Introduction
Back pain can have many causes. We would like to discuss many possible causes in our following topic.
Possible causes of lumbar back pain
If you are looking for a cause of back pain, you will quickly come across a very long list. In general, a distinction is made between organic (physical) and psychosomatic (caused by the “soul”) causes. Possible causes for the development of back pain are
- Wear and tear, arthrosis, degeneration
- Mechanical causes
- Injuries in the area of the spinal column
- Neoplasia, new formation, tumor
- Congenital causes
- Nerve root irritation
- Compression of the nerve roots
- Ignition
- Incorrect posture and incorrect loading
Causes by wear and tear, arthrosis, wear and degeneration
- Bone attachments in the area of the spinal column (spodylophytes/osteophytes)
- Narrowing of a nerve exit point of the spinal column (foraminal stenoses) due to bone attachments or ligament thickening (hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum)
- Scheurmann’s disease
- Inflammatory diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis, Paget’s disease, bone decalcification (osteoporosis) This particularly affects people who have worked hard for a long time. Older people often suffer from signs of wear and tear.
- Spinal canal stenosis, in this case a narrowing of the spinal canal is caused by bony attachments. Spinal canal stenosis causes the spinal cord to become narrow at a narrow point. This causes pain, but disturbance of sensitivity (sensation) and even paralysis.
Mechanical causes of back pain
- Mechanical causes of back pain are mainly mechanical “irritations” and reactions that sometimes cause severe pain. Mechanical causes also include nerve entrapments.
- Especially after an operation in the area of the intervertebral discs, adhesions in the area of the scar tissue (postnucleotomy – syndrome) are often the cause for the development of severe back pain.
