While this appears to be a relatively simple question, the answer has eluded researchers for many years. Before attempting to clarify the answer to this question, it is important to define pain by its different types. Low back pain can be defined by its duration (Acute, Subacute or Chronic) and also by the source of the pain (disc pain, facet joint pain, etc).
Classifying Pain by Duration:
One way to classify low back pain is by the duration of the pain. While researchers disagree on the parameters for this classification system, experts generally agree on the three types:
Acute: If it is the first onset of pain AND is present less than 3 months.
Chronic: If it is present greater than 6 months.
Subacute: If it in between 3 and 6 months, AND the first occurrence.
Chronic pain is always the most frustrating type of the three. It sometimes seems that nothing will make the pain go away (and stay away). However, this is often be due to a poor understanding by the treating doctor of the source of the pain, not identifying the conditions that will aggravate that source and not treating the cause of the problem in a logical manner.
Classifying Pain by the Source of the Pain:
There are some obvious examples of direct causes of low back pain which refer to specific injured tissues as the source of pain, such as a strained muscles or sprained joints/ligaments due to sudden injury. While these injured tissues can cause Acute pain, the fact is, as most doctors know and as most patients find out, low back pain usually has an insidious onset. This means that you didn’t do anything unusual when the pain began Perhaps it gradually came on and then worsened. Oftentimes it comes and goes (recurrent low back pain), but it usually comes for no reason whatsoever. Explaining the cause of this type of pain is very difficult.
For the patient with chronic recurrent (or constant) low back pain there is often a period of time spent trying to identifying the “cause” of the pain. In this patients eyes, the “cause” MUST be something they are doing prior to the onset of the pain. Yet despite tremendous effort to decipher the “cause” of this episode of pain, the person gives up. They have finally come to the realization that their low back pain comes and goes as it pleases.
There are actually factors at work that can explain the cause and source of this type of low back pain. Generally a combination of complex neurological and mechanical factors combine together to produce a vicious cycle of recurring pain. The pain is usually coming from one or two primary anatomical sources, either the disc or the facet joints. Disc pain is certainly more common in the low back. There are many different spinal alignment problems that cause the discs to bear more weight than normal. These alignment problems are conditions that we work to identify at Chiropractic Biophysics of Idaho.
Whether your back hurts from engaging in the activities of a weekend warrior out in your garden, or it just hurts all the time despite what you do (or don’t do), a thorough Chiropractic exam and properly taken X-rays of the low back can often identify some of the mechanical and neurological causes of your low back pain.
You can contact our office today and schedule an appointment. This is the first step in the process of finally getting rid of that pain in the back.