56% of people with lower-back aches say symptoms disrupt their daily routines, including sleep and sex. Not only that, but it’s the fifth most common reason for hospitalizations and third most common cause of surgery. Talk about a pain in the…back.

There are many possible causes of back pain, and several situations combine to create that pain. And it turns out that some seemingly insignificant everyday habits can take a big toll on your back over time. Here are some of the top ten mistakes that may be causing your aches and how to correct them.

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Symptoms of Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease (DDD) can affect any part of the spine, but it most commonly affects the low back (lumbar spine) or neck (cervical spine). Where you have pain will depend on what region of your spine has the disc degeneration.

Generally, people with degenerative disc disease have chronic back or neck pain. Sometimes, though, pain will flare up—that’s called an acute episode. The main symptom, though, is pain, so you should pay attention to it and what makes it better or worse.

With DDD, you may notice pain patterns such as:

• More pain when sitting for a long time, bending, lifting, or twisting
• Less pain when walking or running
• Less pain if you change positions frequently
• Less pain when you lie down

It’s important to treat your back pain properly. Seek medical attention if your pain persists—and seek immediate attention if you have any of the emergency signs listed below.

Warning Signs You Need Immediate Help

• Pain is getting worse
• Disabling pain
• Leg weakness, pain, numbness, or tingling
• Loss of bowel or bladder control

Considering Injections for Back Pain? Here’s the Research

Does injection therapy for back pain relief really work? Johns Hopkins weights the risks and benefits. 

Authors of a systematic review published in the journal Spine took a look at 18 randomized, controlled trials of the effectiveness of injection therapy in nearly 1,200 people with subacute (lasting longer than one month) or chronic (lasting for three months or more) low back pain. Epidural, facet joint, and trigger point injections were reviewed. The studies analyzed excluded people who experienced leg pain and/or muscle weakness due to spinal nerve compression (radiculopathy). 

That means that in nearly two thirds of the studies, there was little evidence to suggest that injections were any more effective than placebo in providing short-term pain relief. In addition, none of the studies evaluated long-term effectiveness. 

In spite of these findings, experts believe that it is still possible that certain subgroups of people with lingering low back pain could benefit from injection therapy. However, better-designed clinical trials are needed to determine just who those patients may be. 

In the meantime, since injection therapy does appear to benefit some people, your doctor may suggest it as an option, particularly if other conservative therapies such as physical therapy have not been helpful and surgery is your next step. 

Risks and benefits: Overall, injection therapy is a safe procedure, but adverse effects do sometimes occur. For example, nine of the 18 studies in the Spine review reported side effects, such as headache, dizziness, burning or tingling sensation, and nausea, in small numbers of people.   

Injection therapy is not suitable if you are susceptible to excessive bleeding or are taking anticoagulants (drugs that reduce the formation of blood clots). In addition, people experiencing pain due to infection or certain forms of cancer should not receive injections with steroids, since these drugs can weaken the immune system.

Plagued by continuous low back pain, your genes could be the culprit. A new study now reveals that low back pain from disc disease could be inherited.

Researchers examined two million Utah residents health and family history information and found 1,264 diagnoses of lower spine disease linked with herniated or degenerating discs. Disc disease is one of the most common reasons for continual back pain

People who had an immediate family member like parent or sibling with disc associated low back pain had four times more the chance to have low back pain.

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