Have you ever wondered what causes back pain in men?
Do you know the most common culprits that affect so many men, impairing their ability to work, play, and function normally?
Sadly, lower back problems are all too common in men, particularly men over the age of 30 engaged in high physical activity and manual labor. These problems can seriously interfere with quality of life and cause a great deal of pain.
Below, we’re going to dive into the most common problems and find out what causes back pain in men, all so you can be aware of what may be behind your current aches and pains.
What Causes Back Pain in Men?
There are a number of spinal conditions and musculoskeletal disorders that can lead to serious back pain, but in this list, we’re going to focus just on the most common causes behind the pain. If you’re suffering, one (or more) of these are likely to be the cause:
Damaged Soft Tissue – The pain isn’t typically in the spinal bones themselves, but in the soft tissue around the bones. Most of the time, it’s your ligaments and/or muscles that experience the damage that causes back pain.
A muscle strain can occur when the muscle gets stretched beyond its ability to stretch, and this causes a tear in the muscle fibers. These tears can be minor and barely noticeable, or they can be incredibly painful. It all depends on the amount of stretching and the extent of the tearing caused by the strain.
A ligament sprain can occur when the ligaments connecting the spinal bones together get stretched beyond their limits, and they tear. Unfortunately, ligaments heal much more slowly than muscles and other soft types of tissue, so a sprained ligament can require a lot more time to recover—and may cause more pain than a muscle tear.
This type of stretching/tearing injury is typically caused by things like:
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Lifting something overly heavy
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An incorrect twist of the spine while you are lifting something
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Poor posture (which can cause damage over time)
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Falls or collisions
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Sudden movements that place excessive stress on the lower back
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Injuries while engaged in exercise or sport (anything that involves a sudden impact or twisting)
Soft tissue damage doesn’t typically cause long-term or chronic pain, as the soft tissue can heal. However, the pain is acute can be quite severe initially. Movement while recovering from this type of injury can also be limited and very painful.
Herniated Disc – Herniated discs are also a very common cause behind lower back pain in men. With this type of injury, the jelly-like substance within the center of the vertebral discs can actually break through the outer layer. This can irritate a nearby nerve root, but over time, the inflammatory proteins within the disc can also pinch or compress the nerve, leading to serious lower back pain.
This type of injury can be caused by many of the same things that cause soft tissue damage, only instead of muscles or ligaments being affected, it’s the spinal discs that end up sustaining damage. This can typically lead to chronic pain (pain that lasts more than three months) that exceeds our bodies’ ability to repair.
Osteoarthritis – For older men (above 45 or 50), this is a fairly common cause of chronic lower back pain. With osteoarthritis, the joints in our body—in this case, the joints connecting the spinal discs—get worn away by years of use, leaving the bones with no cushioning to prevent them from grinding against each other. As you can imagine, this is incredibly painful, but it also causes inflammation that can drastically reduce mobility.
Spinal osteoarthritis can also progress, leading to degenerative disc disease. Over time, the reduced joint “hydration” can actually damage the discs themselves, weakening them and making them more prone to herniation. The disc may even collapse, leading to a condition called spinal stenosis.
Spinal stenosis (another cause of back pain) is a narrowing of the nerve canal where the spinal nerves run. The narrowed canal can put pressure on the nerves, causing a great deal of nerve pain.
Trauma – Men who suffer from direct impacts to the spine (such as from a blow or collision) can suffer serious trauma-related damage. Bones may fracture or the joints may become dislocated. This type of damage should ALWAYS be medically evaluated. This is why it’s recommended that you get checked out by a doctor after a motor vehicle accident or a serious fall.
These are the four most common causes of back pain in men, and can be the reason you’re suffering. Time to take steps to correct the problem and improve your life—and with the Back on Track System, you’ve got just what you need.
Now You Know What Causes Back Pain in Men, It’s Time for the Remedy!
The Back on Track System is our solution to help men manage back pain the natural way. It’s a life-changing program that will give you total control over the things that matter most for a healthy, pain-free back: your daily activity, your movement, and your knowledge of what causes back pain.
With this training program, you can learn everything you need to know to counteract the things that are causing your back pain, and take steps to improve your health and mobility. We’ll arm you with the tools that will give you back control, will help you combat the causes behind your back pain and erase the consistent discomfort that has been plaguing you.
Back on Track has changed the lives of countless back pain sufferers, and it can do the same for you. Now that you know what causes back pain in men, it’s time to take action and let us help you root out the specific problems that are behind your back pain.
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