Pain can be very uncomfortable, especially if it is in your back. If you experience a twinge of sharp pain in your lower back, then here is everything you need to know about it, why it can happen, and should you see an orthopedic surgeon?

Common Causes Of Sharp In The Lower Back

Strain In The Hips

Your hips are able to take in a lot and that is admirable, but even for something so fluid like your hips, which is connected to your back in more ways than you think, can fall victim to strain and that will lead to building tension in the hips, which can ultimately cause lower back pain.

If you experience a lot of lower back pain, then 8 times out of 10, your hips will be involved and 90% of the time, it’ll be a strain that is causing you to howl in excruciating pain, so take it seriously.

Bad Posture

The thing with bad posture is that it doesn’t only make you look like a hunchback, but it can also lead to bad back pains in the future, and if you’re not too careful, then it can cause lower back pain, which will be sharp, very much persistent and it will be all sorts of bad.

So, you want to always practice having good posture. Whenever you see yourself hunching, fix it quickly, and you will save yourself from a lifetime of pain in the long run.

Old Injury

If you have had an old back injury or even a hip injury associated with your back and you didn’t get it checked and it magically healed one day, then it didn’t disappear. It is not something that you can get rid of until you seek proper medical attention.

This is why things like pain in the lower back and the inability to move your back a certain way can be issues that are really hard to handle when you reach a certain age, and the culprit is all but a small injury that was neglected in the past and now it has blown out of proportion.

No Healing After Surgery

If you have had back surgery in the past and you haven’t given yourself enough time to heal, then this can cause problems in the future and you might be susceptible to lower back pain. When you get an invasive back surgery done, it is really important that you take the rest you need and not rush things.

Healing is part of the process and if you don’t follow said process completely, then it can cause problems, one of them being back pain, and that is almost too much to handle.

Herniated Discs

A herniated disk is caused when the inner gel-like substance in the vertebrae squeezes out of its confines and doesn’t do what it is supposed to do. The gel inside the vertebral column spaces is what keeps everything nice, elastic, and very springy.

However, if the gel is not present where it’s supposed to be, then the disks will move on top of each other, and then it can cause a lot of problems, which you don’t want, one of them being back pain in the lower region, if that is where the affected disk is.

You may also experience hip pain, however, it may not be exactly similar to a hip pain that is related to the hip joint. If you’re feeling lower back and hip pain, and think that the hip is the primarily cause, then consult an orthopedic hip surgeon Woodbridge.

Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis is a condition in which there is degeneration or abnormal deposits in the lumbar column. This is something that is age-related and if you have a history of degenerative joint disorders, then your back might be at risk of this and once the bones degenerate, this can cause pressure in the remaining vertebrae and it can cause immense pain, especially when you move your back wrong.

This can lead to nerve death too and that is really scary to deal with, but pain in the lower back will be the norm.

Facet Joint Damage

The facet joint is a combination of five joints that make up the lower back and its assembly. This is something that is really important, especially when it comes to dealing with pressure and compression in the lower back. The facet joint acts like a spring and a support as well, depending on the type of impact on the lower back.

This facet joint, like many other joints in your body, can fall victim to damage. The damage can be bone deformation, bone degeneration and a bunch of other things. This will primarily cause a lot of lower back pain, for obvious reasons.

Compression Fracture

Compression fractures are really dangerous too, because naturally, there is some gap between each of your lumbar vertebrae and if there is too much unnecessary force is put on the back, then there will come a time when the vertebrae squeezes and the space between two vertebrae will become non-existent.

In simple terms, a vertebral compression fracture is the decrease in length of the lumbar vertebral column and it can be caused by the collapse of the column. This is very bad and the pain will be very excruciating, especially where the compression is the most and if it’s in the lower region, then that is where the pain will be the most intense.

Scoliosis

When you look at a side profile of yourself or even another person, you can see that the back is S-shaped. There is a slight hunch at the top of your back and then the curve goes inward, forming the small of your hip at the back. This is what it should naturally look like. However, scoliosis is a condition in which the back curves unnaturally sideways, especially when you look at it from the back.

This is really bad and this is essentially a deformity and it can cause a lot of pain in the back, especially in the lower region. So, it is crucial that you talk to a doctor about it, because something is definitely not normal here and you need to get to the bottom of it before it’s too late.

Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolisthesis is the condition of the slipping of one of the vertebrae on top of the other. Usually, the vertebrae are situated in a straight line and they seldom slip over one another. This can occur if you fall down on your back or put too much pressure on it. This can cause a lot of problems and one of them is a compression fracture, in turn, this can cause pain in the lower back, especially if the lower disks are involved.

This pressure on your spine is not good at all because there are tons and tons of nerves surrounding the spinal column and if the disk puts pressure on even one of the nerves, then it can cause a host of problems, including loss of sensation and sciatica. That is not what you want. So, always consult with a doctor if you have fractured a part of your spine in the past, because small fractures can also cause Spondylolisthesis.

Conclusion

Lower back pain can have lots of causes. They can either be easy to solve or require immediate medical attention. You can see a spine and back doctor Woodbridge for your lower back pain to know its cause and treatment options.