The pain can be on one side of the spinal column or on both sides. Common causes of lower back pain include strain injury from athletics or overuse, disc herniation, kidney infection, pinched nerve in the spine, and pregnancy. Back pain often develops without a cause that your doctor can identify with a test or an imaging study. A sprain occurs when a person overstretches or tears a ligament, while doing the same to a tendon or … The lower back, which starts below the ribcage, is called the lumbar region. Low back pain is a universal human experience -- almost everyone has it at some point. Only about 1% of back pain is ominous, and even then it’s often still treatable.

Many will have more than one episode. Most of that 1% is cancer, autoimmune disease, and spinal cord damage.

This type of pain tends to be localized to the lower back, buttocks, and sometimes the top of the legs. Approximately 84 percent of adults report having lower back pain at some point in their lives. Once your low back pain has receded, you can help avert future episodes of back pain by working the muscles that support your lower back, including the back extensor muscles. Sprains and strains are a common cause of lower back pain. By far the most common cause of lower back pain, mechanical pain (axial pain) is pain primarily from the muscles, ligaments, joints (facet joints, sacroiliac joints), or bones in and around the spine.

Back pain that comes on suddenly and lasts no more than six weeks (acute) can be caused by a fall or heavy lifting. Pain in the lower back or low back pain is a common concern, affecting up to 80% of Americans at some point in their lifetime.

The most worrisome kinds of back pain rarely involve severe pain, and many common problems (like slipped discs) are mostly much less serious than people fear. Low back pain is not a specific disease, rather it is a symptom that may occur from a variety of different processes. Back pain that lasts more than three months (chronic) is less common than acute pain. Most low back pain is the result of an injury, such as muscle sprains or strains due to sudden movements or poor body mechanics while lifting heavy objects. The exact location of …