Low back pain is considered to be chronic if it has been present for greater than three months. Chronic low back pain may originate from an injury, disease or stresses on different structures of the body. The type of pain may vary greatly and may be felt as bone pain, nerve pain or muscle pain. The sensation of pain may also vary. For instance, pain may be achey, burning, stabbing or tingling, sharp or dull, and well-defined or vague. The intensity may range from mild to severe.Many times, the source of the pain is not known or cannot be specifically identified. In fact, in many instances, the condition or injury that triggered the pain may be completely healed and undetectable, but the pain may still continue to bother the patient. Nevertheless, even if the original cause of the pain is healed or unclear, the pain felt by the patient is real and the treating physician knows this.
Chronic low back pain may be the result by many different conditions. It may start from diseases, injuries or stresses to a number of different anatomic structures including bones, muscles, ligaments, joints, nerves or the spinal cord. The affected structure sends a signal through nerve endings, up the spinal cord and into the brain where it registers as pain.
A number of different theories have developed to try to explain chronic pain but the exact mechanism is not completely understood. In general, it is believed that the nerve pathways that carry the pain signals from the nerve endings through the spinal cord and to the brain may become sensitized. Sensitization of these pathways may increase the frequency or intensity with which pain is perceived. A stimulus that is usually not painful, such as light touch, can be amplified or changed by these sensitized pathways and experienced as pain. Sometimes, even after the original injury or disease process has healed, sensitized pathways continue to send signals to the brain. These signals feel just as real and sometimes worse than the pain caused by the original injury or disease process
Reference information: http://www.knowyourback.org, www.hongkong-orthopaedics.com
It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your orthopedic doctors for diagnosis and treatment.
