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BACK PAIN

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Do you have poor posture?  Are you sedentary? Or, do you over exercise? In your work, do you habitually sit in one position? Is your lifestyle high-stress? Yes to any of these questions  make you a prime candidate for low back problems. The result is pinched nerves,  causing pain and, if not relieved, even causing serious disability.

The lower back, or lumbar  spine, bears most of the body's weight-making it especially vulnerable to pains and problems. The lumbar spine includes: five vertebrae: the sacrum, or  blade-shaped lower end of the spine which helps support the bladder, uterus and  intestines, and allows the legs to attach to the hipbones: and coccyx, or tailbone. Between the vertebrae are circular discs of jelly like material  encased in tough cartilage. Discs facilitate movement of the spine, serving as  shock absorbers and reducing friction.

The underlying cause of  back pain is an imbalance of the bony framework of the body, especially the spinal column.

The structure and balance  of the spine may be disturbed by the common incidents of everyday life such as a  fall or misstep, getting into or out of the car the wrong way, lifting the wrong way, and by an auto accident or other accident.

Weak, flabby,  under-exercised muscles contribute significantly to low back problems. So do  over-exerted or overused muscles. Muscles subjected to the same stresses and strains day after day inevitably lead to back trouble. Fatigue makes the back more susceptible to injury, and emotional tension takes its toll by keeping  muscles tense, shortened and tightened.

In some cases, low back  pain may result from disease or infection, though less likely than the other causes.

Low back pain may  indicate a problem within the structural elements of the back itself, or it may indicate a problem elsewhere in the body, since the spine is the body's main  line of service and communication.

Problems related to the structure of the lower back include:

• Misaligned Vertebrae: If vertebrae are misaligned or slipped into abnormal position, the  result may be disc and/or nerve problems.
• Pinched  Nerves: Some 300,000 nerve fibers pass through each small opening of the spine enroute from the brain to the rest of the body. When a dislocation of a vertebra occurs, the small openings of the spine are partially closed, interfering with the normal nerve impulse pattern. The result is pinched nerves, causing pain and, if  not relieved, even causing serious disability. Pinched nerves are deceiving, since they may masquerade as a number of illnesses: in this case, an organ supplied by the nerve is being affected and signaling its distress.
• Slipped  Discs: Any of the spinal discs may be injured or degenerate. But because of their location, discs in the lower spine are subjected to the greatest weight-bearing  stress and are most likely to slip or be compressed. The disc's outer covering  weakens and bulges, putting pressure on spinal nerves.
• Ruptured Discs: Occasionally a disc ruptures. In a rupture, the tough outer portion of the disc  is torn or split and the soft inner portion then protrudes, often pressing against spinal nerves.
• Sciatica: is a painful  inflammation of the sciatic nerve which supplies the tissues of the thigh, lower  leg and foot. Slipped discs and pinched nerves may cause sciatica. The roots of the sciatic nerve are in the lower spinal column. Most often, sciatica begins with a long period of intermittent low back pain, only erupting into violent pain following a sudden jarring or simply a wrong move.
• Disease and  infection: Low back pain sometimes, though not often, indicates disease elsewhere  in the body. Since the nerve system carries impulses from the brain along the route of the spinal column and out to the other parts of the body, it also  transmits impulses from the various parts back to the brain. Infections, such as those of the genital or urinary tract, may produce low back pain. But diseases of the spine, such as arthritis and tuberculosis account for less than 5 percent of back pain.