The first stop on the back and leg pain journey involves ‘conservative’ treatment. It often begins with a visit to a physical therapist / chiropractor.

Here is an overview of the lumbar spine that will help us understand the some of the causes of back pain:

The spine is divided into three sections: cervial spine, thoracic spine and the lumbar spine

The lumbar spine (low back) is made up of vertebrae (backbones) and discs.

The vertebrae functions as a support our body and act as shock absorbers for the spine. Below is a cross section of the vertebrae.

The disc provides mobility to the spine. It consists of the inner jelly like nucleus pulposus and an outer layer called annulus fibrosus

One of the causes of back pain is disc buldge or herniation. But there can be other causes as well such as stenosis or bone spurs. It is important to understand the cause of your back and leg pain to address your specific issue. We discuss some of the more common conditions in the next section.