By Redefine Healthcare - Union, NJ

02/19/2020 No matter how careful or fit you are, a back injury can happen at any time — in a car accident or sports injury. You can twist awkwardly and hurt your back. When the pain strikes, come into Redefine Healthcare in northeastern New Jersey for top quality care. Let a pain management specialist eliminate your pain while addressing its root cause. Call today for a consultation with the pain doctor in NJ Dr. Freeman and immediate care.
Common back injuries can either be acute and short-term or chronic and long term. Acute pain can last for a few days to several weeks. Chronic pain persists for months, making the cause more difficult to determine. Once your pain lasts more than 12 weeks, it’s considered chronic pain.
Back injuries can cause a dull ache or a sharp pain in your back. You can hurt your back in many ways and in many locations, including your upper back, middle back or lower back. The older you get, the easier it is to get hurt, but a back injury can happen to anyone at any age — particularly to active adults.
Keep your back strong through doctor-approved exercises. Practice body-conscious lifting and watch your posture. These precautions can help you avoid back injuries. But if you do hurt your back, visit the pain management experts at pain center in NJ Redefine Healthcare, with four locations in northeastern in New Jersey.
The Many Ways You Can Injure Your Back
Your central nervous system contains 31 pairs of nerve roots that exit your spinal cord. They control everything from body movements to pain signals. If your back is compromised, either through a nerve impingement or a pulled muscle, you end up with pain and possibly even limited flexibility.
Acute lower back pain is the most common injury symptom. Almost 80 percent of adults experience low back pain, often from a job-related or sports-related accident.
Causes of back pain include:

• Overstretching, which causes a muscle or tendon strain or a ligament sprain
• Tearing a ligament, tendon or muscle
• Lifting a load that’s too heavy for you or doing it improperly
• Getting hit directly on your back in an accident or fall
• Having an existing medical condition, such as arthritis or osteoporosis, leading to a compression fracture