What causes lower back pain?

Causes include:

• Weakened or overstretched muscles, joints and ligaments
• Slipped disc possibly from a sports injury (Figure 1)
  
• Degenerative diseases affecting the spine
• Fracture (Figure 2)
  
• Infection (Figure 3)
  
• Tumours in the spine (Figure 4)
• Excess body weight increasing strain on the lower back
• Lack of exercise resulting in weak back muscles to support the spine
• Frequent heavy lifting using the wrong posture
  

Figure 1 Slipped disc (Left); Figure 2 Spine fracture (Right)

Figure 3 Spine infection (Left); Figure 4 Tumour in the spine (Right)