Are you having lower back pain after prolong sitting?
What is the most common reason why people miss work in United States? Seasonal cold? The flu? No! It’s mechanical Low Back Pain! Your back is an intricate structure composed of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and disks. Disks are the cartilage-like pads that act as cushions between the segments of your spine. Its acts like the shocks in your car to absorb impact from sitting, standing, and jumping. Back pain can arise from problems with any of these component parts. In some cases, no specific cause for their back pain can be found. Most of the time, the cause of acute lower back pain (LBP) is due to strained muscles and ligaments from improper or heavy lifting and/or after a sudden awkward movement. However, LBP can arise from structural issues, such as:
Bulging or ruptured disks. Disks act as cushions between the vertebrae in your spine. Sometimes, the soft gel-like material inside a disk may bulge out of place or rupture and press on a nerve. But even so, many people who have bulging or herniated disks experience no pain at all . If a bulging or herniated disk presses on the main nerve that travels down your leg, it can cause sciatica — sharp, shooting pain or numbness and tingling or pins and needles through the buttock and back of the thigh, leg or foot.
Arthritis. The joints most commonly affected by osteoarthritis (OA) are the hips, hands, knees and lower back. In some cases arthritis in the spine can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis. OA can also form calcium deposits and bone spurs that may pinch or irritate soft tissue structure in and around the spine.
Congenital Skeletal irregularities. Scoliosis is a condition in which your spine curves to the side, and may lead to back pain. If the natural curves in your spine become exaggerated, your upper back may look abnormally rounded or your lower back may arch excessively and cause a biomechanical compensation and lead to problem in your hips and knees.
In rare cases, cancer or a tumor on the spine can press on a nerve, causing back pain. In cases of an infection, fever, and a tender, warm to the touch area accompanying back pain will need emergency care. There are many options of treatment for low back pain. From a conservative approach such as massage, physical therapy, chiropractic, or acupuncture to invasive methods, such as surgery (ie. Fusion, partially remove disc and vertebrae) and somewhere in between such as injections, and oral medication. All these treatments have their benefits as well as risks. However, it is MSR’s practice standard to always exhaust conservative methods of treatment first before we recommend any invasive procedures.
Lower Back Pain Causes
Bulging or ruptured disks. Disks act as cushions between the vertebrae in your spine. Sometimes, the soft gel-like material inside a disk may bulge out of place or rupture and press on a nerve. But even so, many people who have bulging or herniated disks experience no pain at all . If a bulging or herniated disk presses on the main nerve that travels down your leg, it can cause sciatica — sharp, shooting pain or numbness and tingling or pins and needles through the buttock and back of the thigh, leg or foot.
Arthritis. The joints most commonly affected by osteoarthritis (OA) are the hips, hands, knees and lower back. In some cases arthritis in the spine can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis. OA can also form calcium deposits and bone spurs that may pinch or irritate soft tissue structure in and around the spine.
Congenital Skeletal irregularities. Scoliosis is a condition in which your spine curves to the side, and may lead to back pain. If the natural curves in your spine become exaggerated, your upper back may look abnormally rounded or your lower back may arch excessively and cause a biomechanical compensation and lead to problem in your hips and knees.
In rare cases, cancer or a tumor on the spine can press on a nerve, causing back pain. In cases of an infection, fever, and a tender, warm to the touch area accompanying back pain will need emergency care.
There are many options of treatment for low back pain. From a conservative approach such as massage, physical therapy, chiropractic, or acupuncture to invasive methods, such as surgery (ie. Fusion, partially remove disc and vertebrae) and somewhere in between such as injections, oral medication and Manipulation Under Anesthesia.
All these treatments have their benefits as well as risks. However, it is MSR’s practice standard to always exhaust conservative methods of treatment first before we recommend any invasive procedures.
Lower-Crossed Syndrome
A common disorder seen in our office is Lower-Crossed Syndrome (LCS) (Janda 1988) is also referred to as distal or pelvic crossed syndrome. In LCS, tightness of the thoracolumbar extensors on the posterior side crosses with tightness of the iliopsoas and rectus femoris (hip flexors) on the anterior side. Weakness of the deep abdominal muscles crosses with weakness of the gluteus maximus and medius.
This pattern of imbalance creates joint dysfunction, particularly at the L4-L5 and L5-S1 segments, SI joint, and hip joint. Specific postural changes seen in LCS include anterior pelvic tilt, increased lumbar lordosis, lateral lumbar shift, lateral leg rotation, and knee hyperextension. If the lordosis is deep and short, then imbalance is predominantly in the pelvic muscles; if the lordosis is shallow and extends into the thoracic area, then imbalance predominates in the trunk muscles. (Janda 1987)
In other words, your belly will stick out and your buttocks will point upwards. Most likely it will be hard to bend over and touch your toes. LCS can lead to early degenerative osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, hip instability/weakness leading impingement and/or labrum tear, tight hamstrings and hyperextension of the knee leading to patellofemoral disorders.
