many people complain about acute lower back pain. Around 80% of the US population is said to be affected by it and around 50% suffer from more than one episode of this condition. However, as opposed to what many people believe it is, acute lower back pain is not a disease but rather a symptom that may arise from different medical conditions. As a matter of fact, 7 out of 10 people with this condition had gone through medical evaluations but no specific cause was identified. Nonetheless, incidences or reasons as to why this pain attacks exist. Continue reading this article to get to know them.

Lower Back Pain Causes

Acute lower back pain may be triggered by different factors such as bone, spinal nerves, and muscle injuries and diseases. It may also characterize some organ problems within the abdomen, pelvis, or chest, as well as intra-abdominal disorders like appendicitis, kidney diseases, pelvic infections, aneurysm, bladder infections, ovarian disorders, and a lot more. Acute lower back pain may also be caused by normal pregnancy due to the strain placed on the lower back, stretching of pelvis ligaments, and nerve irritation. All these things will be considered and ruled out during the evaluation of your pain.

Nerve impingement, a condition caused by ruptured or herniated disc between the lower back bones, may be characterized by symptoms including acute lower back pain. One example of this condition is called sciatica, manifested by acute lower back pain together with other symptoms like numbness in the area of the leg where the affected nerve supplies blood. Spondylosis, a condition caused by the decrease in the disc height and loss of moisture and volume of the interverterbral discs due to aging, may also be characterized by acute lower back pain. Other cases that may be characterized by this symptom include minor physical trauma from similar circumstances.

Lower back pain symptoms may also manifest if you have spinal stenosis, with pain characterized as radiating down to the lower extremities of the body, particularly when standing or walking at a prolonged period of time. Acute lower back pain may also be caused by cauda equine syndrome, a medical emergency that occurs when the spinal cord is directly compressed. Back pain symptoms may also signal myofascial pain accompanied by tenderness in affected areas, immobile muscle groups, and pain in the peripheral nerves.

Other reasons for acute lower back pain include fibromyalgia, osteomyelitis, nerve inflammation, and tumors. Fibromyalgia causes tenderness and pain throughout the body, fatigue, generalized stiffness, muscle aches, and lower back pain. Osteomyelitis is the infection of the spinal bones, which causes pain and stiffness in the spine. Tumors, especially cancerous tumors are also considered a source of acute lower back pain. Inflammation of spinal nerves occurs when the spinal nerves are infected with the virus called herpes zoster. This virus causes shingles in the spine and can affect the lower back area thereby causing lower back pain and the thoracic area thereby causing upper back pain.

Those given in this article are just a few of the factors or reasons you have acute lower back pain. However, it is still best to seek medical attention when any of the above symptoms manifest in your body.

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Posted July 16th, 2010 by Author 4 Comments » This entry was posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 3:51 am and is filed under low back pain exercises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.