Lower Back | Lumbar & Sacrum

What’s the Lumbar Spine?

The vertebrae labeled L1 through L5 make up the lumbar region of your spine. They’re located from your hips up to the bottom of your ribcage. This area of your spine is known for:

• These vertebrae are larger than those in the cervical and thoracic spine.
• They support most of the weight from the upper parts of your body.
• Round, rubbery pads, called discs, sit between the lower back bones and act as shock absorbers so you can move freely without bones rubbing against each other.

The spine is connected to your hip bones by the sacrum, which is considered part of the lumbar, or lower back area. The five vertebrae in the sacrum are fused together. With the hip bones, they form what’s called the pelvic girdle. Because the lumbar spine is the workhorse of your back, it’s prone to injury more often than the spinal structures. Risk factors for lumbar spine disorders include:

• Age
• Weight
• Level of fitness
• Lifestyle habits like smoking
• Genetics and birth defects
• Type of occupation
• Psychological factors

What Kinds of Problems Cause Lower Back Pain?

General back pain and specific lower back pain may come on suddenly. This acute pain usually responds well to conservative treatments like rest and pain relievers. Chronic low back pain, however, ranges from annoying to debilitating. Conditions that, left untreated, lead to chronic low back pain typically include:

• Damaged discs
• Arthritic joint disease
• Disc herniations
• Slipped disc
• Compressed nerve
• Back sprain
• Stenosis
• Inflamed sacroiliac joint
• Compression injury
• Curvature of the spine
• Spinal deformity
• Wear-and-tear arthritis
• Stress fracture
• Continued pain after a laminectomy
• Unsuccessful back surgery
• Flat back

Lower back treatment with minimally invasive spine surgery is reliable, quick and effective when performed by a leading expert in the field. Contact NU-Spine: The Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Institute to find out how you can get rid of low back pain for good.

References:

Low Back Pain Fact Sheet (https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Low-Back-Pain-Fact-Sheet)
Anatomy of the Spine (https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatspine.htm)

This page was published on Mar 27, 2020, modified on Jan 26, 2021 by Dr. Branko Skovrlj (Neurosurgeon / Spine surgeon) of NU-Spine: The Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Institute in New Jersey