Things which used to be done with ease, such as hauling a bag of groceries, lifting a baby or raking leaves, suddenly cause pain. Lifting something when your back is out of shape is like someone pulling you out of a crowd to run the 26 mile Boston Marathon. Of course, even the best-trained athlete can get back pain, but in general, the better conditioned you are, the less likely you are to feel pain. Muscle strain is not the only cause of back pain. The thirties and forties are the years when arthritis and other types of natural degeneration in the small joints of the back begin to catch up with us.
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the canal in the vertebrae that surround the spinal cord.
This narrowing puts pressure on the nerves in the lower back and causes pain. Another common cause of back pain is a herniated disk. The disks act like shock absorbers between the vertebrae. Over time, a disk can herniate, meaning the annulus is torn and the soft center has extended out to press against a nerve root, causing horrible pain. Poor posture also increases strain on the back and can aggravate arthritis and lead to disk problems.