Patient Education: Diseases Conditions Treatments & Procedures
Back pain
Diagnosis
The most common cause of back pain is myofascial. This simply means muscular pain. Perhaps you lifted the wrong way, or were shoveling snow yesterday or gardening all afternoon and bend forward. Imagine those muscles working to counterbalance that forward load over and over and over again! It is not due to the discs being injured or the vertebrae being broken or the nerves being pinched. Your surgeon will determine if these other causes are responsible by examining you and through special tests. He will also rule out other causes of back pain which may be dangerous to you. Be sure to tell your surgeon about any medical illnesses, infections or past history of cancer. But rest assured if these other things are ruled out, the likeliest culprit remains the muscles and physics; you can ultimately thank Newton for the cure.
