A sprain, strain or spasm in one of the muscles or ligaments in your back is often the result of lifting something to heavy or over stretching that area of your back. This will cause lower back pain, but unlike the degeneration mentioned in the paragraph above this is usually a more temporary form of lower back pain.

If you strain or compress your spine too much, a disc may bulge outward or even rupture causing excess pressure to be placed on one of more than 50 nerves rooted to the spinal cord. These nerves control your body movements and transmit signals from your body to your brain. When the nerve roots become compressed or irritated, lower back pain is the result.

Lower Back pain may be caused by nerve / muscle irritation or bone lesions. Although most lower back pain follows a traumatic injury to the back, the cause of lower back pain can also be associated with degenerative conditions such as osteoporosis or other bone diseases, Arthritis in the spine, degenerative disc disease, irritation to joints and discs, viral infections, abnormalities in the spine. A few other factors that contribute to the cause of lower back pain are poor physical condition, obesity, smoking, stress, bad posture, weight gain during pregnancy and improper sleep position. When your back injury heals there is usually scar tissue created which is not as flexible and does not have the strength of regular tissue. Repetitive back injuries resulting in large build ups of scar tissue weakens your back significantly, causing lower back pain which may lead to a more serious injury.

Sometimes a more serious medical problem can be indicated by lower back pain. Pain accompanied by fever or loss of bowel or bladder control, pain when coughing, and progressive weakness in the legs may indicate a pinched nerve or other serious condition. If you have these symptoms you should contact a health professional immediately to help prevent permanent damage.