If you're suffering from back pain, it's likely that you've tried a range of treatment options for pain relief. To help you achieve a more manageable pain level, this article explores a number of insights that might apply to your unique back pain experience.

* Find the Precise Cause of Your Back Pain

Figuring out the precise cause of your pain is different from finding out what's anatomically wrong with your back. For instance, you may have a degenerating disc that shows up on an MRI scan, but that may not be the cause of your leg pain. Some common anatomical causes of back pain include:

* The smaller nerves that innervate the spine may be irritated.

* The large nerve roots that go to the legs and arms may be irritated.

* The disc space itself can be a major cause of back pain.

* The large paired back muscles (erector spinae) may be strained.

* The bones, ligaments or joints themselves may be injured.

However, there are other factors that can further aggravate your pain. These are discussed below.

* Sleep Problems Can Worsen Pain

Most of the patients with back pain in Covington, LA also experience sleep disturbances, which include problems falling asleep and staying asleep. Disrupted sleep further exacerbates the pain problem, creating a vicious cycle of sleeping disorders and worsening pain.

* Depression Often Goes Hand-In-Hand with Chronic Pain

Depending on your back pain severity, you may also experience stress and depression. An emotional reaction to chronic pain, like depression, is not uncommon, but many patients just assume their depression will settle once the pain goes away. The pain may or may not improve as expected, and other losses like the inability to do favorite activities or financial distress can exacerbate depression further.

Thus, it is extremely significant to talk about depression with your physician, as untreated depression can worsen pain and make your healing rate slow.

* Don't Ignore Discomfort on the Job

Workplace ergonomics can play a major role in a person's daily pain experience. Those who spend most of their time sitting, especially office workers, can damage spinal structures and worsen an existing back or neck pain problem. Sitting puts pressure on the back muscles and spinal discs, and long sitting tend to slouch, which overstretches spinal ligaments and further strains the discs.

If your job involves heavy labor or manual material handling such as lifting, pushing, climbing, pulling and pivoting, there are techniques that you can use in the workplace to prevent pain and injury.

* Conclusion

Back pain often severely impacts a patient's quality of life. Negative effects don't only come from the chronic pain itself, as it can affect your sleep and mental health as well.

All aspects of the back pain problem need to be treated in order to most effectively treat a patient's chronic pain. Patients should work in coordination with their physicians to ensure their chronic pain is treated comprehensively and with the most appropriate and current techniques available.