Back Pain or Dorsopathy Basics

Back is essential for almost every move that a person can make, including general movement, lifting, and carrying activities. Most people take their back completely for granted, and rarely, if ever, stop to think about how important it is and how they could better be taking care of it. However, when a person suffers from back pain, they quickly realize just how important that their back is.

The back can be particularly vulnerable to injury, and pain caused as a result of any injuries can be disabling.

Back Pain (also called Dorsopathy) is pain in back region that is the result of stresses, strains, inflammation, or damage to the muscles, bones, joints, nerves, or other structures that make up the spine. Back pain may be persistent or intermittent, and it may be localised in one place or radiate out to other areas in body. And, pain may be a sharp piercing or burning type of pain, or a dull ache. Back pain may also be spread to the neck and it might also radiate out into an arm and hand, or it may be felt in the upper back, or in the lower back, from where it might radiate out into a leg and foot. Weakness or numbness in arms or legs can also be caused by Back Pain.

Statistics tell us that between 60 and 80 percent of adults will suffer from back pain at least once during their lives. The back Pain is a common reason for people to visit health care specialists and miss work.

Back pain can result from a variety of causes. However, the good news is that most back injuries can be avoided by taking care of our backs and adopting correct lifting techniques and posture. When back pain does occur, then simple home treatments, rest, and the adoption of proper lifting and movement techniques are often sufficient to enable a full recovery. However, in other, more extreme cases, more drastic treatments, such as surgery, are required.

Back pain, particularly the lower back pain, is most often caused when muscles or ligaments become strained as a result of improper lifting techniques, or as a result of lifting a heavy load, or a result of sudden or awkward movement. However, back pain can also be caused by muscle spasms, and a wide variety of medical conditions.

Lower - or lumbar - region of the back is particularly prone to injury and strain because it bears the entire weight of the upper body. In addition, the lower back is bent and twisted more than other parts of the spine. As a result of this extra stress and strain, the lower back inevitably suffers more wear and tear, and is therefore more prone to being a source of pain than other regions of the back.

Back Pain