Back Pain Causes

There are various reasons for back pain and they can be grouped into four main categories.

There are various reasons for back pain and they can be grouped into four main categories. These are given below. When muscles are overworked or if they are weak and fatigued they would go into spasms. We often call this condition as ‘pulled muscle". Injuries could cause muscles to tear.

Serious muscle injuries take a long time to heal and begin to function normally, without pain. An excellent way to treat injured or pulled muscles is to use massage therapy. Injured muscles respond well to a combination of massage, stretching and remedial exercises.

Another type of back pain is generally referred to as ‘mechanical back pain’ or ‘mechanical dysfunction. These conditions are specific to joints. Joints become difficult to move because of injury to the bone(s) forming the joint or because the muscles around the joint are excessively toned.

Mechanical dysfunction is a rather complicated situation. Without treatment it might become a vicious recurring cycle and lead to other problems as well. We know that bones and joints are subject to fractures, arthritis and other conditions. Massage therapy is not a diagnostic treatment and will not indicate if you suffer from any of these complaints.

However, massage therapy can give you some relief from pain and help you recover sooner. Low back pain often arises because of pressure on the nerves as they leave the spinal cord, or because the intervertebral discs press on them. Such pain arising from neurological causes could be excruciating.

When intervertebral discs become out of shape, a condition commonly known as ‘slipped disc’, the resulting pain will be debilitating and unbearable. Actually, ‘slipped disc’ is a misnomer and this condition will be dealt with in detail elsewhere. The location of the low back pain depends on the point where the affected nerve emerges from the spinal cord.

There is also what is known as ‘referred pin’. This is a condition where pain is felt, not at its point of its origin, but some where else. Sometimes, pain results from dysfunction or infection of an internal organ. Most parts of our body have pain receptors called ‘nociceptors’. If an organ or body part is infected, the pain receptors in that organ will respond by sending pain signals to the brain.

Sometimes when an organ is infected and the pain is felt not in the organ but either in the skin or in the tissues surrounding it. Such pain is described as a ‘referral pattern’. If a person is unable to pinpoint the possible cause of the pain or if the pain has persisted for a good length of time, it will be best for the person to consult a physician with any further delay.

This must be done so that more serious causes, other than just muscular injury, are ruled out. Once the physician has diagnosed the cause of the pain it would be possible to begin appropriate treatment.

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