There are a lot of different ways you can hurt your back. Both car accidents and trauma (such as falling) can leave you with back pain for long periods of time. Straining muscles and ligaments in your back is easy to do when your body is not properly aligned, which is what happens if you don’t bend your knees and hips when lifting a heavy box.
Extra weight can also pull the back out of proper alignment, which is why people who carry extra weight during a pregnancy may experience back pain. Generally, after the baby is born, the mother no longer experiences the back pain. People who are overweight may also experience back pain. In many cases, if a person loses the extra weight, the pain will go away.
Back pain may also be triggered by structural weaknesses that are genetic. These reasons can include ruptured discs, arthritis, skeletal problems and even osteoporosis.
Whether your back pain stems from an injury or from some type of genetic degeneration, your doctor or chiropractor can treat you for pain, as well as give you suggestions of other ways to help yourself.