Back Pain

lyrium

Two nights ago, I was sitting around and my lower back started to hurt a little. Then within about 20 minutes it hurt so bad that all I could do was lay down and try to sleep. Yesterday morning it was a little sore so I stretched out a little, and it got bad again at night. The same thing happened today. I don't carry around heavy things and I don't think I slept oddly (considering it started to hurt in the evening).
I'm only 20 years old. I have good posture and I'm very flexible but not much muscle (about 6 feet tall, 115-120 pounds). My mom ended up with a very bent and painful back and she was shaped like me when she was young, so this is a little scary for me.
Since it hasn't improved and I don't know why it hurts, I'm going to my school's health clinic tomorrow. Unfortunately, it is a notoriously bad and unhelpful place, so I was hoping to get other input here.

Things I was wondering-
Why does my back hurt?
Should I be trying to strengthen my back with exercises to keep it healthy? What exercises are good for that?
What should I do to get it to stop hurting?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

wogi

Ok, a lot of things can contribute to back pain.
First off, when you sit down, do your feet touch the floor? If not, that is probably your problem. Lower your chair so both the ball and heel of your foot rest comfortably on the floor.

Secondly, do you exercise? If not, you might want to start. If you do, what kind of exercises do you do? Certain things, if not done right (sit ups, leg ups, etc) can cause that kind of pain.

Also - double check your posture, even the way you hold your head when you sit.

falsedef

Lean back:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6187080.stm

lyrium

Thanks folks. I don't excercise really but I will ask about some good ones for the back when I'm at the clinic.

Fantasma

Hello,

Sorry about your pain, do you sit for long periods or do some heavy liftings?

Please read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_disc_herniation

Slider

I'd venture to say that you are very close to the other end of the weight spectrum on being unhealthy due to a lack of it.

For someone who is 6ft tall, 115-120lbs can't be too good. To put it into perspective, I'm 5'7 and weigh 160lbs.

Also, yes, sitting for a long period of time isn't good for your back. You need to move around. Take a walk, do some stretches...you can't be sedentary.

I sit around on the couch a lot, but I also exercise every day. In the past, I had a lot of back problems. What helped was regular exercise. You need to strengthen your muscles.

shutz

I'll tell you a little about my back pain problem, and you can determine if anything in there is helpful:

I'm overweight, which causes me sleep problems (sleep apnea, among other things) and I can't go to sleep in any other position than on my belly, because otherwise, a fleshy part of the back of my throat closes up, and I wake up with a start (after I've been able to sleep, that part of my throat kind of dries up, and stays open, and I can sometimes sleep on my side or my back.)

Anyway, due to the fact that I sleep on my belly, I found that a natural position for me was to bend one leg up, so that my body, when viewed from above, would be in a kind of "h" shape. Last year, I realized that this posture was the cause of my lower-back pain, so I forced myself to keep my legs straight when in bed, and the back pain went away.

(to help myself get through it, until my back was able to recover, I did use back pain medicine -- the kind that's a combination of acetaminophen (Tylenol, basically) and muscle relaxant. That helped my back muscles heal, by cutting the painful spasms.)

Anyway, I know your case is probably different, but consider the position you sleep in, and see if you're not bending your spine in an asymmetrical way -- and then try to force yourself to sleep in other positions.

mts

most lower back pain is due to hanstrings that are too tight and are puling everything out of whack