Back Pain is Common
Back pain and sciatica are common, and severity varies, but being common doesn’t mean it has to be normal.
Causes
Social and cultural norms force us into prolonged sitting and a lack of regular movement, this causes a loss of mobility in the lumbar spine, hips, and pelvis. This creates muscle imbalances known as cross syndrome, where certain muscles tighten/shorten, and others become inactive and weak.
Lower cross syndrome entails your lower back extensors and hip flexors to shorten, and your abs and glutes to become inhibited. As a result, the spine mechanics become altered, and the sciatic nerve compresses as it travels through these tissues.
Sciatica can be caused by a variety of conditions, including arthritis, mechanical compression, segmental instability, repetitive strain, or any injury directly to the sciatic nerve.
Herniated discs, collapsed disc space, stenosis/narrowing, or history of trauma can also cause severe back pain and radiculopathy in your thigh, leg, or foot.
Pain may be indirectly caused by an injury to another part of your body that creates strain somewhere else, for example: imagine hurting your big toe so bad that it causes you to limp and lean over from your waist eventually causing your lower back muscles to strain. Even if your toe recovers on its own, your lower back may not.
Degenerative disc disease is a common condition that causes back pain as we age - but not because we age. Changes in movement patterns and activity levels cause these issues, but being older may mean that it could take more persistent effort to improve. The sooner you begin to improve your movement the better.
Understanding Types of Back Pain
Back pain is a broad term that can be caused by an array of different conditions that cause pain anywhere on your back, here’s a closer look.
1
Lower Cross Syndrome
This illustrates the most common finding with back pain, and is probably the least recognized term. If you have back pain that you don’t know where it stems from, stiffness in AM, pain from prolonged standing, prolonged sitting, or difficulty standing all the way upright, you likely have lower cross syndrome.
This just means your abs and glutes are weak, and your hips and lower back are tight. Typically anyone who sits a lot has some form of lower cross syndrome, even if they don’t have pain [yet]. Frequent sitting (especially for long periods) shortens hip flexors and back extensors- this directly leads to increased compressive forces in your back. Then to make it worse your abs and gluts become inactive & weak - which means you can’t effectively stabilize your pelvis or lower spine. Learn how to reverse the negative effects of sitting and strategies to avoid sitting so much!
2
Sciatica
Any type of pain or neurological symptom that originates from the sciatic nerve is referred to as sciatica. The sciatic nerve branches off from your lumbar and sacral spine, runs through the buttocks and then branches off into smaller nerves that run down to your feet.
The symptoms of sciatica are typically felt along the path of this nerve. The sciatic nerve can easily become compressed or irritated especially where it exits the spine, or in the buttocks muscles, typically is described as shooting, burning, or electric sensation in your lower back, buttocks, or thigh. This can become more severe and cause weakness or diminished sensation affecting the way you walk.
3
Disc Disease, Bulges or Herniations
Discs act as spacers and cushioning for each vertebra. They become worn down over time, and can be damaged from bending with an instability, or lifting something with poor mechanics.
Over time discs lose ability to hold moisture and may lose a tiny bit of height. They are then more susceptible to wear and tear, which may create friction instead of acting as a spine lubricant, leading to inflammation and pain.
Your spine is built to move in three dimensions, it can safely bend, twist, and tilt sideways - provided that it is healthy and protected by surrounding muscles. Activities such as prolonged sitting (work, tv, driving) decrease sensitivity of activation of spinal muscles which means less stability when you bend & twist. This can make it more likely to slip a disk when bending to retrieve your keys compared to lifting a child or some heavy weights.
Your spine can be retrained to protect itself automatically thus restoring your confidence with movement in all directions, meaning you should be able to bend and twist and sidebend all at once.
4
Stenosis
Stenosis means narrowing of the regular space that your nerves travel through. Your nerves carry the signals between your brain and muscles (and everything else) in both directions, so if they get squished it hurts but also weakens muscles and affects sensation. Stenosis can occur due to disc disease but is typically exacerbated by additional compressive forces from tight muscles that run parallel to your spine. Improving mobility and decreasing compression will allow the nerves more space to do their work without being pinched.
5
Scoliosis
Your spine naturally curves in the shape of an ‘S’, when looking from the side. Any deviation of this curve is known as scoliosis. Scoliosis is typically noticed when the spine curves to the side too much, but can and usually is also rotated a bit. Severe curvature also affects your ribs and usually leads to increased stiffness causing people to move less. We teach you how to regain your mobility in your spine and ribs so that you can still bend, twist, and lift (if you want to) without issue.
