Guide To The Common Causes Of Back Pain

Arthritis

Arthritis can lead to back pain as well as pain in other joints throughout the body. There are more than one hundred kinds of arthritis. The most common type, osteoarthritis, can sometimes affect the lower back. There have been cases where arthritis has caused the space surrounding the spinal cord to narrow, which is called spinal stenosis. Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage cushioning the ends of the bones breaks down. When it's found in the back, the cartilage breakdown occurs in the affected individual's facet joints. These joints are the places vertebrae meet. The bones of the vertebrae can rub together and become irritated or permanently damaged. Rheumatoid arthritis has the potential to affect the spine's facet joints, although it doesn't commonly affect the back. Enteropathic arthritis can affect the sacroiliac joints, which leads to lower back pain. In addition, ankylosing spondylitis is a condition that primarily affects the joints found in the spine.