Lower Back Pain Causes When Standing, Sitting, And Walking in Vacaville

Lower back pain is a common condition that affects more than half of adults from all over the world. This type of pain causes them to experience difficulties when sitting, standing, and/or walking. While lower back pain is very common and debilitating at times, there is no optimal way to diagnose and treat this type of condition.

There are several factors that can cause lower back pain in Vacaville and it can be a bit challenging to find the exact anatomical structure that causes the pain. Luckily, successful treatment is not entirely predicating on locating the specific pain trigger.

By subdividing lower back pain patients into more homogenous groups according to factors that aggravate and alleviate the pain, a more specific treatment approach can be prescribed. Having a focused treatment approach instead of the usual "one size fits all" method can produce better outputs. Many patients have experienced that doing specific activities and positions can either make the pain better or worse. These clues can help pinpoint the right diagnosis and treatment for the pain.

Given that most people stand, sit or walk for most of their day, several researches have been done on how these said activities tie up to the spine and lower back pain.

Spinal Anatomy - Lower Back Pain in Vacaville

To start, try envisioning the lumbar spine as a tube with front and back supporting structures. The tube serves as the spinal canal that contains the nerve roots and cerebrospinal fluid. In every lumbar level, a pair of nerve roots exit the "tube" and goes through tiny openings known as the neural foramen (neuroforamen). The facet joints are located behind the neural foramen, which allows motion at each lumbar segment. Paraspinal muscles are attached to the back of the bony spinal column that helps in stabilizing and extending the spine. Bony vertebral bodies are found in front of the "tube" that are separated by intervertebral discs that function as shock absorbers.

The spinal column's alignment has an S-shaped curve. The segments of the cervical and lumbar spine are lordotic (curving towards the front of the body) while the thoracic is kyphotic (curving towards the back of the body). However, the curvature is not static and it can change depending on the body position. Sitting can greatly decrease your lumbar lordosis by almost 50%.

Try to imagine that you're holding a segment of rubber tubing in a vertical orientation in front of you. The tube's hollow segment represents the spinal canal, the segment of the tube facing you is the posterior spinal column, and the segment that's facing away is the anterior spinal column. Next thing to do, is you should try bending the tubing in half. The tubing on the outside facing the side of the curve will be stretched out, while the tubing facing inside will be compressed.

3 Conditions That Provokes Lower Back Pain

1. Spondylolisthesis: This pain happens immediately when you're sitting and can be partially relieved by standing. If you stand in a neutral position for a short period of time, it can relieve the pain compared to bending and walking where such movements in the vertebral bodies provoke pain.
2. Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction: Sacroiliac joint pain intensifies when you're sitting, especially if you place more weight on the affected side. As in the case of spondylolisthesis, pain can happen when you transition from standing from a sitting position.
3. Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Pain caused by spinal stenosis can improve with sitting, especially when you lean forward. This posture increases the size of the neural foramen and the lumbar spinal canal, decreasing the amount of nerve root compression. When standing and walking, the size of the neural foramen and spinal canal decreases. Walking with a flexed posture can be more comfortable than walking upright.

Lower Back Pain Triggers Important To Treatment Selection

Standing, sitting, and walking can either improve or worsen the severity of lower back pain. These symptoms are important in identifying the culprit or "pain generator". Through this knowledge, it can be easy to find the optimal treatment regimen for lower back pain.