Tips for Avoiding Sciatica During Pregnancy
Your body goes through an amazing number of changes during pregnancy, and not all of them are good. As an example, sciatica is a common problem later in pregnancy, but not an inevitable one.
What's Causing My Back to Hurt?
If you’re one of the 65 million folks with back pain, you know how tough it is to figure out what’s causing it — but you’ve come to the right place.
We at Neuropathy & Pain Centers of Texas know back pain can be as mysterious as it is painful, so we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to its most common causes.
You may not walk away with an official diagnosis, but you will better understand where your pain is coming from, which is a crucial first step in getting relief.
Why is my back hurting so much?
Back pain is a complicated condition that can stem from a combination of factors. Unfortunately, solving your back pain can only begin once we’ve discovered what’s at the source.
Our comprehensive diagnostic evaluations are a key part of that discovery, but you can help us reach a faster conclusion by providing detailed information about your symptoms and when they started.
Here are a few things to consider when thinking about your back pain.
You recently had an injury
Back injuries are some of the most common causes of back pain. One wrong move can land you in extreme pain. Typical back injuries include:
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Lifting heavy objects incorrectly
- Sudden, awkward movements
- Sports injuries
- Auto accidents
If you’ve experienced any of these situations and now have back pain, chances are you’ve damaged your spine and are feeling the effects of a pinched nerve and/or a muscle or ligament sprain or strain.
Back injuries can cause localized pain or become so severe that the pain spreads to other areas of your body. Sometimes, an injury in another part of your body can trigger back pain, called referred pain.
Give us the details of your injury or accident to help us better understand where your back pain originates and how to treat it.
You have an underlying condition
Sometimes, back pain is a genetic issue, a side effect of an underlying disease, or an unfortunate part of the aging process.
Flexible discs and small bones called vertebrae surround your spinal cord. The discs provide cushion and shock absorption for your vertebrae, allowing you to bend and twist freely.
However, your discs and vertebrae are constantly in use. Time, genetics, degenerative disease, and other factors weaken your discs and vertebrae, and they lose their ability to support your spine. The result is painful conditions, including:
- Herniated or bulged discs
- Sciatica
- Arthritis
- Spinal stenosis
- Osteoporosis
Fibromyalgia is another underlying condition that can trigger back and widespread pain. Talk to us about your family and personal medical history to help us uncover the root cause of your back pain.
Your lifestyle isn’t back-friendly
Everything from bad posture to wearing high heels can cause or exacerbate back pain. Evaluate your habits and your health status and see if you identify with any of these back pain culprits:
- Being overweight
- Living a sedentary lifestyle
- Smoking
- Poor diet
- Unmanaged stress and mental health issues
These are some lesser-known sources of back pain, so they’re easy to overlook — don’t leave anything out when you meet with us.
Getting help for your back pain
Once we know what’s causing your back pain, we create a customized treatment plan to help you find relief quickly. It’s our mission to help our patients feel better without surgery, so we exhaust every nonsurgical and conservative option, including:
- Prescription medication
- Physical therapy
- Chiropractic care
- Nonsurgical spinal decompression
- Nutrition counseling
- Nutritional IV therapy
- Trigger point injections
- Advanced spinal decompression
- Class 4 Deep Tissue Laser Therapy
- Advanced spinal rehabilitation
Whether you just started dealing with back pain or you’ve been in the thick of it for years, our Neuropathy & Pain Center of Texas team wants to be a part of the solution. Come see what our comprehensive pain management strategies and years of experience can do for you.
Call or click to schedule a consultation with our team. We proudly serve Fort Worth, Arlington, Waco, and Wichita Falls, Texas.
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