Low Back Pain Causes - Do These Causes of Lower Back Pain Relate to You?

One of the primary causes of lower back pain is bad posture. We spend a lot of our time in positions that are not conducive to a healthy back - like sat in an office chair all day, sat in the car, bending over patients' beds in hospital etc. Coupled with the fact that the majority of us don't get enough exercise to keep our back muscles strong and capable of keeping our spine in correct alignment and we have a recipe for disaster (or lower back pain in this case).

Different postures exert different amounts of pressure on intervertebral disks, which cushion the bones of the spine. When we are lying down, for example, disk pressures have been approximated at 165 pounds per square inch, compared with 220 pounds per inch while we are standing or walking, and 300 to 400 pounds while we are sitting. Not only do those who sit during a large portion of the day weaken their back muscles and the support the muscles provide, but they exert great pressure on the disk areas near the spinal cord and nerve roots, which are poorly supported areas to begin with.

Pregnancy

At least 50 percent of pregnancies involve back pain. The good news: the patient is usually freed from the pain following the delivery of her child.

Gender

Excluding the back pain related to pregnancy, there is little difference in the incidence of back pain in men and women. For all those predominately male construction workers at increased risk, there are predominately female caretakers matching them ache for ache.

Height and Weight

Tall people have been found to have a greater incidence of back pain than their shorter counter-parts, in part due to a tendency to stoop, either to appear shorter or simply to function in a world geared to smaller-sized human beings. Also, the greater the height, the greater the weight and force the lower spine must support.

Obesity is one of the most common contributing factors to back pain. Every pound added to the "gut," one leading rehabilitation center warns its patients, adds ten pounds of pressure to the spine. The sedentary lifestyle associated with obesity and an unbalanced diet that doesn't supply adequate nutrients contribute as well.