Back pain has a way of sneaking into almost everything you do.

Maybe you notice it when you first get out of bed. Maybe your lower back starts aching halfway through the workday. Perhaps sitting in the car has become uncomfortable, bending over isn’t as easy as it used to be, or pain is beginning to interfere with your sleep.

And sometimes the most frustrating part is simply not knowing why your back hurts.

Back pain isn’t one condition with one cause. Muscles, joints, discs, nerves, injuries, arthritis, repetitive movements and everyday habits can all contribute. Sometimes more than one factor is involved.

At Wellness 1st Chiropractic in Austin, MN, we believe understanding what may be contributing to your pain is an important first step toward deciding what to do about it.

So let’s take a closer look at some of the common causes of back pain—and when it may be time to have it evaluated.

Why Does My Back Hurt?

Your back is a complex structure made up of vertebrae, discs, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves working together to support your body and allow movement.

That also means pain can come from many different places.

Some back pain appears suddenly after lifting something heavy, twisting awkwardly, falling or suffering an injury. Other pain develops gradually after months or years of repetitive activity, prolonged sitting, physical work or age-related changes.

The location and pattern of your symptoms can provide useful clues, but pain alone isn’t always enough to determine the cause.

Here are several possibilities.

1. Muscle Strains and Sprains

Sometimes back pain really is as simple as overdoing it.

Lifting something heavy, twisting while carrying an object, starting a new workout, shoveling snow or spending an ambitious weekend working around the house can strain muscles or sprain ligaments supporting the back.

Work can play a role, too. Jobs involving repeated lifting, pushing, pulling and twisting can increase stress on the back.

Even activities you’ve performed hundreds of times can cause trouble when fatigue, awkward positioning or an unexpected movement enters the picture.

Minor strains often improve with time and appropriate activity, but persistent or severe pain deserves further evaluation.

2. Sitting, Posture and Repetitive Daily Habits

You don’t have to lift heavy objects for your back to bother you.

Spending long periods sitting—especially in an uncomfortable position—can contribute to back discomfort. The same can be true of repetitive movements and physically demanding work.

Think about how much time your body spends in the same positions every day:

Sitting at a computer
Driving
Standing at a workstation
Bending or reaching
Lifting
Looking down at a phone or device
Repeating the same movement at work

Individually, these activities may seem harmless. Repeated for hours every day, however, they can place considerable demands on your muscles and joints.

Changing positions regularly, staying active and paying attention to how you lift and move can all be important parts of managing and preventing back discomfort.

3. Your Sleeping Position

If your back feels worse when you wake up than when you went to bed, it’s worth paying attention to what happens during those eight—or hopefully close to eight—hours.

Sleeping positions affect how your back is supported throughout the night.

For example, some people find that sleeping on their stomach aggravates the lower back. Side sleepers may be more comfortable with a pillow between their knees, while back sleepers sometimes benefit from placing a pillow beneath their knees.

Morning stiffness can have other causes as well, so persistent pain shouldn’t automatically be blamed on sleep.

Related reading: Why Do I Have Lower Back Pain in the Morning?

4. Your Mattress

Then there’s the question almost everyone with morning back pain eventually asks:

Is my mattress causing this?

Possibly—but simply buying the firmest mattress you can find isn’t necessarily the answer.

A mattress that’s too soft may allow parts of your body to sink excessively, while an overly firm mattress can create uncomfortable pressure points. Research suggests medium-firm mattresses may provide a useful balance of comfort and support for many people with low-back pain, although individual preferences and needs vary.

If you regularly wake up sore, sleep noticeably better somewhere else or can see significant sagging in your mattress, your sleep surface deserves some consideration.

5. Herniated Discs

Between the vertebrae in your spine are discs that help absorb forces and allow your spine to move.

A herniated disc occurs when material from inside a disc pushes through its outer layer. In some cases, this can irritate or compress a nearby nerve.

Symptoms can include back pain, but nerve involvement may also cause pain that travels into the buttock or leg, along with numbness, tingling or weakness.

Not every herniated disc causes symptoms, and not every case of back pain is caused by a disc problem. That’s why determining what’s actually contributing to your symptoms matters.

6. Pain That Travels Into the Hip or Leg

Where you feel pain isn’t always where the problem originates.

Nerves from the lower spine travel into the hips and legs. Problems affecting the lower back can therefore sometimes produce symptoms farther away from the spine.

This can make things confusing.

Something that feels like hip pain may sometimes involve the lower back, while other hip pain really does originate from the hip joint, muscles, tendons or surrounding tissues.

Pain traveling down the leg—particularly when accompanied by numbness, tingling or weakness—is worth discussing with a healthcare professional.

Our backs change as we get older.

Discs, joints and other structures of the spine can undergo degenerative changes over time. Osteoarthritis and other forms of arthritis can contribute to stiffness, reduced mobility and pain.

That doesn’t mean back pain is simply something you have to accept as part of getting older.

Appropriate exercise, maintaining mobility, managing activity and other conservative approaches may help some people continue doing more of the things they enjoy.

An evaluation can also help distinguish ordinary age-related changes from symptoms that warrant additional medical attention.

8. Physical Work, Lifting and Repetitive Motion

Here in Austin and throughout southern Minnesota, plenty of people make their living doing work that’s physically demanding.

Manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, construction, automotive work, maintenance, warehousing, retail and other jobs may involve long periods of standing, repetitive movements, lifting, bending or twisting.

Your back doesn’t forget about those movements when you clock out.

Good lifting mechanics, changing positions when possible, maintaining strength and addressing persistent discomfort before it significantly affects your activities can all be worthwhile.

And sometimes it’s not one dramatic injury that causes a problem. Repeated smaller stresses can add up over time.

9. Weekend Projects, Yard Work and Seasonal Activities

Minnesota gives our backs plenty to do.

One season we’re shoveling snow. A few months later we’re moving landscaping materials, gardening, mowing, hauling equipment or tackling projects around the house.

One common mistake is going from relatively low activity to several hours of strenuous work in a single day.

Your muscles may not be prepared for that sudden increase.

Ease into demanding activities, take breaks, change tasks and use sensible lifting techniques—especially when returning to seasonal activities you haven’t performed for several months.

Sometimes Back Pain Doesn’t Have One Obvious Cause

This is important.

You can have significant back pain without being able to point to one exact moment when something went wrong.

Back pain may involve several contributing factors at once, and sometimes a specific cause isn’t identified.

That’s one reason searching your symptoms online can only take you so far.

An article can tell you what might be happening.

An evaluation is about determining what may be happening to you.

When Should You Have Back Pain Evaluated?

A minor sore back after an unusually active weekend may improve on its own.

But consider having your back pain evaluated if it:

Persists for several weeks
Keeps returning
Is becoming progressively worse
Interferes with work or normal activities
Makes it difficult to sleep
Significantly limits movement
Travels into your hip, buttock or leg
Is accompanied by numbness, tingling or weakness

There are also situations where back pain requires prompt medical attention.

Seek medical care for back pain associated with symptoms such as difficulty urinating, significant weakness or numbness in the legs, fever, unexplained weight loss, or severe pain following a fall or other significant injury.

Knowing when not to treat back pain as an ordinary ache is just as important as knowing how to manage routine discomfort.

What Can You Do About Back Pain?

The appropriate approach depends on what’s causing the pain.

For many common types of back pain, conservative care may involve some combination of appropriate activity, exercise, stretching, ergonomic changes and other non-drug treatments.

Complete bed rest generally isn’t the goal for routine back pain. Appropriate movement and gradually returning to normal activities are often important parts of recovery.

However, there’s no single treatment that’s right for every person—or every cause of back pain.

That’s where an individualized evaluation becomes valuable.

Can Chiropractic Care Help Back Pain?

Chiropractic care is commonly used for musculoskeletal conditions, including low-back pain.

Spinal manipulation is one of several non-drug approaches that may be considered for acute or chronic low-back pain. Research suggests it may provide modest improvements in pain and function for some people.

But chiropractic care isn’t appropriate for every cause of back pain.

At Wellness 1st Chiropractic, evaluation is an important part of care. Your symptoms, health history, movement and other relevant factors can help determine whether chiropractic treatment is appropriate or whether another healthcare provider should be involved.

When chiropractic care is appropriate, treatment may focus on improving joint mobility, movement and function while addressing musculoskeletal factors contributing to discomfort.

Want to know more about what an adjustment actually involves?

Related reading: What Happens During a Chiropractic Adjustment?

For a broader look at chiropractic care and the conditions it may be used for, visit our Guide to Chiropractic Care in Austin, MN.

Back Pain Isn’t Always Just About Chiropractic

One advantage of seeking care at Wellness 1st is that chiropractic isn’t the only conservative service available.

Depending on your individual needs, massage therapy or acupuncture may also be considered as part of a broader approach to managing musculoskeletal pain.

Research on low-back pain has examined a variety of non-drug approaches, including exercise, spinal manipulation, acupuncture and massage. The right approach depends on the individual, the type and duration of pain, and the underlying cause.

Don’t Let Back Pain Become Your New Normal

It’s surprisingly easy to adapt to pain.

You stop bending a certain way. You avoid carrying something. You sit differently. You give up an activity. You tell yourself your back “just does that now.”

But recurring or persistent pain is worth understanding.

If back pain is interfering with your work, sleep, mobility or the things you enjoy, consider having it evaluated rather than simply continuing to work around it.

At Wellness 1st Chiropractic in Austin, Minnesota, Dr. Kelly Nesvold and the Wellness 1st team provide individualized chiropractic care along with massage therapy and acupuncture.

The goal isn’t to assume every backache needs the same treatment.

It’s to understand what’s happening, determine what type of care may be appropriate, and help you make an informed decision about what comes next.

Ready to have your back pain evaluated?

Call Wellness 1st Chiropractic at 507-437-7781 to schedule an appointment at 204 4th St. SW in Austin, MN.

This article is intended for general educational purposes and isn’t a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Sources & Further Reading

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Back Pain: Symptoms, Types & Causes
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/back-pain

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Low-Back Pain and Complementary Health Approaches
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/low-back-pain-and-complementary-health-approaches-what-you-need-to-know

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Spinal Manipulation: What You Need to Know
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/spinal-manipulation-what-you-need-to-know

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Chiropractic Care:

Acupuncture:

Massage:

Call:

Call Us

Email Us Securely

Back Pain: Common Causes, What Helps & When to Seek Care