What Causes Lower Back Pain When Walking and How to Find Relief

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.

1. Muscle Strains, Sprains, or Fatigue

Muscle strains, 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:

• Muscle strains occur when the fibers in your back are overstretched or torn. Pain from muscle strains is usually worse during activity (such as walking) and better when resting.

• Muscle sprains occur when the ligaments that connect bone to bone become detached. If your muscles do not adequately support your spine, your spinal joints absorb more pressure, which can lead to injury to your spinal ligaments.

• Muscle fatigue can happen if you overexert yourself, and it can also lead to lower back pain when walking. It could occur if you walk longer than your body is used to, on uneven surfaces (which makes your muscles work harder to help maintain your balance), or climb hills (causing you to lean forward while you walk).

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 disease is 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

Sciatica pain occurs when a nerve exiting the spine in the lower back is pinched. It is a common symptom of a herniated or "slipped" disc, a condition in which a disc moves out of place in the spine and puts pressure on nearby nerves.

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:

• Leg muscle weakness

• Muscle cramps

• Numbness

• Tingling

Healthcare providers often recommend 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 stenosis is 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.

Lumbar spinal stenosis typically causes pain when standing upright—including walking. Many people with this condition find that leaning slightly forward helps to reduce the pain by opening up compressed areas in the spine.

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 called hyperlordosis—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:

• Wear shoes made for walking.

• Start slowly by walking for a few minutes, then gradually increase your time.

• Walk on a smooth surface, such as an even sidewalk, athletic track, or inside a shopping center.

• Warm up and cool down by walking slowly at the beginning and end of your walk to allow your back and leg muscles to warm up before exercise and recover afterward.

• Walk at a slow to moderate pace, a speed that allows you to carry on a conversation.

• Stand up straight while you walk: since standing upright reduces pressure on your lower back.

• Perform gentle lower back stretches before you walk.

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:

• Elliptical trainer: This exercise keeps your feet in contact with the pedals, putting less shock-absorbing pressure through your spine than walking.

• Pool walking: This activity provides some walking benefits while reducing pressure through your spine. To target different muscles, try walking laps in waist-deep water in multiple directions (forward, backward, and side to side).

• Recumbent biking: This will keep your back upright, which is a good choice if you have more pain when bending forward.

• Upright stationary biking: This is a good choice if your back pain improves when you bend forward).

• Water aerobics: This activity provides cardiovascular health benefits with decreased pressure on your back.

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.