Let’s simplify this, while there are many conditions that can lead to lower back pain, there are three main parts that lead to pain in the spine.  The first is muscle, the second is bone, and the third yet most important is nerve. These three work in a cycle to allow for proper function of the body.  When all systems work well, you will generally feel great.

When one system starts to have dysfunction, the others will soon be affected as well.  Imagine this like a group project, when one person in the group doesn’t work or is off target, the others have to pick up the slack.  

So the majority of back pain and dysfunction ends up being a combination of the three components.  THE KEY STEP IS TO FIND THE INITIAL CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. There are exam tests and technology that can help to identify this.  By targeting the specific component that started the problem, you can correct the source vs. chasing the pain.

The first goal with determining what is causing your lower back pain is to find out what is the main cause?  Is it the nerve being irritated? Is it the muscle tissues? Or is it a bone and alignment problem? In many cases, it is a combination of two or three.  From there, you can then tailor treatment to address the cause of the issue, and have much better outcomes for fixing the problem. This is the best way to get pain free, but more importantly, stay pain free.