7 Reasons Why You Should Not Ignore Your Back Pain
Introduction
If you’re experiencing back pain, it can be difficult to know what’s causing it and what you should do next. Some types of back pain are easy to diagnose, like a slipped disc or spinal arthritis. Others are more mysterious—like the muscle spasms that send you reaching for the ibuprofen bottle every night at bedtime (and then swearing off ibuprofen forever). However, if your back pain persists for longer than a few days and gets worse over time, it’s best to get checked out by a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating spine-related illnesses.
1. It may be as simple as poor posture.
A good first step to address your back pain is to identify the cause. Back pain can be caused by many different things, but one of the most common causes is poor posture. If you’re spending a lot of time at your desk or sitting in a chair for long periods of time, you are likely to develop some sort of bad postural habits that could be causing your back pain.
There are many other factors that can contribute as well—sleeping on an old mattress can lead to poor sleep posture and result in aches and pains throughout the body; carrying heavy loads without proper lifting techniques can cause strain on the back muscles; and sleeping with pillows that aren’t supportive enough will result in poor spinal alignment. All these different situations may seem unrelated at first glance, but they all have one thing in common: improper alignment between various parts of your body which leads directly into muscle tension and eventually chronic pain conditions like sciatica or facet joint syndrome (FJS).
2. It may be a sign of spinal arthritis.
- It may be a sign of spinal arthritis.
If you have frequent or severe back pain, it could mean you have spinal arthritis. This condition is also known as degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis of the spine, and it can occur at any age—even in people as young as 30 years old. Spinal arthritis is caused by age, genetics, previous injuries or trauma, but it’s not easy to detect on its own because there are no symptoms specific to the condition itself (like you would see with other types of arthritis). Instead, doctors often diagnose spinal arthritis after ruling out other potential causes for your back pain like overuse injuries and nerve impingement syndrome (a pinched nerve due to stress on a muscle or ligament).
3. It could actually be a slipped disc.
Some back pain is caused by a slipped disc, which is also known as a herniated disc. This is when the outer layer of the spinal discs (or the annulus fibrosus) tears, allowing part of its contents (the nucleus pulposus) to bulge out from between two vertebrae and exert pressure on nearby nerves.
A slipped disc can be caused by trauma or overuse—it’s most often seen in people who have sustained an injury or work in physically demanding jobs like athletes or construction workers. However, it can happen to anyone who sits for long periods of time without taking breaks throughout their day.
Slipped discs are fairly common and happen more often than many people realize: About 1 in 4 adults under age 65 will experience some form of back pain at least once during their lifetime. Because this type of pain occurs so frequently, it’s important that you take measures to prevent further damage if you do end up with this type of issue!
4. Your back pain may be a sign of osteoporosis or osteopenia.
Osteoporosis is a condition that causes bones to become weaker and more likely to fracture. It also makes you more susceptible to vertebral compression fractures, a condition that occurs when the weight of your body’s mass compresses the vertebrae in your spine.
Osteopenia is a condition that causes bones to become thinner and more likely to break.
Both conditions are more common in women than men; according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), “about half of all women will develop osteoporosis or low bone mass at some point during their lives.”
5. Occasionally, it can be something more serious like cancer or an infection.
You should be especially concerned if your pain is accompanied by:
- Fever
- Weakness or numbness in the legs, arms, or torso
- Unexplained weight loss
If you experience any of these symptoms, see a doctor immediately. It’s possible that you could have cancer or an infection that’s affecting your spine.
6. Back pain can also be connected to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Back pain is also a symptom of mental health problems and can be a cause of such issues. Depression and anxiety are the two most common mental health disorders connected to chronic back pain, but other conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and fibromyalgia have also been linked to this type of pain.
Chronic lower back problems can lead to depression because they interfere with daily activities and limit mobility, which in turn affects self-esteem and makes it harder for you to participate in social activities. Meanwhile, depression also interferes with sleep patterns—which affects how well your body absorbs nutrients from food—and reduces motivation or desire to improve your physical condition.
In addition, research has shown that people suffering from anxiety or stress tend to have higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), which can further increase their susceptibility towards developing tension headaches or migraines if left untreated over time!
7. If it is caused by an injury, ignoring it can lead to further complications down the line, such as spine instability and nerve damage
If you ignore back pain, it can get worse. If you ignore back pain, you can cause further damage.
In other words: if you ignore back pain and let it linger, the injury or condition that caused your initial discomfort will only worsen over time. This is because the body’s natural healing process slows down when an injury goes untreated—a phenomenon called “sequelae” that means “that which comes after.” In this case, sequelae refers to all of the potential health issues associated with not seeking treatment for an injury like a sprained ankle or tweaked knee—like chronic inflammation or joint instability, which could lead to permanent nerve damage over time (and even further complications).
Ignoring back pain doesn’t make it go away, so you should get it checked out sooner rather than later.
Ignoring back pain doesn’t make it go away. So, if you’ve been ignoring your pain and hoping that it will pass, think again!
The sooner you see a doctor and get a diagnosis, the better. The longer you wait to address your pain, the harder it will be to treat. And if untreated, your condition could worsen over time or become chronic.
Don’t just rely on over-the-counter pain medications; they don’t always work (and they may cause side effects). Plus there are plenty of other ways to treat back pain without taking drugs—things like exercise and rest that can help strengthen muscles in order to alleviate stress on joints in the back area (such as weight training). As with any other ailment or injury: don’t take chances by not getting medical attention when needed!
Conclusion
Back pain is a real problem, and it can get worse if you don’t take the time to treat it. By ignoring your symptoms, you run the risk of making them worse. So if you have back pain and find yourself thinking that it will go away on its own, think again—you should get it checked out by a professional as soon as possible!