Lumbar spine stress fractures in adolescents: what parents and young athletes need to know
Lower back pain in a teenager is easy to dismiss as "growing pains" or poor posture from hours hunched over a phone. But for adolescents involved in sport, persistent low back pain can sometimes signal something more specific: a stress fracture in the lumbar spine, known clinically as spondylolysis. What is it? Spondylolysis is a stress fracture through a small bony bridge at the back of a vertebra called the pars interarticularis. It most commonly affects the lower lumbar vertebrae,...