Common Causes of Back Pain and How To Relieve Them

Most adults experience back pain at some point in their life.¹ Back pain can feel like a constant, dull ache or a sharp, shooting pain. While it’s more common in older adults, back pain can strike at any age.²

Understanding the common causes of back pain can empower you to help prevent and manage the pain in the best possible way.

Back pain doesn’t wait until you’re older. Young adults might experience back pain for a number of reasons.

Back pain from a muscle strain or sprain is caused when a muscle, tendon, or ligament that supports your spine is stretched too much and tears. These injuries can be very painful. People with back strains or sprains may have pain that gets worse when they move, difficulty moving, and muscle cramps or spasms.³

Back pain from a strained muscle can occur suddenly or develop over a long period of time.

A sudden trauma, like a car accident or fall, can cause back injuries such as sprains or strains, vertebral fractures, or herniated disks.⁴

If you experience a back injury from a car accident, you may be more likely to have low back pain in the future.⁵

You don’t have to be an athlete to get lower back pain from a sports injury. Repetitive movements such as squats or pushing and pulling in weightlifting can cause sprains or strains in your lower back.⁶

Sudden twisting movements in other sports, like golf, tennis, or basketball, might also cause back injuries.⁷

High levels of stress are associated with low back pain. Stress might cause back pain by affecting how your body processes pain.⁸

Back injuries from lifting can happen if you lift a heavy object improperly or attempt to lift something too heavy for you. Weightlifting injuries, such as deadlifting, can also cause lower back injuries.⁹

You might expect that a physical job with lots of lifting, pushing, or pulling might cause a job-related injury. However, working from home can also cause back pain from sitting at a desk for too long.¹⁰

A sedentary lifestyle can cause back pain by increasing your risk of injury. A lack of exercise and movement can make you stiffer and less flexible, making it more likely that you will injure your back. Exercise, especially those that work out the core muscles of your abdomen and back, can help prevent back pain by supporting your spine.³

Poor posture can cause upper back pain or lower back pain by weakening the muscles in your back and putting more pressure on areas that aren’t suited for it. Poor posture can include slouching, rounded shoulders, or leaning forward or backward.¹¹

Weight gain can cause back pain by putting more stress on your spine. Research shows that obesity increases your risk of back pain.¹²

Back pain for new moms and new dads is common. Many of the parenting activities you do every day — like bending and heavy lifting — can cause poor posture and back pain.

Arthritis can affect any part of the spine but is most common in the lower back or neck.¹³

The gel-filled disks between each vertebra in your spine can break down due to age or injury and cause pain when they don’t absorb shock as well.¹⁴

Some people are born with an increased risk of experiencing back pain.¹⁵

Your risk of back pain increases as you get older. Part of this increase is due to the higher risk of medical conditions that can cause back pain, such as osteoporosis, arthritis, and obesity.²

People with fibromyalgia have an increased sensitivity to pain and can experience pain anywhere on their body, including the back.¹⁶