Dr. Shamim Akhtar

You might be an elite athlete or just a commoner. There is always a possibility for you to develop back pain while carrying out your daily activities. You might not be aware, but regular activities such as sitting at the computer, running on the treadmill or simply crawling into your bed for a good night sleep can affect the health of your spine. You are always at the risk of damaging your spine, these damages lead to back pain. It has been found that faulty postures can cause back pain by causing straining of the back muscles, injuring the tendons and damaging the vertebrae or ligaments. Back pain can be caused due to the overuse of a particular activity or for undertaking a new activity.

However, it is often very difficult to pin point the exact reason behind the occurrence of back pain. Here are the common causes for back pain:

1. The screen trouble: You are likely to develop back pain, if you spend long hours sitting in front of the commuter. Researchers believe that spending nine hours or more a day by texting on smart phones or tablets or typing on the computer is dangerous. You must take break at regular intervals while working on the gadgets to avoid back pain. Your monitor of the computer should be placed at the level of your eye.
2. You skip the core exercises: The health of your spine depends on the core regions of your body as well. The core region includes your back, side, pelvic, and buttock muscles. It is important that you practise the core exercises like lunges, squats, and planks. They help in strengthening the muscles around your core region and keep your spine healthy.
3. Improper sleep pattern: Your sleeping pattern is as much important as your walking or sitting pattern, when it comes to the health of your spine. If you sleep on your stomach, pressure is placed on joints and muscles. This may cause straining of the muscles or ligaments in the spine region.
4. Smoking: Cigarettes are not just unhealthy for your lungs or heart, they are equally bad for the spine. Cigarettes contain nicotine. Researchers have found that nicotine hampers the flow of blood to vertebrae and disks in between the spine. Insufficient supply of blood to the spine region results in low absorption of calcium by the bones in this region. Therefore, you end up developing back pain.
5. Blame it on your emotions: Back pain adds to your emotional stress. But believe it or not, the reverse is equally true. Depression and emotional stress increases or sometimes even initiates back pain. When an individual is depressed, his or her glands releases stress hormones known as cortisol. This hormone causes the muscles in the back region to tense up.
    

Sciatica refers to the pain one experiences due to the irritation or compression of nerve roots contributing to formation of Sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the longest and widest nerve in the body, running from the lower back, down to the back of each leg. The pain can occur in the lower back and spread to the hips, buttocks and leg. Sciatica generally affects one side of the body. There are numerous causes of irritation of the sciatic nerve and sciatica.

Some of them are:

1. Spinal Stenosis: The narrowing of the spinal canal caused by natural wear and tear of the vertebrae (individual bones in the spine protecting underlying nerves) of the spine is known as spinal stenosis. The narrowing may put pressure on the roots of the sciatic nerve, causing pain.
2. Herniated Disc: A disc is made up of cartilage and acts as a cushion between vertebrae, allowing flexibility of the spine. A herniated or slipped disc occurs when a disc is temporarily pushed out of place, putting pressure on the sciatic nerve.
3. Spondylolisthesis: It is a condition where one of the lower vertebrae slips forward over another. This also causes a collapse of the disc space between both, causing the nerve to get pinched. This may cause sciatica.
4. Piriformis Syndrome: Piriformis is a muscle found deep inside the buttocks, which connects the lower spine to the upper thighbone, running directly over the sciatic nerve. Spasming of this muscle can pressurize the sciatic nerve, triggering symptoms of sciatica.
5. Sacroilitis: Sacroillac joints are the place where the lower spine meets the pelvis and inflammation of one or both of these joints causes sacroilitis. This can give rise to symptoms of sciatica as it causes pain in the lower back, buttocks and legs.
6. Spinal tumors: Very rarely, tumors growing inside or along the spine may put pressure on the sciatic nerve.
7. Infection or injury: Muscle inflammation, infections, fractures or any other spinal injury may lead to irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve.
8. Pregnancy: Pregnant women may suffer from sciatica due to weight gain, expansion of the uterus or increased fluid retention or other changes occurring in the body, which put pressure on the sciatic nerve.
9. Other causes: Osteoarthritis and fractures caused by osteoporosis may also affect the sciatic nerve, producing symptoms of sciatica.