Where Is My Back Pain Coming From and Why Won’t it Go Away?
Everything in the body is connected, even if it is in a way that is not as obvious as you might think. Back pain, specifically, is something that a lot of people deal with in their day to day lives, regardless of age. There can be a lot of different factors that contribute to back pain, such as poor posture, sitting for long periods of time, and jobs that require a lot of taxing physical activity that can lead to long-term back pain. But, what a lot of people don’t realize is that back pain can also stem from dysfunction in the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is the base of our bodies, and injuries or stress to this area can lead to a number of different issues within different parts of our bodies that we might not even be aware of.
The pelvic floor is made up of muscles and connective tissue, called fascia. The muscle and fascia form several intertwining loops that support the pelvic organs. The pelvic floor muscles act as a trampoline to support the organs, and as downward pressure is pressed on it, if it’s working properly, it will push back up to support the muscles.
Pelvic floor muscles create the base of the muscles otherwise known as the “core.” These core muscles work to support the abdomen, diaphragm, and back muscles, and spine So, it’s no surprise that back pain is often caused by pelvic floor dysfunction. There can be too much or not enough tension of the pelvic floor muscles, resulting in things like urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, vaginal pain, or the inability to complete a bowel movement. Childbirth is the most common trauma to the pelvic floor, which in turn causes many women to experience back and/or lower back pain when they are postpartum. Pregnancy causes a lot of strain on the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, separating the abdomen to a certain extent and weighing on that pelvic floor "hammock." This causes many new moms to have weak abdominals leading to incontinence, pelvic pain, the mommy "pooch", and you guessed it, back pain. So why is any of this relevant? Who cares why or how it started? It's important to understand where your pain is coming from in order to treat it the right way, so that your pain never returns!
If you are experiencing back pain and are wondering if it could possibly be related to potential pelvic floor dysfunction, it is important to know what to look for. To start, here are some common symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction that you might be able to identify:
- Painful sex
- Hip and or low back pain
- Abdominal weakness
- “Mommy pooch”
- Erectile dysfunction
- Incomplete bowel movements and constipation
- Urine or fecal leaking
- Incontinence
In addition to the symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, it is also important to note some of the common causes of it that may also be leading to back pain. Some of the most common causes of pelvic floor dysfunction are as follows:
- Traumatic injuries to the pelvic area (like a car accident, sports related injury, etc).
- Pregnancy/Childbirth
- Overusing the pelvic muscles (like going to the bathroom too often or pushing too hard), eventually leading to poor muscle coordination)
- Surgery
- A sedentary lifestyle
- Advancing age
Although the symptoms and causes are not limited to those listed above, those are the most common that the majority of people tend to experience that lead to pain in other areas of the body. Thankfully, there are ways to train, strengthen, and heal your pelvic floor from different traumas and stresses that it may have experienced, and this will translate into healing other painful areas in your body, such as your back or lower back. If you are a new mother who has either recently given birth, or if you gave birth a number of years ago and never received pelvic floor treatment, you might be dealing with back pain and not know where it is coming from. Similarly, if you experienced a traumatic injury or experienced surgery near or around your pelvic floor, you might also be dealing with some kind of chronic, mystery back pain. Here at Arancia Physical Therapy, helping people identify and treat mystery pain is one of our specialties- wherever it may be coming from! Healing is a long-term process that doesn’t always get solved with just a “quick fix” by addressing the symptoms. Healing happens when you look at the whole person to find the source of the problem. If this is something that you feel that you might be able to benefit from, we encourage you to contact us online or by giving us a call at 401.602.7006. We look forward to hearing from you soon!