What does my low back pain mean
Your low back pain is going to be different from everyone else’s back pain, and each person has a slightly different cause based on their anatomy, their activity level, and their understanding of their pain.
What your low back pain means in general, though is that something is going on in your body. Pain is a warning signal that should alert your brain that you are doing something which may leave you with an injury or damage to your muscles or bones. The challenge with low back pain is that the root of the problem is probably somewhere near your back but it could be in your stomach, it could be in your pelvis, or it could be due to the way you are walking or running, among many possibilities.
However, something is not quite right and your body is telling you to make a change to prevent further injury or tissue damage.
When it comes to chronic pain, you may be dealing with distortions in your nervous system. If you
Have chronic pain (that is pain that has lasted for more than 3 to 6 months) and
Have had all imaging (likes x-rays, CT scan, and MRI) and
Have not had a cause identified and
Have not been able to get rid of your low back pain,
Your body may have gotten so used to being in pain that your nervous system doesn’t know how to turn off those pain signals from your brain.
Everybody’s going to be a tad bit different, but generally, your body is telling you to make a change. One great change to make is to consult with a physical therapist. You have direct access to physical therapists in most of the United States now. This is why physical therapists now get their doctorates. We can tell you when it is musculoskeletal versus when we might suspect something else.
