Back pain - Causes of back pain

Back pain

Causes of back pain

Your doctor probably won't be able tell you the exact cause of your back pain. But your back will probably get better by itself. However, back pain can occasionally be caused by infections, tumors and other serious problems.

Here are the most common diagnoses of back pain among people seen by doctors:

Source:
Deyo RA, Rainville J, et al.
What can the history and physical examination tell us about low back pain?
Journal of the American Medical Association. 1992; 268: 760-765.

Diagnosis	Back pain patients with this diagnosis	Discussion
Uncertain	Up to 85%	Back pain is usually caused by damage to your muscles, ligaments or vertebrae. Often the problem causing the pain is not serious or long-lasting, and is never worked out for sure.
Compression fracture	4%	This is a fracture in the vertebrae, which may be the result of a fall or other injury. It happens most often among older people and those with thin and brittle bones (osteoporosis).
Spondylolisthesis	3%	This is when one vertebra slips forward over another. If you picture the spine as a ladder with each vertebra as a rung, imagine one rung sliding out of line with the rest.
Cancer	0.7% (about 7 in 1,000)	Back pain can be caused by cancer that has started in your spine or that has spread there from somewhere else in your body. But this is a very rare cause of back pain. Only about 7 in every 1,000 people who see their doctor for back pain have cancer. If you have not had cancer in the past, it is very unlikely to be the reason for your back pain.
Ankylosing spondylitis	0.3% (about 3 in 1,000)	This is a rare inflammatory disorder (a condition that makes part of your body swollen). It affects the ligaments and bones of your spine. It is more common among younger people with back pain. You can think of it as arthritis of the spine.
Spinal infection	0.01% (about 1 in 10,000)	Very rarely, pain in your back is caused by an infection in that area. Usually the infection is one that has spread from another place, such as your urinary tract, through your bloodstream. The pain can be, but is not always, accompanied by a fever. However, just because you have a fever and low back pain, however, does not necessarily mean you have a spinal infection.

Sources for the information on this page:

Deyo RA, Rainville J, et al.What can the history and physical examination tell us about low back pain?Journal of the American Medical Association. 1992; 268: 760-765.

This information was last updated on Apr 30, 2009

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