Right Back Pain

Right back pain can spring from many causes or conditions. When you talk to your doctor about right back pain, it's important to be as specific as possible about the exact location, when the pain started, whether it comes and goes, and so on. 

In this article, we won't focus much attention on muscle tears, pulls, or strains. Very often, these occur because of accidents, injuries or athletic competition. Generally, you can identify when they happened and how they happened.

In determining the cause of right back pain, location matters. Is the pain on the upper right side, or the lower right side? Near the surface or deep under the skin? These are all important considerations.

Causes of Right Back Pain

Here are some common causes of right back pain that do not involve muscles, tendons or ligaments.

Liver or Gallbladder Problems  If your liver or gallbladder aren't functioning properly, they can cause pain in the upper right side of your back or between the shoulder blades. Gallbladder pain often strikes after you've eaten a fatty meal as your gallbladder strains to process a burst of cholesterol.

Appendicitis Generally, appendicitis causes pain in the lower abdomen on the right. But if the appendix rests in an unusual angle, it can irritate the peritoneum of the back, which would trigger right back pain.

Lung Conditions  Pneumonia, pleurisy, tuberculosis or long term exposure to asbestos can cause conditions in-or-around the lungs that result in right back pain.

Cancer Pain in the shoulder or the upper rib cage in the back can be a symptom of lung cancer. Other forms of cancer may cause pain lower down on the right side, including cancer of the liver, colon or pancreas.

Joint Inflammation  Your ribs are attached to your spine and any inflammation at these connection points could cause right back pain. Arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are possibilities.

Osteochondritis dissecans  This condition results when the blood supply to the area at the end of a rib is obstructed, leading to deterioration.

Referred Spinal Pain There could be a problem in the discs, nerves, muscles, facet joints, and ligaments in the spine. If so, you could have pain along the nerve pathways that lead away from your backbone. This is called "referred" pain. Sciatica, or pain involving the sciatic nerve in the lower back, occurs from damage or compression of the nerve due to an accident, poor posture or similar causes. Sciatica is an occupational hazard of long haul truck drivers.

Kidney Stones  These can cause extremely severe pain on either side. The pain usually occurs in the mid back, below the rib cage but above the hips (This area is often referred to as the "flank"). Stones can also cause pain to radiate down into the lower abdomen.

Disorders of the Lower Digestive Tract  Problems with the colon and intestines can trigger back pain. These include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulosis or diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and a number of others.

Summary

As you can tell, there are many possibilities when it comes to determining the cause of right back pain. The more you can tell your doctor about the exact nature of your symptoms, the sooner he or she can make a diagnosis and lead you to a happy outcome.

Also see our articles on sciatica, right side back pain and right side pain.