What are most common low back injuries in surfing?
The great majority of lower-back injuries are sprains and strains of the spine and adjacent soft tissues, i.e., the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The lumbar region is susceptible to strain because it is the area of great compensatory movement in relation to the thoracic spine above and the pelvis below. There are five motion segments in the lumbar spine, each of which are made up of the disc in-between, and a pair of facet joints behind. The spine ends with the sacrum, which is connected to the pelvis by paired sacroiliac (SI) joints. The facet joints and the SI joints are supported by ligaments, which can be torn if excessive motion is imposed on them, which is to say these joints can be sprained. The disc is unique in that it has a central nucleus made of fibro-gelatinous material not unlike heavy jelly surrounded by concentric rings of dense collagen fibers similar to the canvas layers around a fire hose. As I am sure you have heard, tears in the fibrous ring, called the annulus,
