When it comes to back pain, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that back pain is rarely a sign of something serious and is often relatively short-lived. The bad news is that it’s a common ailment for many adults.
About 80% of adults experience pain in their back at some point in their lives. Nearly 90% of back pain cases are temporary, and people make a full functional recovery within 12 weeks of the onset of their symptoms. Some of the most common causes of back pain include: Arthritis Lower back pain often is caused by osteoarthritis, or wear-and-tear arthritis, the most common type.
Just as arthritis affects your knees, hips, wrists and shoulders, it also affects your spine. The spine has over 30 segments, each with four joints and discs, that can develop arthritis. The joints in your back can swell and become larger, similar to the symptoms of arthritis in the knuckles of the hand.
This inflammation and enlargement can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord or nerve roots, a condition called spinal stenosis. Also, cartilage degenerates as you age, so bone-on-bone joint movement can cause pain with movement. Bulging or ruptured disks Disks are the cushioning between the bones in your spine that absorb impact, similar to the suspension on your car or a mountain bike.
Disks can bulge or rupture and press on a nerve. Also, they can degenerate with time and lose the ability to provide cushion for average day-to-day impact, which can result in.