Category FAQs Search : Lower Back Pain
Question: What causes low back pain?
Answer: Many injuries and conditions can cause lower back pain. This kind of pain is so common because your lumbar (low back) vertebrae (bones) do a lot to support your body, including:
1. Providing stability for the rest of your spine.
2. Serving as a point of attachment for many muscles and ligaments that allow you to walk, run, sit, lift and move your body in all directions.
3. Supporting most of your body’s weight.
4. Functioning as the center of your body’s balance.
With all these important functions, any issue with the structures in your lower back can lead to pain. Specific causes of lower back pain include:
1. Strains and sprains: Strains and sprains are the most common causes of back pain. You can injure muscles, tendons or ligaments by lifting something too heavy or not lifting safely. Some people strain their back by sneezing, coughing, twisting or bending over.
2. Spinal fractures: The bones in your lumbar spine can break during an accident, like a car crash or a fall. Certain conditions (like osteoporosis) increase your risk of fractures. Spondylolysis is a specific type of stress fracture or crack in spinal bones. It’s common in young athletes.
3. Disk problems: Spinal disks have the important job of providing a cushion between your vertebrae. Disks can bulge from their position in your spine and press on a nerve (pinched nerve). They can also tear (herniated disk). With age, disks can get flatter and offer less protection (degenerative disk disease).
4. Structural issues: A condition called spinal stenosis happens when your spinal column is too narrow for your spinal cord. Something pinching your spinal cord (like vertebral bone spurs) can cause severe sciatic nerve pain and lower back pain. Lumbar scoliosis can also lead to pain, stiffness and difficulty moving. Another structural issue that can cause low back pain is spondylolisthesis. It happens when a vertebra slips out of place, resting on the bone below it.
5. Arthritis: Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis to cause lower back pain. Ankylosing spondylitis, another type of arthritis, causes lower back pain, inflammation and stiffness in your spine.
6. Disease: Spine tumors, infections and several types of cancer can cause back pain. Other conditions can cause back pain, too, like kidney stones and an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Chronic inflammatory conditions, like fibromyalgia, can also result in lower back pain.
(Source: Cleveland Clinic, 31 Jan 2026)
Source Link: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7936-lower-back-pain