The Cause:
The most common complaint we see in our Wimbledon Clinic is back pain. Odds are you'll have experienced back pain at some point in your life.
The most common part of the back to give pain is the small joints of the spine, not the muscles!
This "it's not the muscles its the joints" statement often seems strange to many as they often feel a sensation of tightness that's coupled with a sharper feeling.
And the typical thought process is that the tightness = muscles and the piercing = nerve pinch.
We would agree this is logical thought process but instead, the science says the sharp pain = joints rubbing and the tightness = joints are restricted.
BUT SURLY MUSCLES ARE INVOLVED?
Yes, the muscles try to protect or guard the underlying cause, much like the scaffold on the outside of a house trying to reduce stress to the walls. If these biological scaffolds have been neglected, you are more exposed to back pain. But they are only the primary source of pain in 20% of suffers.
WHAT ARE THESE JOINTS THAT CAUSE PAIN?
This joint pain condition is known as 'facet syndrome' and can happen in either upper or lower back and as the name implies comes from the facet joints.