Acute or short-term low back pain starts quickly and lasts less than 6 weeks. Most acute back pain is the result of trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house or in the garden, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. Symptoms may range from muscle ache to shooting or stabbing pain, limited flexibility and range of motion, or an inability to stand straight.
Chronic back pain is pain that persists for more than 3 months. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.
Anyone can have back pain. Things that increase your risk:
- Being overweight
- Poor physical fitness
- Getting older
- Heredity
- Some conditions and diseases - such as arthritis, cancer, tumors, stress, pregnancy, infections, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, kidney stones
- Your job - lifting, pushing, or pulling while twisting your spine, working at a desk all day and not sitting up straight
- Smoking- - not getting enough nutrients to the disks in your back, smoker's cough, and people who smoke are slow to heal, so back pain may last longer
- Race - black women are 2 to 3 times more likely than white women to have part of the lower spine slip out of place