Back pain is a prevalent condition that has now affected millions of individuals worldwide. It can be caused by a sporting accident, a thoughtless lift, or that annoying ache that won’t shift. Backache is something to which most of us can easily connect. Others will tolerate it for a couple of months before it completely wears off, while others will live with the pain as a shadow. What is actually causing this annoying pain? Let’s explore the wonderful world of muscles, nerves, and how they all relate to back pain.
When we hear back pain, we have to recall what happens inside our muscles and nerves. Our bodies are great machines and the understanding of how they work can actually help us realize why we suffer from back pain.
Muscles at Work
Muscles are the energy engine of our movement. They produce the force to move our bones and provide our daily function. Think of them as the train of our body, pulling and pushing everything around you—whether grocery shopping, running, or even just getting out of bed. Muscles ally with gravity, keeping us erect and balanced as we go through life.
And when we’re doing movements that are unbalanced, what do we find? Our muscles depend upon the stability of our spine so that they may have strength and stability. The spinal column plays an extremely important part in this very fine mechanism in that it is the basis of muscle function. When we’re standing, walking, or running, our muscles contract and extend, responding to the changing stresses we’re placing upon them. These contractions are the way in which our bodies absorb shocks and release pressure when we are mobile, meaning we can move around on a day-to-day basis easily.
Interesting fact: Did you know that your heel is the part of your body that strikes the ground first when you walk? Fact! This is why many of us suffer from heel pain at some stage of our life. When your heel descends, your muscles tighten and assist in shoving your weight forward. It’s a secret waltz of structure and function, a lovely ballet of bone and muscle in harmony.
Nerves: The Body’s Communication Network
Okay, so let’s discuss nerves a little bit. Your spine isn’t all bone; there are sensory and motor nerves that reside there, which conduct simple things in the manner in which we move and sense. Motor nerves have the job of transmitting impulses from your brain all the way down to your muscles. If you’re lifting a heavy box, say, it’s these nerves that tell your muscles to get on with it.
But the other half, and perhaps the less-explained half, is that sensory nerves are stimulated by feedback to your brain from your muscles. They make you sense and aware of what is going on in your body, telling you if and when you’re hurting or something doesn’t quite look or feel right. The nerves send messages to your muscles and then to your organs, blood vessels, skin, and even to your brain. Fundamentally, they help us convey messages about how we are feeling so that we can respond accordingly.
Muscle Action and Back Pain
Motor signals and sensory reports loop back to update a key player in our movement: the motor unit. It consists of a small group of fibers that work together to move smoothly. Everything goes right when everything is functioning properly, and you can move with no worries. But back pain can set in when cramping of muscles happens.
Muscle spasms will happen when muscle fiber coordination is lost. Consider this: a muscle fiber is not working in concert with another one and the end result is automatic contractions. Ow! And if the contractions aren’t under control, you can actually develop some real weakness or even paralysis sometimes. And if your muscles are over-contracting or under-contracting, then this can also produce back pain.
Taking Care of Your Back
So what do we learn from this? What muscles and nerves do and how they function can help make sense of why good lifting, strengthening, and stretching technique is so critical. How our bodies function makes us better equipped to avoid injury and to heal pain when it does occur.
In short, back pain is a complex disorder based on the function of our muscles and nerves. By treating our bodies kindly, we will be in a better position to overcome the obstacles that back pain puts in front of us so that we can have a healthier, happier existence. The next time you catch that nag at coursing down your back, think about the incredible network of muscles and nerves working together—your body is always trying to tell you something, so listen up!
