Why is a back injury so potentially devastating? It can be summed up in a single word: PAIN! This pain usually begins as a sharp, intense twinge in your lower back and if you’re lucky, it will be only momentary, then immediately disappear without any residual effects. If you’re unlucky, the pain will be sharp, intense (like a twisting knife) and lasting. Sometimes the pain will sneak up on you, and you may not even notice it at first, until it becomes too great to ignore.
The high incidence of back pain and injury is due in large part to the complexity of muscles that are individually incapable of handling the stresses that are transmitted through the back. The forces and torques are transmitted to other tissue (intervertebral discs), which are incapable of handling the stress, and pain results. Although back injury can occur anywhere along the vertebral (spinal) column, sports and training injuries are most frequent in the lower back and the neck (cervical column). These two regions of the spine are the most mobile, and to allow a high degree of movement, they must sacrifice stability. The configuration of one vertebra on the other allows a great deal of forward and backward bending (anterior flexion and posterior extension).