Doctors usually refer to back pain as acute if it lasts for less than a month and chronic if it lasts for a longer period of time. In up to 85 percent of people with low back pain, despite a thorough medical examination, no specific cause of the pain can be identified.

There are many causes for the occurrence of pain in the lower back. It could be a consequence of pain arising from other organs that may be felt in the back, which is termed as referred pain. Many intra-abdominal disorders such as appendicitis, aneurysms, kidney diseases, bladder infections, pelvic infections and ovarian disorders can cause pain referred to the back.

General causes of low back pain include lumbar strain, nerve irritation, lumbar radiculopathy, bony encroachment and conditions of the bone and joints. Lumbar strain is considered one of the most common causes of low back pain. A lumbar strain is a stretching injury to the ligaments, tendons or muscles of the low back. This condition can arise because of overuse, improper use or trauma. Mechanical impingement or disease any where along the path can cause irritation to the nerves of the lumbar spine. These conditions include lumbar disc disease, bony encroachment and inflammation of the nerves caused by a viral infection. Lumbar radiculopathy is nerve irritation that is caused by damage to the discs between the vertebrae. Damage to the disc occurs because of degeneration of the outer ring of the disc, traumatic injury or both. As a consequence, the central softer portion of the disc can rupture or herniate through the outer ring of the disc and touch the spinal cord or its nerves as they exit the bony spinal column. This rupture leads to the sciatica pain that shoots down the leg. Sciatica can be preceded by symptoms of localized low backache and is often accompanied by numbness and a sensation of tingling.

With age, the intervertebral discs lose moisture and volume that decreases the disc spaces.  This results in the condition of spinal stenosis. Even minor trauma under these circumstances can cause inflammation and nerve root impingement, which can produce sciatica without disc rupture. Spinal degeneration is caused by alterations in the disc that progress to degeneration. This united with disease in the joints of the lower back causes spinal canal narrowing. During cauda equina syndrome, the disc material expands into the spinal canal, which compresses the nerves. The patient experiences pain, loss of sensation and bowel or bladder dysfunction. Musculoskeletal pain syndromes that produce low back pain comprise of myofascial pain syndromes and fibromyalgia. Malignant tumors can also be a source of skeletal pain.

The main symptom of lower back pain is marked by pain in the lumbosacral area, which could radiate down the front, side or back of the leg. At times, it may be confined to the low back. Such pain may normally worsen with activity. Intermittently, the pain may be increase at night or with prolonged sitting such as on a long car drive. The patient may experience numbness or weakness in the part of the leg that receives its nerve supply from a compressed nerve. For instance, an inability to plantar flex the foot, which means one, would be unable to stand on the toes or bring the foot downward. This occurs when the first sacral nerve is compressed or injured. Another example would be the inability to raise the big toe upward. This happens when the fifth lumbar nerve is compromised.

Although back pain in itself is not designated as a disease but it definitely gives an indication towards an underlying medical problem that calls for investigation.

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