Sometimes it comes on suddenly. Other times, it’s slow to develop and may stick around way too long. However back pain arises, one thing is for sure. Anyone can have it, and almost everyone does at some point in their life.

Back pain is so common that it’s only second to colds as the reason why people visit their health care providers. According to the Cleveland Clinic, around 80 to 90 percent of Americans will feel the effects of back pain during their lifetime. 

Back pain is often thought to be the result of injury or disease. A car accident or fall can lead to back pain, so can kidney stones, osteoporosis or arthritis. But there are many causes that aren’t due to a sudden event or underlying condition. It’s what you do — and don’t do — while regularly using your back that Joseph Kilianski, M.D., a spine and neurosurgeon on the medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, says can determine whether your back stays healthy.

“The back has the important job of supporting your body and enabling movement, but it tends to be taken for granted,” Kilianski explains. “When the complex mix of muscles, bones, ligaments and other structures that make up the back aren’t treated properly and kept in good alignment, pain is likely to occur.”  

Are You at Risk for Back Pain?

The older you are, the more likely you are to experience an aching back due to age-related changes that take place in the spine, Kilianski notes. How you work and play can also be factors.

Seven common reasons for back pain include:

1. Poor posture while using a computer or driving
2. A sedentary job or lifestyle
3. Lack of exercise that keeps the back strong
4. Weight gain or being overweight
5. Lifting using your back
6. Sporting a poorly fitting or heavy backpack
7. Sleeping in an uncomfortable position and/or on a mattress that lacks support

With a few habit and lifestyle changes, you may be able to lessen the risk of experiencing back pain. Kilianski offers these steps you can take to improve your back health and lower your chance of developing chronic or long-lasting pain:

• Avoid slouching by keeping your back straight when you sit and stand
• Exercise and stretch regularly
• Maintain a healthy weight to lessen stress on your back
• Learn to lift with your legs instead of your back muscles
• Balance your backpack evenly on both shoulders and don’t overload it
• Evaluate how you lay in bed and replace a sagging mattress
• Avoid smoking to lessen the likelihood of osteoporosis or disc degeneration

How to Deal with an Aching Back

Back pain can take a number of different forms, depending on the cause, and its intensity can vary widely from person to person. You may have a broad, dull ache across your lower back or experience a localized sharp pain.

Acute back pain can often be treated conservatively with rest, light stretching, and home remedies such as a cold pack, heating pad and/or an over-the-counter pain reliever. “We define an acute episode as one that is sudden and brief. Back pain is considered chronic or persistent if it lasts more than three to six months and occurs daily,” Kilianski says.

He adds that it’s time to see a spine specialist if the pain is severe or doesn’t get better after a few weeks. “A good rule of thumb is if it keeps you from working or living, it needs to be addressed by a qualified health care provider. And that doesn’t necessarily mean surgery. What we’ll do is set appropriate expectations for how to move forward.”

Immediate attention for back pain is important if:

• The pain is sudden and severe and doesn’t improve with medication
• You feel weakness in one or both legs
• You feel numbness or tingling in your legs or mid-section
• The pain spreads down one or both legs
• There’s swelling in your back
• You have trouble urinating
• You lose weight for no reason

Learn more about your spine health by taking the Back Health Assessment, or visit YourBackHealth.com for more information.

Ready to schedule an appointment? Find a back and spine specialist on the medical staff near you.