What causes chronic low back pain?

    Last Updated: October 13, 2024

    Chronic low back pain can often be nonspecific in nature, making it difficult to identify the root cause.[1] In many people, the specific cause of pain is never identified.[2] However, chronic low back pain has many specific causes as well. The following conditions are known to cause chronic low back pain:

    • Irritation of the spinal cord or nerve roots, commonly from herniated discs or spinal stenosis.
      • Vertebral fractures or trauma to the spine.
    • Inflammatory disorders of the spine, such as axial spondyloarthritis, a type of arthritis that causes pain and swelling in the spine and the joints connecting the spine to the pelvis.
    • Spinal infections.
    • Cancerous growths in or around the spine or nerve roots.
    • Poor joint mobility, particularly in the lower lumbar or hip regions.[3][4]
    • Facet osteoarthritis.
    • Degeneration of the spinal disc.

    References

    1. ^Vlaeyen JWS, Maher CG, Wiech K, Van Zundert J, Meloto CB, Diatchenko L, Battié MC, Goossens M, Koes B, Linton SJLow back pain.Nat Rev Dis Primers.(2018-Dec-13)
    2. ^Jan Hartvigsen, Mark J Hancock, Alice Kongsted, Quinette Louw, Manuela L Ferreira, Stéphane Genevay, Damian Hoy, Jaro Karppinen, Glenn Pransky, Joachim Sieper, Rob J Smeets, Martin Underwood, Lancet Low Back Pain Series Working GroupWhat low back pain is and why we need to pay attentionLancet.(2018 Jun 9)
    3. ^G MellinCorrelations of hip mobility with degree of back pain and lumbar spinal mobility in chronic low-back pain patientsSpine (Phila Pa 1976).(1988 Jun)
    4. ^Lee SW, Kim SYEffects of hip exercises for chronic low-back pain patients with lumbar instability.J Phys Ther Sci.(2015-Feb)