Recurrent or persistent back pain affects about 80% of the world's population. The problem occurs more often in women. The symptom is called lumbodinia. It is so common due to the constant high stress on the lumbar spine. It experiences a pressure of 50 kg (lying down) to 220 kg if the person is seated. The problem indicates a lifestyle bias or a serious illness. With age, it worsens and can lead to injury to the patient.
Physiological causes of pain
Discomfort in the form of pain is the body's protective reaction. Thus, it responds to various "abnormal" processes inside, which doctors call pathologies. The body aches in an awkward position even after exercise, telling the brain that it is difficult for it to perform its tasks.
Awkward position
Lumbar pain is accompanied by prolonged discomfort. The problem worries drivers and office workers, as they spend a lot of time in a sitting position when the lower back is exposed to maximum stress. One has a sore back from fatigue. If he does something for a long time in a bent position.
Back pain after sleep if the sleeping area is poorly equipped. For example, the surface of the bed is too hard or soft to provide adequate support for the spine and quality muscle relaxation.
Increased loads
Muscles and ligaments can injure the back. They keep the spine in a stable position and are subjected to stress with intense physical effort. Conditions for pain occur with sudden movements, accompanied by muscle tension in the lumbar region. This happens if a person carries weights, pulls heavy objects, lifts them up and down ("bending" in half).
Muscles can also be tensed during sports. If a person trains a lot, his relationships need time to recover. If there is no good rest, they wear out or become inflamed, which the nervous system signals with pain.
Back pain in women
The problem of lumbar pain is very common among women, as the beautiful half of humanity regularly experiences them under certain conditions. Menstrual pain in the abdomen is often accompanied by pulling discomfort in the lower back and sacral area. This is not associated with increased stress, but is a consequence of the production of prostaglandins (pain mediators). Before and during menstruation, the synthesis of mediators causes hormonal changes
in the female body.
The lower back of girls hurts while carrying a child (in 95% of pregnant women). The spine not only experiences great stress outside of pregnancy. The pressure on the lower back increases many times as the woman's weight increases. Additional loads are created by the pregnant belly. It pulls the expectant mother's body forward, changing the distribution of the axial load. As a result, the woman's gait changes, low back pain occurs, the intensity of which increases in accordance with the duration of pregnancy. Loads increase in each position of the expectant mother, therefore a good rest, lying on a quality mattress is extremely important to alleviate the condition of the woman.
Hypodynamia
Discomfort often occurs in people who do not exercise at all or lift heavy objects. The reason for this is the weakening of the muscular apparatus. The muscles of the back must be healthy to properly support the spine and relieve stress from it. If this does not happen, the bone and cartilage tissue wears out faster, which is accompanied by pain.
Structural anomalies
The spine is formed by a skeleton of bone tissue - the vertebrae. Between them are soft "layers" of cartilage - spinal discs. Vertebrae provide strength and stability, cartilage - flexibility and elasticity of the spine. The main structural elements are hollow in the center. The canal is filled with the spinal cord. All components are surrounded. blood vessels, nerve fibers Pathologies in any element of the lumbar spine cause lumbodinia.
Osteochondrosis
The disease develops when the intervertebral cartilaginous discs wear out. Due to heavy loads, the lumbar discs are damaged very often. The most common causes of severe lower back pain are bulges and hernias (damage and bulging of the contents) of the discs in which the nerve roots of the spine are compressed. Osteochondrosis affects people over the age of 35. The disease is especially common in the elderly.
Trauma
The lumbar spine is considered the strongest because it forms the main "axis" for the entire human body. However, in falls and sudden movements, the vertebrae in this area are most often injured. Most fractures and bruises of the spineare located exactly in the lower back.
Vascular injuries
The vessels provide nourishment to all tissues of the spine. If their lumen narrows or overlaps, the trophic processes in the spine worsen radically. As a result, inflammation occurs, which always manifests itself in pain.
Nerve entrapment
Nerve fibers can be damaged due to any damage to cartilage and vertebrae in the case of infectious diseases. Any pathology of the nerves is accompanied by sharp shooting and sometimes unbearable back pain.
Bone disorders
Osteoporosis leads to calcium leaching and bone fragility. If the spinal tissue is depleted, there is an increased risk of serious back injury. In addition, osteoporosis can change the shape of the bones in the spine and increase the pressure on the nerve roots.
Another cause of pain is tumors in the vertebrae. The most common type is hemangioma. These benign neoplasms develop asymptomatically for a long time, but when the tumor becomes too large and extends beyond the vertebrae, the patient experiences severe pain.
Inflammatory processes
Arthritis can affect any joint in the body. Inflammation leads to joint damage and pain. It can be provoked by advanced and chronic infectious diseases. Another cause of arthritis is autoimmune connective tissue damage.
Internal problems
The lower back can hurt not only due to pathologies of the spine. Painful sensations associated with pathologies of the internal organs or some systemic diseases can be attributed to the lumbar region.
Internal organs
Back pain is associated with kidney damage. Renal colic is accompanied by sharp and sharp pain on one or both sides of the back. It is more often felt just below the ribs in the back of the body.
Lumbar discomfort often occurs against the background of intestinal diseases, with inflammation of the pelvic organs (bladder, prostate - in men, ovaries and uterus - in women).
Systemic pathologies
Psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis lead to low back pain. In these diseases there are disorders in the structure of connective tissue (cartilage). It loses its elasticity and is therefore often inflamed. Over time, significant disorders in the functioning of the joints occur and the nerve endings are under constant compression (disturbed). In ankylosing spondylitis, the intervertebral spaces "harden".
Lower back pain can cause shingles. Rash with this disease appears on the shoulder blades, ribs, but most often - on the lateral surfaces of the trunk in the lumbar region. The first pains appear before significant changes in the skin. When a blistering rash appears, the discomfort intensifies, accompanied by itching. Even after the spots disappear completely, a person still has severe pain in the inflamed nerves. They can bother the patient for several months.
Tumors
Malignant lesions of the spinal cord and bones do not initially change the patient's condition. As the tumor grows and atypical cells spread to the structure of organs and tissues, changes occur in which the nerves are affected. This is manifested by severe pain. Discomfort in the lower back is felt not only in lesions of the lumbar spine, but also if the tumor grows in the internal organs, which are innervated by the nerve ganglia of this department.
Nervous disorders
Lower back pain can be phantom (in other words, invented by the patient himself). This occurs in psychoneurotic disorders. The psyche does not work properly against the background of shocks, stress, prolonged psycho-emotional stress. Discomfort can occur if a person plants a disease on his own, suffers from fatigue. Such signs appear for the first time after depression or nervous breakdown and can bother the patient for many years.
How to get rid of lumbar pain
If there are unpleasant sensations in the lower back, the patient should rest completely, reduce the intensity of the load. As a rule, after a good rest, the discomfort disappears or disappears completely. This is a typical symptom of pain provoked by improper lifestyle, poor rest. If the pain persists, you should consider seeing a doctor.
The nature of back pain is diagnosed by traumatologists, vertebrologists, orthopedists. You can contact one of the listed specialists. At the first consultation, the doctor will interview the patient, examine him, perform several tests (check the sensitivity of the nerves, the condition of the muscles). If the diagnosis cannot be made on the basis of the information received, an additional examination will be ordered. An X-ray is prescribed to assess the condition of the bone tissue. The structure of cartilage, nerves, the condition of blood vessels and the spinal cord can be assessed by MRI. If the doctor suspects a systemic disease, the patient is prescribed a laboratory diagnosis (general and biochemical tests of blood and urine). Only after making the correct diagnosis, the specialist will prescribe the treatment.
Drug therapy
The list of drugs depends entirely on the diagnosis. A short course of painkillers (usually from the NSAID group) will be prescribed to quickly eliminate the patient's symptoms. In severe inflammatory and autoimmune changes, glucocorticoid drugs are prescribed. In diseases of cartilage tissue, chondroprotectors are recommended in injections or tablets. If the problem is in the muscles, muscle relaxants are recommended. To restore the work of the nerve endings, B vitamins are prescribed.
The main treatment focuses on the cause of the pain. If it is caused by diseases of the internal organs, drug therapy will correct disorders of the kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and genitals. The symptoms will disappear with the removal of the underlying disease. In case of unbearable pain, nerve block is performed (analgesics are injected directly into the areas of the nerve roots).
External painkillers (patches, ointments, gels) may be prescribed to enhance the effects of injections or tablets. Such drugs can be used alone, with recurrent lower back pain on the background of tension or increased stress. To alleviate the condition, you can use pepper or menthol plaster. They are also allowed to be used without a prescription.
Procedures
For low back pain, a specialist may recommend special treatments. These include acupuncture, physiotherapy with electric current, ultrasound, therapeutic ultraviolet rays. In some cases, physiotherapy exercises and massage are indicated. If the vertebrae are displaced, the help of a chiropractor may be needed to return the bone to its place. All procedures should be chosen together with a doctor. It is forbidden to undergo treatment in which they act directly on the spine without diagnosing the disease. In this case, the procedures can not only be useless, but also harm the patient.
To prevent back pain, you should monitor the health of your spine from an early age. It is important to exercise the loads from behind correctly (to lift objects squatting, not to bend, push heavy objects and not pull them towards you). You need to engage in moderate physical activity and choose exercises with a trainer. It is also important to treat infectious diseases in a timely manner, to avoid stress, to take any medication wisely and according to a doctor's prescription.