7 Weird Reasons Your Back Hurts

by Spine Physicians Institute

November 10, 2020

Reasons for back pain can vary tremendously. Some obvious reasons include you played football for the first time in 20 years, you bent the wrong way when picking up something, you overworked it in the gym, etc. However, some reasons for back pain aren’t so clear, and that can be frustrating. If you can’t figure out what’s causing your back pain, check out these seven unexpected reasons below:

The position of your pelvis – “In most people, the left side of the pelvis is rotated to the right,” says Chad Waterbury, a neurophysiologist, fitness expert, and author or HFT2 training system. “The pelvis girdle consists of three bones that can shift depending on which muscles are weak or stiff.” Your back will hurt because the muscles are pulled in the lower back whichÂ causes pain and stiffness.
Weak ab muscles – Your core works as a team with your other muscles as you lift and carry heavy things. If you have a weak core, your lower back muscles have to do extra work to pick up the slack. This causes fatigue and pain in the lower back.
Aortic aneurysm – This is a ballooning in the portion of the aorta, the main artery running from your heart to your abdomen. The expanding aneurysm can push on the structures that surround the spinal cord which can cause pain. People will fill pain between their shoulder blades or from the belly button going into the back, depending on the location of the aneurysm.
Infection in the disc of the spine – Danish scientists recently made a discovery in MRI scans. The scans show abnormal stripes on the spine structures called Modic changes. About 5 to 6 percent of the general population has Modic changes, and about 30 to 40 percent of people with low back pain have them.
Repetitive yard work – Doing regular yard work can actually cause a backache because you use the same posture each time you rake, sweep, shovel, etc. Experts suggest switching upsides when performing the repetitive activity to give your muscles a break. If you do the same activity over and over on the same side, it’s like running a marathon for those muscles. Shoveling or throwing snow is especially hard on your back because it puts 10 times the force on your low back. If you’re shoveling 10 pounds of snow, that’s 100 pounds of pressure on your low back.
Sitting too long – If you constantly compress your spine, which occurs if you sit at your desk for hours on end, the spine becomes less elastic and more prone to injury. Every 30 minutes you should stand up, rotate your torso, and stretch your spine.
Tight hamstrings – Again, if you sit all day, your hamstrings are more than likely tight. Tight hamstrings put pressure on your low back muscles to compensate. Thus, your low back has to pick up the slack in bending and rotating. The solution: stretch.