What causes back pain?

Why you get back pain can have many causes. It often starts with something we do ourselves:

  • Our sedentary lifestyle, in the car or in front of the TV or computer are important factors. Like the food we eat and our often stressed life.
  • We are created to move, naturally in a reasonable amount. All forms of prolonged sedentary lifestyle as well as excessive exercise are strain on the body.
  • Overstraining, and for example heavy lifting, especially without slow adaptation (we want more than we really can and are ready for right then), causes micro damage in the fascia (all-around network of connective tissue) that causes inflammation and pain.

When we start to have problems, the pain in turn leads us try to avoid what hurts, we move less and above all we do not move in balance.

As we move less and in imbalance the flow in the fasciae also comes in imbalance. What is kept still stiffens even more as the flow in the fasciae becomes more viscous and the network of collagen fibers come closer and will be more dense. (read more about the flow in Fascia here). The cells also begin to produce more collagen and the fascia becomes stiffer and less mobile. We protect one body part while others become overloaded and receive increased pressure.

In the lumbar back there is a strong and dense fascia, the lumbar fascia, a so-called aponeuros fascia (see section on fascia), which is to stabilize and maintain spine and musculature. Thus, it is not the spine and musculature that alone keeps us upright, the fascia has a large part in our posture. In case of overwork, micro damage to the lumbar fascia can occur. These micro damage, in turn, causes inflammation, which is the body’s way of healing an injury. When there is inflammation, a cascade of signals between cells and the extracellular matrix is triggered, to create a healing process. Some fibroblasts (cells in the fascia) are transformed into so-called myofibroblasts, which have a contracting capacity similar to smooth muscle cells, to contract the injury, the wound. These myofibroblasts also mean that the fascia thus has a contracting ability and thus can contract – it can then get too high basic tone and become stiffer and less mobile.

The lumbar fascia is also very sensitive as it is richly innervated by various types of nerve receptors and free nerve endings, so-called nociceptors.

As the fascia becomes tighter and less mobile, these are stimulated, both by higher mechanical pressure but also chemically by signal proteins, to signal pain. Which in turn will make us move even less. The flow decreases and the pressure becomes higher, a vicious circle

Back pain can be inflammation in the Fascia

Sources: (Panjabi 2006; Schleip et al 2007; Wight T & Potter-Perigo S, 2011; Langevin et al 2011; Tesarz et al, 2011; Hoheisel et al, 2015; Mense & Hoheisel, 2016; Schleip & Klingler, 2017; Wilke et al, 2017)

Problems linked to Fascia

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Can you heal osteoarthritis?

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Hypermobility

Hypermobile people build up enormous tension in their muscles that give painful tension in the joint, and they often get nerves pinched.

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What causes back pain?

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Shock absorption

Thanks to the linked connective tissues, we can absorb a shock throughout the body. A blow to the foot from a stone can thus provide an impact at the end of that connective chain, right up to the base of the skull.

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Injuries

One can distinguish between damage caused by wear and strain and injuries that come from external trauma or accidents. An uncertain cause on the scale is the accidents that occur due to a body having reduced function over a longer period and that is damaged as a result of that.

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Problems linked to Fascia

Fascia is a system of flexible connective tissue encapsulating everything in the body. If the system is running smoothly, all is fine, but when some parts become stiff, tense or inflamed, there will be consequences.

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Straining – Lumbago

Lumbago follows the same pattern as hyper-extension. We usually have built up tension and stiffness that eventually impair the reaction of the nerves and muscles of the rigid area.

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Scar tissue

As the body builds scar tissue after damage to the skin, scar tissue build up in the Fascia inside the body when it is damaged. Therefore, we can get a chronic reduction in movement inside after an operation in which the Fascia is sewn together.

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Hyper-extension

In places where the body has become stiff and numb the nervous system cannot signal the situation as quickly as it should so that we can control our movements.

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Fascia loads and unloads pressure

What do we know about the Fascias function and what affects the Fascias ability to rebuild – and how can we use that knowledge in our everyday lives?

Stress and sugar harms fascia functions

What we do know for sure is that the abundance of sugar has a negative effect on the fascia and makes it less elastic. Stress also affects the fascia in a disadvantageous way

Fascia Lines are the intersections of the body

The concept of Fascia Lines is a great way to understand how the body functions and how treatment can be optimized to increase mobility and functionality. The main principle is that muscles, no matter what they do individually, also affect tissues throughout the entire body.

Is cancer fascia related? New insights presented in Boston 2015

New research leads to insights and by looking at the body in a completely new way we get new perspectives and explanations to symptoms and diseases. At the 2015 Joint Conference on Acupuncture, Oncology and Fascia in Boston, research was presented regarding Fascia and Cancer

Fascia helps us understand the body as a whole

Look at a ballet dancer, a gymnast or a drummer and study their movement, feeling, timing, it is easy to be fascinated by how fast it is. Fascia helps us understand how the body is able to function in such an incredible way.

Why Fascia is still relatively unknown

Here are three major reasons why the Fascia’s central importance to the body’s functionality is not nousehold knowledge. It might be helpful to bare these in mind when relating to current and previous research.

Frequently Asked Questions about Fascia

On the Fascia Guide FAQ we have gathered the most common questions and answers about Fascia. Is there anything you would like to know? Visit the page and submit your question.

Fascia and The Living Body

“Fascia and the Living Body” is a document about the scientific understanding of the body as a living whole.

Problems linked to Fascia

Fascia is a system of flexible connective tissue encapsulating everything in the body. If the system is running smoothly, all is fine, but when some parts become stiff, tense or inflamed, there will be consequences.

Training for strengthened Fascia

Exercise increases collagen production in tendons, ligaments and all Fascia. To stimulate collagen formation in tendons and ligaments, it doesn’t matter if the exercise is eccentric (muscle contraction during extension) or concentric (muscle contraction during shortening).

Fascia Guide Research Database

Fascia research has sparked an ongoing global revolution in the anatomical research field. In The Fascia Guide Research Database we have gathered hundreds of research articles about fascia.

Can you heal osteoarthritis?

The function of the articular cartilage is to reduce friction between the two articular cartilage surfaces and facilitate sliding when the joint moves, and to absorb the load when the joint is exposed to pressure, compression

What causes back pain?

New research shows that low back pain is caused by inflammation in the Fascia. But why are we getting low back pain and what happens in our body when we get back pain?

The influence of mechanical forces on Fascia?

Connective tissue / fascia is an incredibly adaptable and plastic tissue. It is transformed, remodeled and strengthened or weakened according to the mechanical stimulation (load) to which it is exposed. If we don’t move, the tissue will diminish.

How do we learn to understand Fascia?

Fascia is a new perspective, a completely new way of looking at the body, a new way of conducting research and a new way of understanding the world. So how do you learn to understand Fascia?

7 things you should now about Vitamin C

Vitamin C is good for the immune system, but did you know that it also supports tissue regeneration or that we use up 7 times more Vitamin C during stress?

Fascia or interstitium – what’s the difference?

Fascia eller interstitium? Fascian eller interstitium är kroppens arkitektoniska byggnadsstomme med sitt kontinuerliga flöde, som en amerikansk forskargrupp nu alltså anser vara kroppens största organ.

Growing interest in Fascia treatment: “Fascia problems are often under diagnosed”

David Lesondak is a structural integrator and a myofascial specialist who has been working for many years trying to explain what fascia is, as well as the benefits you get from treating different problems with fascia treatment. In an interview at the Fascia Research Congress in Berlin 2018, he describes the basics of what fascia is and what challenges it is facing in the strive for recognition in the medical field.

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