A study in a Lancet Rheumatology journal revealed that in 2020 over 619 million people suffered from lower back pain and that by 2050 we can expect to see that number increase to 843 million. What's causing so many people around the world to experience it?

There are a lot of varying causes that can lead to lower back pain. Some of the extreme cases for it can come from an issue with an internal organ like a kidney infection, worse yet it could be a tumor, or cancer. Other issues from it may result from a natural irregularity such as scoliosis, or an injury like a herniated or ruptured disk. However, while more than 7.5% of the world's population can't all be suffering only from organ damage, or severe injury. What else is causing so many people to have it? Why is it so prevalent?

Is it psychosomatic? Are people just imagining that they have back pain? While it's possible that there are cases for people to have phantom pain it's likely going to be an outlier toward the extreme minority. The reason for this is due to how easy it is to actually have lower back pain. So let's look at some of the more common causes of it.

We're now living in an era where it's easier to encounter someone who is either overweight/obese, living a sedentary lifestyle, or is constantly in a seated position whether that be due to work or the aforementioned sedentary lifestyle. Many of these factors can lead to lower back pain because of the imbalances that they cause, such as having excess bulk putting too much weight on the spine, inactivity leading to muscle weakness, poor posture causing misalignment, etc.

Another issue is the lack of awareness of how these habits lead to lower back pain. For instance, someone who is living a sedentary lifestyle may not have the understanding that their underutilized muscles is causing their back pain. Worse yet, they may not have access to someone who is capable of diagnosing and dealing with these problems. Issues from all over the body can lead to lower back pain, hence the title of this post. Maybe the hip flexors are weak, maybe their range of motion is poor, perhaps the groin is tight? Even if you fix these issues, it isn't guaranteed that the problems end with them because the issues don't even need to be near your back for there to be pain. Maybe ankle mobility is poor leading to muscular compensation and imbalances that end up leading to lower back pain, or maybe it's somewhere in the upper body such as the scapula no longer being utilized, also causing imbalances that again end up leading to lower back pain.

Just by these examples you can see how there'd be a snowball effect of how problems can worsen over time making it harder and harder to deal with lower back pain. But why do these problems lead to that one specific area? The musculoskeletal system is all interconnected, with muscle groups working together in harmony to support or alleviate the workload of other parts of the body. When something has become unused, strained, weak, misaligned, etc., then it forces other groups to pick up the slack and work harder to compensate. Using the example that was given about the lack of ankle mobility, poor ankle flexion could lead to the calves becoming tight, which moves upward into the hamstrings, up through the glutes, and into the lower back. Someone who becomes aware of the tightness in the areas leading to the lower back may try to release tightness by stretching the muscles near it, but may fail to find the actual source of the problem, which in this case would be poor ankle mobility. The same applies to the upper body.

What about people that are performing physical labor for a living? There are still plenty of people around the world that aren't working desk jobs, why do they have back pain? The answer is also imbalances caused by the repetitive movements, along with the weighted loads that they have to move or carry. Being able to lift heavy doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to avoid these problems, especially if lifting heavily reinforces a poor posture.

So if you're someone that's dealing with lower back pain that's coming from one of the more severe potential causes like a kidney infection, then of course seek medical assistance. If it's from an injury then again, seek medical assistance. However, if it's from one of the more common causes such as weight management, a sedentary lifestyle, poor posture, too much sitting, etc., then there are plenty of other ways to address the issue. Lifestyle changes are always the best start; it's also incredibly helpful to find a physio or trainer who specializes in mobility to help with stretching and strengthening weak and underused muscles. If that isn't available then all of this falls on you to do your homework, to read, watch, and listen to as much as you can, and start going through what the potential problems are. There's plenty of material available online for research, but never immediately believe what you find, and always test out what works for you. If it eases the pain in your lower back then you're moving in the right direction, but just remember that there are a million and one reasons why it's there and it's on you to go through each one to solve it.

Finally, there's one last solution and that's to just move. Global Fast Fit is an excellent avenue towards this. There's a misconception that Global Fast Fit is only some interval training routine but in reality it's meant to be much more than that. It's a full-body workout that can be done at your own pace without any equipment. By own pace that means that if you can't complete the full routine then it isn't necessary to do so. As mentioned in my previous blog posts, I only just realized that certain exercises like pushups weren't accomplishable by everyone and that's ok. There are ways of building yourself up so that you can correct weaknesses and imbalances before getting to a point of being pain-free. Take a look at this particular case study to see how Global Fast Fit can help people get the functional strength that they need: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvZAMziGCns