What causes back pain?
Dr Benjamin Tow discusses the most common causes of acute and chronic back pain
The common causes of acute back pain are back strain from a pulled muscle, ligament sprain, and problems arising from the disc. “The disc is an intervertebral disc, which is the cushion that sits between two vertebral bodies,” Dr Tow says. “This acts as a cushion that sits between two bones and problems arising from the disc, like a slipped disc, a tear of the outer lining of the disc or other disc problems can cause patients to experience severe acute back pain.”
Acute back pain differs from chronic back pain in that acute back pain usually has a very short history, it comes within a day or two, and it doesn't last more than a week. Acute back pain usually is very severe and quite debilitating and that differs from chronic back pain, which has been around for many months or many years. It also tends to be a general, low degree of pain and not such a severe pain.
Chronic back pain can be an extension of diseases that occur in the acute situation. Common causes are due to degeneration of the cartilage, degeneration of the facet joints and it may also be due to poor posture and the inability of the intervertebral discs to take the body's weight as well as it is normally designed to.
Dr Benjamin Tow is a consultant orthopaedic and spine surgeon, with extensive experience in treating degenerative conditions of the spine, deformity-surgery and minimally-invasive spine surgery, as well as treating general orthopaedic conditions in children and adults. He is in private practice at The Orthopaedic and Spine Clinic in Singapore and can be contacted at +65 6235 5774.
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