Understanding lower back pain
If your back hurts, you’re not alone. Lower back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems—conditions that affect muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, and nerves—in the world.
A study published in 2020 in the Annals of Translational Medicine found that lower back pain was the leading cause of years spent with a disability and missed work. Additional research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020, reveals that Covid-19 quarantines have exacerbated the issue of lower back pain even more.
Learn more about what it means if you specifically have pain on the left or right side, common causes of these aches, and when to call your doctor for help.
Types of lower back pain
When considering your lower back pain, think about whether you feel it across your lower back like a band, or whether you feel the pain more intensely on one side versus the other, says Gharibo. If it’s band-like, it’s more likely to relate to a disc in your spinal cord.
Having more pain on the left or right side typically signals a muscle sprain or strain, or an issue with a one-sided structure like
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