Dr. Stefano Sinicropi, M.D.

If you fall down the stairs or tweak something while moving furniture, it’s pretty easy to figure out why you’re dealing with back pain and related symptoms. However, what if your back pain seemingly develops out of nowhere? How can you treat a problem if you don’t know why it developed in the first place? In today’s blog, we explore why back pain can develop without an obvious cause, and what to do in these situations.

Causes Of Back Pain Without A Clear Cause

Let’s start by taking a closer look at some of the common culprits when back pain appears to develop out of nowhere:

1. Soft Tissue Strain – If your back pain is mild or moderate and you’re finding that it tends to worsen with activity, you may be dealing with a soft tissue sprain. Acute or repetitive strain on a spinal ligament, tendon or muscle can all lead to uncomfortable symptoms, and while you might be thinking that you’d know if you strained a muscle, oftentimes it’s not always that clear. Actions as innocuous as sneezing or bending over to pick something up off the ground can lead to a soft tissue strain. More strenuous actions can also lead to soft tissue damage, but don’t assume that you need significant strain on the back to overload different spinal tissues.
2. A Degenerative Condition – If you’re getting older and you’ve put a lot of strain on your back and body over the years, there’s a real possibility that a degenerative condition is leading to your discomfort. Degenerative disc disease or the progression of osteoarthritis can lead to progressively worsening symptoms, and their onset isn’t ever that obvious. These conditions can be accelerated by other lifestyle factors like exercise levels, weight, posture and smoking habits, so know if you’re at an elevated risk for a degenerative spinal condition.
3. Growth – There’s also the possibility that an unexpected growth within the spinal area is damaging or compressing key structures. While this could be a cancerous tumor, oftentimes it’s a much less problematic growth. For example, the development of a non-cancerous cyst or irritating bone spurs tend to be much more common culprits within the spinal column. These growths are typically incredibly slow-growing, but eventually they can reach a size where they begin to affect structures in their immediate vicinity. Imaging tests can oftentimes help to detect the presence of an unexpected growth if you’re dealing with a non-obvious case of back pain.
4. Posture-Related Issues – Poor posture habits tend to hit us similar to a slow-developing growth or bone spur. Symptoms won’t develop overnight, but left unchecked for long enough, and eventually your body will begin to feel the effects of bad posture. If you live a pretty sedentary life and you don’t always strive to keep your spine in a healthy alignment, your cervical or lumbar back pain could be closely tied to your posture. Take stock of your spinal alignment throughout the day, and see if posture improvements coincide with an alleviation of symptoms.
5. Nerve Compression – If pain seems to be pulsing or radiating down your extremities, there’s a good chance that a nerve issue is at play. And while a disc can bulge or herniate as a result of acute stress, the stability of these discs tends to wane as we get older. Similar to a soft tissue sprain, it may not take all that much strain for a disc to shift out of place and compress a nerve. The natural narrowing of the spinal canal that occurs in patients with spinal stenosis can also lead to localized and radiating discomfort. The nerve problem may be evident, even if it didn’t develop out of an obvious cause.

If you’re struggling to figure out why you’re dealing with back pain, or if you want to develop a targeted treatment plan to address your non-obvious back pain, consider connecting with Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute. Give our team a call today at (651) 430-3800.

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