5) Injury or Trauma
Injury or trauma to the back is also a frequent cause of pain. Trauma can happen during sports activities, auto accidents, falls, and even at work. The most common injuries are fractures, sprains, dislocations, and strains. So, as noted, injury and trauma are causes deeply associated with sprains and strains. They are usually a consequence of the other.
Injuries to the spine may cause a great deal of pain and disability. For example, vertebral fractures, particularly those involving the thoracolumbar spine, may cause severe pain that can radiate down the back and into the legs. These fractures are often accompanied by spinal stenosis and other degenerative changes in the discs and facet joints of the spine. Together these conditions may lead to spondylolisthesis, a displacement of a vertebra over the one below it. A fracture, or an infection caused by a fracture, may lead to the collapse of the disc and premature arthritis of the joint.
