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Dr. Dugan shares the causes of back pain.
Dr. Dugan:
A strain where you are actually using your muscles in a way that overwhelmed their ability to do the job, or a sprain where maybe you actually moved a joint in your back in a way that caused it to get inflamed or to be a little bit swollen, sort of like when you sprain your ankle.
It’s less common to have a problem like a disc injury, which is where the cushion between the bones can protrude, the liquid or the crab meat middle will push towards the edge or the fibers around the outside and protrude out. That can cause stretching of those fibers, and it can cause you to have back pain, and if it protrudes out where there’s a nerve traveling by, it can cause you to have pain down your leg, or what people call sciatica, but that’s much less common.
About Dr. Dugan, M.D.:
Dr. Sheila A. Dugan, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Rush Medical College, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. She is a faculty member of the Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Preventive Medicine. She is co-medical director of the Rush Program for Abdominal and Pelvic Health.
Dr. Dugan is multi board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, electrodiagnostic medicine and pain medicine. She is highly skilled in neurological and sports-related rehabilitation. Prior to medical school, she received her physical therapy degree from Northwestern University in 1986. She's currently pursuing development of a program focused on women's musculoskeletal care, including both their medical and rehabilitation needs.