Lower Back Pain
Your lower back, commonly called your lumbar spine, supports most of your body weight and helps your body move.
Located between the bottom of your rib cage and your pelvis, the lower back includes muscles, ligaments and nerves, along with five spinal bones called vertebrae. Lower back pain can be caused by accidents, injuries, aging or disease.
Pain also can be a sign of damaged vertebrae pressing on your spinal nerve roots or damage to your sacroiliac (SI) joints – the joints on each side of the pelvis connecting the spine to the large pelvic bone.
Lower back pain is common. It affects up to 85% of adults over their lifetime and is one of the top causes of disability. Although most lower back pain gets better on its own or with lifestyle changes, severe acute pain or chronic back pain often improves with treatment.
Accessing the variety of specialists needed for spine care can be complicated. The UK HealthCare Comprehensive Spine Center makes it simple by bringing together a team of all the specialists you may need. Within one program, you have access to all our specialties:
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation
- Interventional pain medicine
- Orthopaedic surgery
- Neurosurgery
- Physical and occupational therapy
You will be evaluated at your first visit to determine the best treatment path for your specific needs.
Overview of symptoms
Common symptoms of lower back pain include:
- Aching or burning pain in your lower back
- Bowel or bladder problems
- Difficulty standing or walking
- Muscle spasms
- Muscle tightness or stiffness
- Numbness or tingling in your back, hips or legs
- Pain that extends into your buttocks, thighs or feet
- Weakness in your legs
Potential diagnoses
Diagnosing your lower back pain will start with a physical exam and medical history. Your care team may use imaging tests, such as X-ray, myelogram, MRI or a CT scan, to get a clearer picture of what is happening in your lower back. If a nerve problem is suspected, you may need additional tests, such as electromyography (EMG) and/or a nerve conduction study. In some cases, lab tests may be needed.
Lower back pain can be caused by a wide range of orthopaedic and neurological conditions, including:
- Cauda equina syndrome
- Degenerative disk disease
- Foraminal stenosis
- Fractured vertebrae
- Herniated disk
- Neurogenic claudication (pseudoclaudication)
- Radiculopathy/pinched nerve
- Sacroiliac joint pain
- Sciatica
- Spinal cysts (ganglion and synovial)
- Spinal infection
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spondylosis
No matter the cause of your lower back pain, you can trust the experts at the UK HealthCare Comprehensive Spine Center to offer leading-edge treatment options. Whether you need medicines, physical therapy for pain management or surgery for a more complex condition, our multidisciplinary team has the expertise to effectively treat your lower back pain.