If you’ve been experiencing lower back pain, take a few minutes to read this through and consider the sources that may be hurting you.

Certain nerves control certain functions in the body. Pain is only one of the functions. Certain nerves carry certain messages. Pain is what’s called a nociceptive signal sent to the brain in response to an even that could be painful.  Not all nociceptive signals are reproduced in the brain as pain though.  Sometimes the signal can be nociceptive, but the amplitude of the signal isn’t high enough to register as pain.  In this case it might only be a dull ache or nothing at all.  Take for instance a sports injury like cutting a finger in a football game and not feeling it; nociceptive thresholds can change due to your activity or due to such day to day things stress.

Lower back pain left alone too long may turn into things like sciatica or numbing and tingling in the leg, which could be sign of a herniated or bulging disc (disk). A lot of times I see improper foot bio-mechanics as the causative factor in chronic LBP. ‘Causative’ meaning THE primary reason for pain in the lower back, sacroiliac joints or hip pain or piriformis syndrome.

Many times a person may injure their low back and not notice the pain till that evening… or the next day. It’s possible that the injury was a muscle strain in this case and when activity decreases the muscle and the pain threshold ‘relax’ enough to notice the nociception to the point that the brain registers the signal as pain.

Bending forward and pulling weeds in the garden is a pretty common task, but if done for too long it can be similar to a lifting injury.  If you hear a ‘pop’ in your spine, it’s likely you over did it. Maybe a ligament injury or herniated disc. Maybe the pop was a strained muscle or a joint dysfunctionly moving.  Back off of your activity and rest immediately until you can be checked.  Letting an injury recover right away is always best – no matter how big or small the injury may seem.  Eventually, injuries will always catch up with us if we ignore them. Symptoms is your body’s way of communicating with you about it’s well-being…pay attention.

Lower back pain affects 80% of Americans at some point in their working lives.  All professions are susceptible too…office managers, receptionists, laborers, drivers, and CEO’s.  Injuries can be chronic in nature such as poor ergonomics.  Chairs with little support aren’t necessarily bad.  The important thing to consider is how well it fits you. Even the best chair with good support ‘steals’ the job of supporting your spine from your core spinal muscles.  Is support bad, no. The point is to maintain a level of fitness that is synonymous with your lifestyle so that YOUR spine can support itself and do what you ask of it.