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Acute lower back pain is a common concern of people, affecting up to 80% of the American population. Around 50% experience more than one episode of back pain. Acute lower back pain is not considered a disease. It is rather a symptom that occurs from different processes. In fact, in around 70% of people with lower back pain, no specific cause can be identified despite thorough medical examinations. Nevertheless, there are some reasons or incidences that trigger the pain to attack. Read on and know some of them.

Lower Back Pain Causes

Acute lower back pain may be triggered by different factors such as bone, spinal nerves, and muscle injuries and diseases. It may also characterize some organ problems within the abdomen, pelvis, or chest, as well as intra-abdominal disorders like appendicitis, kidney diseases, pelvic infections, aneurysm, bladder infections, ovarian disorders, and a lot more. Acute lower back pain may also be caused by normal pregnancy due to the strain placed on the lower back, stretching of pelvis ligaments, and nerve irritation. All these things will be considered and ruled out during the evaluation of your pain.

Nerve impingement, a condition caused by ruptured or herniated disc between the lower back bones, may be characterized by symptoms including acute lower back pain. One example of this condition is called sciatica, manifested by acute lower back pain together with other symptoms like numbness in the area of the leg where the affected nerve supplies blood. Spondylosis, a condition caused by the decrease in the disc height and loss of moisture and volume of the interverterbral discs due to aging, may also be characterized by acute lower back pain. Other cases that may be characterized by this symptom include minor physical trauma from similar circumstances.

Lower back pain symptoms may also manifest if you have spinal stenosis, with pain characterized as radiating down to the lower extremities of the body, particularly when standing or walking at a prolonged period of time. Acute lower back pain may also be caused by cauda equine syndrome, a medical emergency that occurs when the spinal cord is directly compressed. Back pain symptoms may also signal myofascial pain accompanied by tenderness in affected areas, immobile muscle groups, and pain in the peripheral nerves.

Acute lower back pain may also be triggered by other medical conditions such as tumors, fibromyalgia, osteomyelitis, and inflammation of the nerves. Tumors are said to be the number one culprit to acute lower back pain. Fibromyalgia s signaled by symptoms such as muscle aches, lower back pain, fatigue, generalized stiffness, and tenderness and pain in the body. Symptoms of osteomyelitis include spine pain and tenderness, while nerve inflammation symptoms include upper and lower back pain and shingles in the spine.

There you go - some reasons why you experience acute lower back pain. To avoid wrong assumptions, make sure to consult with your doctor and rule out possible reasons for this pain.