Arthritis Causes

How To Cope With Back Pain Arthritis

Due to a sedate lifestyle, back pain arthritis is a very common health problem in the western world. For example, in the United States alone, three quarters of all adults will have back pain at some time - and 10 percent will have back pain in any given year. This article will identify the causes of arthritis in the back and knee, commonly known as arthritis knee pain.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of people who suffer with back pain have not damaged their spine. Instead, the source of the pain is the joints, muscles, and ligaments. If the pain continues for a significant period of time (say 3 months), health professionals who specialize in back pain arthritis would link the pain to a degeneration of the discs.

Spinal facet joints can develop arthritis, just like any other joint in the body. For example, a degeneration of the tendons of the knee would result in arthritis knee pain. In the case of back pain arthritis, there is degeneration and inflammation within the joint plus a growth of bony spurs on the sides and connective tissue of the vertebrae. In addition, some forms of severe inflammatory arthritis such as ankylosing spondylitis directly involve the spine. This common arthritis of the facet joints is usually coupled with conditions such as disc degeneration.

Whilst arthritis is the most common cause of back pain, there are a number of potential causes of arthritis. This includes: vertebral fracture as a result of a thinning of the bones due to osteoporosis. In the case the vertebrae are so porous and brittle that they fracture very easily. It is this fracture which then causes the back pain. Another example is a bulging inter-vertebral discs compressing the Sciatic nerve. This condition is known as Sciatica, and in many cases is more acute than back pain arthritis. The other common cause is a strain of the muscle or ligament. This usually occurs with common and mundane activities such as the Lifting a heavy load without the correct technique or back support, performing new exercises or simply bad posture. And to make thins even more complicated, these causes of back pain can often interact: for example, spending too much time sitting with a lazy posture can put pressure on the discs in your lower back, which in turn compresses on the Sciatica nerve, causing a condition very similar to back pain arthritis.