Lower Back Injuries

Lower back injuries take the form of one or more of the following and in the order of less to more severe:

1. Contusions.
2. Sprains.
3. Strains.
4. Fracture.

Causes Of Low Back Injuries

These back injuries are usually the result of:

• Falls.
• Automobile accidents.
• Heavy lifting.
• Abnormal or unprepared loads.
• Work and Sports injuries.
• Osteoporosis.

Sometimes you can have more than one type of injury from a single mechanism or incident such as a fracture, with sprain, strain and contusions.

An example would be injuries due to a severe car accidents where the spine has bee fractured, the adjacent joint has been sprained, the attached muscle has been torn and the surrounding area has been contused.

Or as in a football injury, you may suffer a mild sprain of the sacroiliac joint and at the same time you have a lumbar strain from a severe twisting type of tackle along with a forceful impact to the ground.

In the case of fractures, a severe trauma is most often the cause. However, in the elderly, or those with severe osteoporosis, compression fractures can occur from minor incidents such as bending forward or lifting light loads.

Most Likely Cause

Most lower back injuries are due to everyday activities and are of a mild to moderate level. These come about from simple strains due to yard or household work, recreational activities or slips and falls.

Many of these injuries could have been minimized or prevented if a proper fitness program was being utilized, proper footwear was worn, pelvic and structural deficits were corrected for.

Preventing Back Injuries

Make exercise and conditioning that includes strength training, flexibility and endurance part of your daily routine.

Injuries suffered today may lead to more serious and/or further complicating conditions in the future. Your spinal disc degeneration and arthritis is most often due to injuries to the low back suffered years prior to the onset of symptoms.

A balance body is less likely to suffer strain type injuries than one that doesn't possess structural deficits.

Muscle that are exercised regularly, especially with strength training, will be more able to sustain sudden twists, turns or falls. Strong muscle that have endurance will not become fatigued. They will be able to handle heavy loads or repetitive loading, and be resistant to micro-trauma and major strains.

^Go to Top

<< Return to Back Pain Diagnosis

<< Homepage from Lower Back Injuries