What Causes Spine Pain?

Most of us can expect to experience back pain at some point in life. However, even though it’s a common problem, its intensity and cause can vary significantly from person to person.

At Advanced Pain Management Center in Portland, Oregon, Vladimir Fiks, MD, specializes in treating all sorts of spinal pain disorders with the most innovative techniques available. In this blog, he shares insights into the spine, what could be causing your pain, and how you can find relief. 

The challenges with spine pain

Your spine is an incredibly complex part of your body that’s organized into four primary regions: the neck (cervical), the upper and mid-back (thoracic), the lower back (lumbar), and the tailbone (sacral). It contains numerous interconnected and overlapping structures, including:

• Intervertebral discs, which absorb shock
• Facet joints, which connect the vertebrae 
• Spinal nerves, which exit the spinal canal
• Large muscles, which support the spine

All of these structures make spine pain tricky to diagnose and treat, because any of them can become injured and trigger symptoms. On top of that, you also have other tissues nearby, such as bones, tendons, and ligaments, which can also cause pain.

Common causes of spine pain

A few common causes of spine pain include:

• Disc damage, such as bulging, herniated, or degenerated discs
• Spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of your spinal canal
• Abnormal curvature of your spine, such as scoliosis
• Spinal instability, such as a slipped disc
• Spinal fractures from injuries or osteoporosis

You can also have pain without an obvious anatomical cause, but Dr. Fiks can still offer treatment options to help alleviate or manage your symptoms.

Diagnosing spine pain

Dr. Fiks performs a thorough medical exam, including a physical, to reach an accurate diagnosis. An important aspect of this exam includes discussing your pain symptoms, which can offer important clues to your condition. There are three common classifications used with spine pain:

Axial pain

This type of back pain usually stays in one area. It can come and go or remain constant, and it can feel sharp, dull, or throbbing. Common causes of axial pain include facet joint problems, disc tears, and muscle strains.

Referred pain

Unlike axial pain, referred pain usually moves around and varies in intensity. This type of dull or achy pain can occur if you have degenerative disc disease in your lower back, which can cause pain in your hips and thighs.

Radicular pain

When you have radicular pain, you often feel searing or shock-like sensations radiating along a spinal nerve. This spine pain develops when you have an inflamed or compressed spinal nerve root, which causes symptoms along the affected nerve. Conditions that can lead to radicular pain include herniated discs, spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis.

Treating spine pain

After Dr. Fiks diagnoses the cause of your spine pain, he can recommend an effective treatment strategy to relieve your symptoms at the source.

Common treatments for spine pain include:

• Spinal injections
• Spinal decompression
• Spinal cord stimulation
• Regenerative therapies

Dr. Fiks also offers minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as kyphoplasty, to repair spinal fractures and cancer-damaged vertebrae, and SI joint fusion to restore stability to the bottom of your spine.

With proper assessment and diagnosis, Dr. Fiks can find a solution for your spine pain. To learn more, book an appointment over the phone with Advanced Pain Management Center today.