Lower Back Pain Treatment Jacksonville FL

Lower Back Pain

East Coast Injury Clinic

What causes lower back pain?

Your back is a complex structure made up of bones, discs, joints, ligaments, muscles, and other tissues, and back pain is the result of some musculoskeletal injury or problem. Strained muscles, fractured bones, stressed joints, spinal disc trauma, and sprained ligaments are just a few likely causes of back pain.

Two of the most common reasons for lower back pain following an accident are:

Bulging disc: Any injury that moves your spine out of alignment can cause one of the discs that sits between the vertebrae of your spine to extend outside of its usual spot, and put pressure on nearby nerves causing pain in your lower back, and in other regions of your body.

Herniated disc: A forceful blow or other direct trauma that ruptures a spinal disc can cause it to leak its interior fluid, or herniate. Because spinal discs contain nerves, the rupture itself can cause severe lower back pain. Once the leaking fluid irritates nearby nerves that are rooted in your spine, the pain can radiate from your lower back down into one of your legs, where you may also experience numbness or tingling.

Even if a car accident injury initially caused your lower back pain, having poor posture, chronic anxiety or psychological stress, or being overweight can significantly aggravate your condition.

What does lower back pain feel like?

Lower back pain is relatively straightforward: You may feel it in the form of general muscle aches, shooting or stabbing pain, or pain that radiates from your lower back down into your leg. It’s also often accompanied by limited flexibility and a limited range of motion.

It’s important to seek immediate medical care if your back pain began following a car accident or other acute trauma. Lower back pain that radiates down your legs and goes below your knees, or severe pain that doesn’t get better after rest, is accompanied by fever, makes your limbs feel weak or numb, or seems to cause bladder or bowel problems, should never be ignored. Often, successful treatment depends on early diagnosis and intervention.

How is the cause of lower back pain diagnosed?

If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you already know that the accident is responsible for your pain. What you won’t know until you have a complete evaluation by a seasoned trauma expert, is the exact nature of the injury that’s causing your pain.

Because the first step in any successful pain rehabilitation or treatment program is a proper diagnosis, the team at East Coast Injury Clinic will begin with a comprehensive back examination designed to determine exactly where your pain comes from. You may be asked to rate your pain when you sit, stand, walk, or lift your legs.

Helpful diagnostic tests may include X-ray imaging, which can help determine if you have any bone fractures, nerve studies, to find out if you have any nerve damage, and MRIs or CT scans, to check for disc, muscle, tendon, or ligament damage.