Pain in the lower back is not simple. But it is predictable. What Causes it?

You might be feeling that tight band across the top of both hips, or that nagging pain in the side every time you bend down but pain is pain.

But what causes it?

Is the pain muscular?

Or is there more going on?

Muscles are needed for movement. Simple we can’t move without them. They anchor on to bone via tendons and help us produce force and add a few together and they produce movements. Muscles are innervated by nerves ultimately all leading from the brain. So if the muscle has become short or developed trigger points wouldn’t it be fair to say the brain has made the decision to alter the input to protect the muscle? This might be because it’s short and being over worked, maybe there’s a small tear. The nerve can become irritated from the tension and adhesion to the muscle or any bleeding can also irritate the nerve and recruit inflammatory cytokines.

Spotting the patterns.

Another possible cause of nerve irritation can be that the nerve roots are irritated from the spine meaning there may be disc issues or facet joint issues but luckily these follow a very predictable pattern. One for example is the sciatic nerve shooting down the leg. Then ask why the spine is impacted. Is there a postural issue? Was there an impact injury? If there is a postural issue, dive deeper. Is there presence of upper/lower crossed posture? Is there excess stress causing the startle reflex to show?

This just scratches the surface. But the body is amazing, complicated but amazing. If you have repetitive lower back issues and can’t rectify them then you might just need to dig a little deeper.