Back injuries can result from playing sports, working around the house or in the garden, car accidents at low or high speed, lifting heavy objects, or a fall. What does it mean to injure your back? The back is made up of bones, muscles, and other tissues that extend from the neck to the pelvis. Soft tissue sprains and strains are two of the most common back injuries. A sprain occurs when ligaments stretch too much or tear, while a strain occurs when muscles or tendons stretch or tear.
Symptoms of a sprain or strain include back pain, tightness or stiffness, muscle spasms, and difficulty moving. Soft tissue injuries can generally be treated with personal care at home. Rest, avoidance of painful activities, and application of heat and ice effectively treat most sprains and strains. Spinal stenosis is a condition that affects the neck and lower back.
It causes the spaces inside the column to narrow. This puts pressure on the nerves that cross the spine. These represent the majority of acute episodes of back pain. Sprains are caused by overstretching or tearing of ligaments, and strains are tears in the tendon or muscle.
Both can occur from twisting or lifting something incorrectly, lifting something that is too heavy, or stretching too much. These movements can also cause spasms in the back muscles, which can be painful. There can be many causes of back pain, including accidents, strains, and injuries. Two types of back injuries are spondylolisthesis and cervical radiculopathy.
Both have their own set of symptoms, causes, and treatments. In cervical radiculopathy, damage can occur as a result of pressure from a ruptured disc material, degenerative changes in bone, arthritis, or other injuries that put pressure on nerve roots. The three most common spinal injuries are strains or injuries to muscles and tendons, sprains that are injuries to the ligaments of the back, and hernias that involve injuries to the disc between the vertebrae. Back pain and injuries are the primary reason for missing work, missing school, doctor visits, and disability in the United States.
There are several types of injuries that affect the soft tissue, joints, bones, and nerves that make up the back. There are many different causes of back pain, including injuries such as sprains, strains, herniated discs, or fractured vertebrae. Other back injuries can include spondylosis, sacroiliac joint pain, sciatica, cervical disc herniation, facet joint syndrome, degenerative joint disease, and cervical radiculopathy. You may be able to prevent some back injuries by maintaining a healthy weight, maintaining a strong core, and using proper body mechanics while lifting objects with your legs.
The worst of these injuries is called a fracture-dislocation, in which the bone breaks but, because the ligaments also tear, the bones slide off each other.
