Lower back pain when walking can occur for a variety of reasons. It can result from injuries, fatigue, or an underlying condition. Specific injuries, like muscle strains, can affect the ligaments in your spine and cause back pain. Similarly, using muscles you do not use often can result in fatigue and pain. Finally, specific health conditions, such as degenerative disc disease, can cause lower back pain.
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1. Muscle Strains, Sprains, or Fatigue
Musclestrains, ligament sprains, or fatigue can cause lower back pain when you walk. This pain can occur after walking or come on gradually from wear-and-tear without an apparent cause, as follows:
2. Degenerative Disc Disease
Your spine is made up of individual bones called vertebrae, which are stacked on top of each other. Between each vertebra is a disc that provides cushioning between the bones.
Degenerative disc diseaseis a wear-and-tear condition that becomes more common as people age and is a common cause of lower back pain. As the disc wears down, surrounding muscles, ligaments, joints, and nerves in the spine absorb more pressure and can become damaged.
Sometimes, healthcare providers recommend walking as a low-impact activity for people with degenerative disc disease. Still, if your condition is more severe, you could have pain with this type of exercise—especially if you walk on hard surfaces.
3. Sciatica
In addition to lower back pain, sciatica can cause pain in your hip, the back of your thigh, and down your leg. Sciatica can also cause:
Healthcare providers oftenrecommend walking as a safe form of physical activity for people with sciatica. However, you should avoid twisting or bending forward.To decrease pain, avoid walking on uneven surfaces or uphill.
4. Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosisis a wear-and-tear condition that often affects the lumbar spine (the five vertebrae in the lower back). It causes the space surrounding the spinal cord—that travels from the back to the legs—to narrow. Sometimes, the narrowing can put pressure on the nerves, resulting in numbness, tingling, and weakness in your legs.
5. Hyperlordosis
“Lordosis"is a term that describes the normal curve in the spine in your lower back (and neck). However, when this curve is exaggerated, it causes a condition calledhyperlordosis—also referred to as “swayback.”
Hyperlordosis affects the range of motion in your lower back, putting abnormal pressure on the muscles, ligaments, and joints. It also reduces your spine’s ability to properly absorb shock when you are walking, which can lead to pain.
Prevention Tips
You can take steps to reduce your risk of lower back pain when walking, even if you’ve been diagnosed with a condition that can potentially cause this symptom. Walking can decrease chronic low back pain for some people.
As with any new exercise program, check with a healthcare provider to be sure walking for exercise is safe for you.
Try these tips:
Alternative Forms of Exercise
If you still have back pain while walking, it might not be an appropriate exercise for you. Alternate activities can include:
Consult a physical therapist for an individualized exercise program appropriate for your specific condition.
Summary
Lower back pain is common and has a variety of causes. If you have lower back pain while walking, you might have injured a muscle or an underlying condition affecting your joints, ligaments, or nerves. Common conditions that can cause back pain with walking include degenerative disc disease, sciatica, and spinal stenosis.
To help prevent lower back pain when walking, wear proper shoes, start slowly, and walk on even surfaces. See a physical therapist for personalized exercise recommendations to reduce back pain.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Low back strain and sprain.Hospital for Special Surgery.Degenerative disc disease.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sciatica.American Academy of Orthpaedic Surgeons.Lumbar spinal stenosis.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Spine basics.Cedars-Sinai.Swayback (lordosis).Suh JH, Kim H, Jung GP, Ko JY, Ryu JS.The effect of lumbar stabilization and walking exercises on chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(26):e16173. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000016173Harvard Health Publishing.5 tips for getting started with a walking program.Hospital for Special Surgery.Best types of exercise for back pain.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Low back strain and sprain.Hospital for Special Surgery.Degenerative disc disease.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sciatica.American Academy of Orthpaedic Surgeons.Lumbar spinal stenosis.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Spine basics.Cedars-Sinai.Swayback (lordosis).Suh JH, Kim H, Jung GP, Ko JY, Ryu JS.The effect of lumbar stabilization and walking exercises on chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(26):e16173. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000016173Harvard Health Publishing.5 tips for getting started with a walking program.Hospital for Special Surgery.Best types of exercise for back pain.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Low back strain and sprain.Hospital for Special Surgery.Degenerative disc disease.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sciatica.American Academy of Orthpaedic Surgeons.Lumbar spinal stenosis.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Spine basics.Cedars-Sinai.Swayback (lordosis).Suh JH, Kim H, Jung GP, Ko JY, Ryu JS.The effect of lumbar stabilization and walking exercises on chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(26):e16173. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000016173Harvard Health Publishing.5 tips for getting started with a walking program.Hospital for Special Surgery.Best types of exercise for back pain.
American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Low back strain and sprain.
Hospital for Special Surgery.Degenerative disc disease.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sciatica.
American Academy of Orthpaedic Surgeons.Lumbar spinal stenosis.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Spine basics.
Cedars-Sinai.Swayback (lordosis).
Suh JH, Kim H, Jung GP, Ko JY, Ryu JS.The effect of lumbar stabilization and walking exercises on chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(26):e16173. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000016173
Harvard Health Publishing.5 tips for getting started with a walking program.
Hospital for Special Surgery.Best types of exercise for back pain.
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