Posted on September 29, 2024
Almost everyone develops low back pain at some point during their life. For most people, it resolves within days or weeks.
However, there are many people who develop debilitating low back pain that can last years.
Low back pain is technically a symptom complex. It describes the area, but not the source of the pain. It does not tell us the painful structure.
It turns out that there are three primary causes for the majority of low back pain and three less likely causes.
The three primary causes are pain emanating from the lumbar discs, the facet joints, or the sacroiliac joints. Depending on your age group, one of these may be more likely.
There are also less likely sources of low back that must be considered. In some cases, the back pain comes from the vertebrae themselves if there are Modic endplate changes on your MRI.
Sometimes, the pain comes from atrophy of the Multidus muscles. In other situations, it can even be from underlying spinal stenosis, most commonly in patients over 70.
Diagnosing low back pain can be tedious for both you and your physician. Due to insurance processes, it may even take several months.
However, for 95% of patients who are seen, we can identify their pain generator and determine a proper treatment for it without resorting to major surgery.
At Advanced Pain Management & Spine Specialists (APMSS), we have a long-standing reputation for determining the true source of pain. This helps our patients achieve optimal comfort through the most conservative treatment measures possible.