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Slide show
Slide show: Causes of back pain
By Mayo Clinic staff
How your back is built
Your backbone (vertebral column) is actually a stack of more than 30 bones called vertebrae. Together they create a bony canal that surrounds and protects your spinal cord. Small nerves enter and exit the spinal cord through spaces in your vertebrae.
The vertebrae are held together by muscles, tendons and ligaments. Between the vertebrae are intervertebral disks, which act as shock absorbers by preventing the vertebrae from hitting one another when you walk, run or jump. The intervertebral disks also allow your spine to twist, bend and extend.
The lower back — which carries most of your weight — is the site of most back pain. Here are some of the most common culprits.
Next slide- Aminoff MJ. Mechanical and other lesions of the spine, nerve roots and spinal cord. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/178238487-3/938913751/1492/1420.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50428-6--cesec29_17867. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Chou R. Patient information: Low back pain in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Patel M, et al. Back: Cervical and thoracolumbar spine. In: Rakel RE. Textbook of Family Medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/178451689-3/939757216/1481/499.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2467-5..50044-0--cesec69_2603. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Handout on health: Back pain. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Back_Pain/default.asp. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Osteoporosis overview. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Osteoporosis/default.asp. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Questions and answers about fibromyalgia. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Fibromyalgia/default.asp. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
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