What causes back pain?

Spinal stenosis

Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal that causes compression of the spinal roots (sometimes the spinal cord) before they exit the intervertebral foramen, position-dependent back pain, and symptoms of nerve root compression.

Sciatica and back pain

Sciatica is pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve. Sciatica is usually caused by compression of the lumbar nerve roots. The most common causes are: disc pathology, osteophytes, narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis).

Lumbar radiculopathy and back pain

Lumbar radiculopathy is a set of symptoms that includes neuropathic pain in the back and lower limbs generated in the lumbar spinal roots.

Wing scapula syndrome and back pain

Scapular winging syndrome is a rare cause of musculoskeletal pain in the shoulder and posterior chest wall. Caused by paralysis of the serratus anterior muscle, scapular winging syndrome begins as painless weakness in the muscle, followed by the development of a pathognomonic scapular shape.

Cervicolingual syndrome and back pain

Cervicoglossal syndrome is a rare condition characterized by neck pain with numbness of the ipsilateral half of the tongue, which is aggravated by movement of the upper cervical spine.

Myogenic back pain

In modern clinical medicine, two types of myogenic pain (MP) are distinguished: myogenic pain with trigger zones and myogenic pain without trigger zones. If doctors are more or less familiar with the first type ("myofascial pain syndrome" - according to the most common terminology), then the second type, as a rule, is terra incognita for most doctors.

Osteochondrosis and back pain

Unfortunately, the term "osteochondrosis" has become firmly established in the practice of Russian doctors, becoming a convenient diagnostic cliche for back pain. It should be recognized that this term was probably justified at the time when neurologists were invading the field of orthopedics (diseases of muscles and joints), creating a doctrine called manual medicine.