If the traditional middle back pain symptoms sound familiar, it’s time to be proactive about identifying and alleviating your condition. So, what might be causing your middle back pain? Here are some common ailments that contribute to mid-back discomfort in men and women:

• Strained or Irritated Muscles

Lifting heavy objects improperly or repeatedly performing the same motion can aggravate muscle tissue and damage small blood vessels, causing pain in the middle back region.

• Spinal Stenosis

Discs lie between spinal vertebrae and act as cushions to absorb shock and facilitate movement. When a disc is injured, its inner, liquid-like nucleus may seep through the weakened point in its hard outer casing. The seeping material places strain on surrounding nerves, ligaments and tissues while simultaneously threatening the structural integrity of the spine. Discomfort and sometimes debilitating pain results when a disc becomes injured. Disc degeneration or sudden trauma may cause a slipped disc.

• Injured Discs

Discs lie between spinal vertebrae and act as cushions to absorb shock and facilitate movement. When a disc is injured, its inner, liquid-like nucleus may seep through the weakened point in its hard outer casing. The seeping material places strain on surrounding nerves, ligaments and tissues while simultaneously threatening the structural integrity of the spine. Discomfort and sometimes debilitating pain results when a disc becomes injured. Disc degeneration or sudden trauma may cause a slipped disc.

• Fractured Vertebrae

High impact accidents, such as car crashes or violent falls, as well as extreme spinal deterioration over time, can lead to a vertebral fracture. Intense back pain that worsens with movement typically occurs in correlation with a spinal fracture. In grave situations, this complication may affect the spinal cord.

• Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is an ailment that happens when new bone is not created quickly enough to replace old bone, resulting in frail, brittle bones. Osteoporosis makes the spinal column vulnerable to structural failures and causes pain as breaks, strains and shifts in weight occur.

• Aging

As you age, you become increasingly at risk for maladies that may cause back pain, such as spinal stenosis, a condition in which the spinal canal narrows abnormally.

• Infection

Spondylitis, an illness that incites inflammation in the spinal joints, can cause middle back pain. Other infections may cause similar results.

• Spinal conditions, such as scoliosis

Scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, can cause pain as the proper weight distribution system of the spine is disturbed and tissues, ligaments and nerves are disrupted. Many spine complications have similar effects.

• Health issues, like tumors or disease

A form of radiculopathy, sciatica causes sharp and burning lower back pain, accompanied by pain through the buttocks and down one leg — Occasionally even reaching the foot. These symptoms occur because the sciatic nerve is compressed and nerve signaling is being interrupted. Vertebral fractures, herniated discs, tumors and cysts may all incite sciatica.

• Health Issues, Such as Tumors

Tumors can spur pain by upsetting the spine’s inherent architecture and placing pressure upon nerves, ligaments and tissues in the middle back.