Lower back pain

Back pain in the lumbar region - see a doctor

The discomfort in this area is familiar to almost everyone. People encounter it at a young age, and by their 30s and 40s, lower back pain becomes common.

However, only a specialist can determine why the lower back can hurt so much that it is impossible to straighten up, even lying down hurts, and the pain bursts into the lower back after every movement.

There are many reasons that can cause severe lower back pain

Cause

People want to know why and why the lower back hurts so much when sitting or standing, any movement causes pain in the spine behind the back, so that you can't straighten up when sitting in a chair, and what to do about them. symptoms, how and what to treat that made you feel sick. These questions cannot be answered clearly and without thorough research, because there can be many underlying causes.

Spinal diseases

When a person complains that "I can't sit and it hurts to walk", the lower back hurts when standing up or sitting in a chair, often he can't walk or stand for a long time, he can't rest in a sitting position. a month, this is due to diseases of the spine.

In addition, pathologies can be congenital or acquired due to improper lifestyle, predisposition or injury.

Common causes of pain in spinal diseases:

  • Congenital disorders.
  • Poor blood circulation in the spinal cord.
  • Degenerative changes.
  • Secondary nerve damage, which develops against the background of changes in the position of the bones of the spine.

Deformation

Before you decide how to quickly and effectively treat lower back pain, you need to understand why your back hurts so much when you get up from a sitting position that it is difficult to straighten up. Acquired or congenital deformities of the spinal bones are often to blame.

Low back pain due to spinal deformity such as scoliosis

Curvature occurs throughout life. People often provoke changes in themselves, do not pay attention to their posture, or prefer to sleep in a soft bed. As a result, the load on the bones, muscles and ligaments is not distributed physiologically, which leads to pain.

People with an established diagnosis should experience regular attacks:

  1. Kyphosis.
  2. Scoliosis.
  3. Lordosis.
  4. Flat back syndrome.

In this case, strict adherence to the doctor's recommendations can help. Even if a person is born with such pathologies, today it is possible to stop the development and live a full life.

Osteoporosis

A pulling, aching pain radiating into the chest may be the only sign of osteoporosis. At the same time, the unpleasant sensations are weak and appear irregularly. More often, the discomfort is felt after strong physical exertion or after changes in the weather.

Osteoporosis is one of the causes of lower back pain

Even if the disease is not congenital, it can develop as a secondary disease during life after a number of negative effects, including poisoning and improper use of drugs.

A pathological fracture is considered dangerous. It causes more pain than usual. At the same time, since there was no injury as such and it does not interfere with movement, it often remains undiagnosed. Which can lead to further complications after a while.

The question of how to quickly cure lower back pain is important for people suffering from osteoporosis, because in their case unpleasant attacks can be stopped easily and quickly.

Injuries

If you are wondering why my back always hurts when I sit or stand for long periods of time around the spine, often in the lower back, try to remember if you hit this spot.

Even a minor bump or fall can cause serious injuries that are not easily noticed at first glance.The most common causes of traumatic back pain are:

  • Bruising of the spine.You can easily get to it with an unsuccessful fall or bump from the back. It presents as mild pain, sometimes swelling or bruising at the site of impact. Most often, it does not require special treatment. However, in severe cases, it can cause neurological symptoms.
  • Compression fracture.It occurs more often with forced sharp bending of the trunk. Later, it manifests itself as severe pain during movement. The sharp processes of the vertebrae can be felt locally.
  • Subluxation of the vertebrait manifests itself not only with pain and swelling, but also with frequent numbness at the site of the injury. The lower limbs also gradually begin to go numb.
Various back injuries cause pain in the lumbar region

It is extremely important to be extremely careful against bumps and falls on the spine. Mild pain makes it easy to miss serious injuries that lead to greater limitations later in life.



Infections

Constantly aching, stabbing, gripping and persistent, burning, chronic pain in the lower back and lower back can be caused by infections.

There are pathologies that affect the spinal column. Without treatment, these diseases can quickly turn a person into a disabled person.Spread of infection:

  1. Osteomyelitisit can enter the body during injury, surgery or through contact with another infected person. The infection causes sharp, severe pain that occurs with any sudden movement. In this case, the chronic course of the infection is characterized by smooth manifestations of pain. In addition, the person suffers from poisoning, chills and fever.
  2. Epidural abscessleads to severe pain combined with chills and strong muscle tension.
  3. Tuberculosis of the spineit develops slowly but inevitably. At first, it manifests itself only as intermittent pain and stiffness in walking after physical exertion. As the bones deteriorate, pain increases and full range of motion decreases.

Local inflammation

Back pain caused by local inflammation

In addition to the constantly spreading unpleasant sensations, sometimes a stabbing pain appears in the waist area, in the lower back, while sitting. The cause is local inflammation.

Boils, carbuncles and paranephritis are easily recognized. The first two phenomena are nodules on the skin that react painfully to the touch. In the case of paraphritis, fever appears first, in the 2-3. and on the second day there is a strong pain that prevents full movement and walking. The condition is considered serious and requires hospitalization.

Infectious diseases

Sometimes the explanation of the pain in the lower back, it gets into it all the time, it grabs after standing for a long time, and sometimes the back starts to hurt, as if it is about to fall, and the decision of what to do and what to treat can be infectious diseases.

Doctors note infectious diseases as a cause of lower back pain

Increased temperature, intoxication, the need to find a more comfortable position, muscle and joint pain - these are the signs of an infected person. It often occurs with severe ARVI or influenza.

Similar symptoms may indicate an infection:

  • Ebola fever.
  • Human-type foot and mouth disease.
  • The severe course of the coronavirus.
  • Common forms of viral or fungal infections.

If such signs appear, seek medical attention immediately, as the condition may worsen within a few hours.

Muscle damage

When we figure out why the lower back hurts and pulls, why it squeezes the back around the spine, why it radiates to the back when you sneeze, which started to hurt much more often, you need to find out the cause. decide what to do.

In addition to problems directly related to the spine, muscle damage can also hinder a person. This problem is often encountered by professional athletes, people who do a lot of strength training or do physical work. After several days of excessive tension, painful sensations appear in the lower back muscles, which disappear under the influence of drugs, warming ointments and massage. Lower back pain due to strained back muscles


However, there are also chronic changes in the muscle tissue, which often occur against the background of serious diseases and their consequences. If detected, complex therapy is carried out, sometimes even surgical intervention is required.


Types of pain

To understand what helps with lower back pain and how to get rid of it, you need to pay attention to the characteristics of the symptom.

If the unpleasant sensations appeared suddenly and recently, then the phase is called acute, and if you suffer for more than 3 months, then chronic.

Depending on the intensity and variety of feelings, there are:

  • Mechanical.It occurs after heavy physical exertion, often in the afternoon, along with a feeling of fatigue. It can be easily cured with rest. Most often, this is the result of degeneration of the bone structure of the spine or severe curvature.
  • Inflammatory.It increases after a period of rest and immobility. After a while, it becomes weak due to constant movement or taking anti-inflammatory painkillers.
  • Local.The result of direct damage to muscles, joints or ligaments. It concentrates directly on the site of the injury.
  • Koreshkovaya.It appears when nerves are pinched due to injury, tumor or hernia. Simultaneously with the occurrence of pain, the sensitivity of the injury site decreases.
  • Reflex.The most dangerous type because it deceives people. The patient thinks that he has lower back pain, but in fact these are reflected sensations that arise due to the disease of the internal organs.
  • Myofascial.Defense mechanism, as it appears due to muscle spasms when bones are injured.

Depending on the description of the feelings, the doctor will be able to understand in the first minutes what kind of illness the person who turns to him is suffering from.

Which doctor should I see?

If you have lower back pain, consult a general practitioner or neurologist.

As soon as unpleasant shooting occurs in the lower back, constant pain or discomfort, the question arises of whether to consult a doctor.

Since this part of the body is special due to the fact that not only the spine and muscles, but also a large number of internal organs can be found in it, which can also cause discomfort in the event of the disease, it is therefore strongly not recommended at home. Failure to identify the source of the pain can make the situation worse.

Initially, it is better to consult a family doctor with such symptoms. Based on the appearing symptoms, the characteristics of the pain and the location of the lesion, you will be able to determine which specialist should deal with the problem.You can be referred to:

  1. A neurologist.
  2. To the surgeon.
  3. Urologist or gynecologist.
  4. Nephrologist.

After the examination, the necessary tests are prescribed to determine the exact cause of the discomfort.

If you decide to go to a specialist on your own without first consulting a therapist, you risk making an inaccurate diagnosis and losing valuable time.

Diagnostics

A CT or MRI can help doctors determine the cause of lower back pain

Very often, patients go to the doctor when they have a hellish pain in their back, so bad that it hurts to stand up and walk without straightening, why does the middle or lower back hurt, what can hurt the spine, what causes the condition and whatshould be done, what treatment method to treat low back pain.

Diagnostics:

  • Patient interviewcollection of data on the signs of the disease and the time of onset. It is also important to learn about your medical history and identify any chronic conditions that may affect the onset of seizures.
  • Neurological examination.The doctor checks whether reflexes are preserved, how much muscle strength and reaction speed are affected, and how much movement is restricted. In addition, the degree of superficial and deep sensitivity is examined.
  • X-ray of the affected area of the back.The image will show the injuries received, the abnormal reduction and curvature of the intervertebral space and the onset of degenerative processes. New growths are also noticed.
  • CT or MRIserves to clarify the received data. They help to determine the location of even small hernias or processes on the spine, help to understand where the pinched nerves are located and why this happened.
  • Functional studiesthey are aimed at determining the condition of the muscles and the degree of damage to the nerve tissue, the speed of the passage of the nerve impulse.
  • Laboratory tests.A blood test is required to determine whether the inflammation is infectious.

In addition, depending on the indications, an X-ray of the internal organs near the painful area may be prescribed. The purpose of this is to prevent the aggravation of chronic diseases of the kidney, gastrointestinal tract or urinary system.

Treatment

It is extremely important that the patient is given proper first aid and transported to a medical facility without further injury. In case of a seizure, place the person on something hard or ease their back and take them to the hospital.

How and what to treat the back, and what to do if the back is very severe in the middle of the spine and there is constant pain in the lumbar region, in the lower back, the doctor will decide only after the causes are revealed, in this case both conservative and surgicalprescribed in the form of an intervention.

Before the examination, the use of symptomatic painkillers is not recommended, only a single dose of painkillers is allowed.

After examination and diagnostic measures, the doctor prescribes an appropriate treatment, which is complex for back diseases.Therapy includes:

  1. Taking medicines.
  2. Physiotherapy.
  3. Application of external drugs.
  4. Lifestyle changes.

In severe cases, surgical intervention is also performed.

Several medications are used to treat back pain:

  • NSAIDs are pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs.In the injection that can be administered during the first visit, in the future, doctors recommend a combination of tablets and ointments with a similar effect.
  • Local anestheticsit is used to create a blockade in cases where the pain becomes unbearable.
  • B vitaminsenhances the effect of other drugs, stimulates better blood supply in the affected area of the back.
  • Physiotherapyperformed after acute pain relief. As soon as the attack ends, special therapy is selected, which has a positive effect on the condition of the spine. In addition, physical therapy exercises are prescribed.
Intervertebral hernia in the lumbar spine is the reason for surgery

Surgical intervention is not a desirable option for the development of the situation. Because the spine is one of the most complex organs in the human body. There are many points near it that influence the functioning of the body, so doctors try to perform surgical interventions as little as possible. However, there are hopeless situations when it is impossible to restore health without surgical scissors.

Surgical intervention is required:

  • In case of tumor formation.They are removed regardless of whether the tumor is benign or malignant, as the gradual growth causes severe pain and can cause paralysis.
  • intervertebral hernia,they gradually destroy the space around them. They are the culprits of constant, never-ending pain.
  • Narrowing of the intervertebral canal.
  • instability of the elements of the spine,severe injuries that require additional bone fixation in place.

After a cure or surgery, the patient must be prepared for the fact that there is still a lot to do in order to finally say goodbye to the pain.

Rehabilitation

Therapeutic exercise is one component of low back pain rehabilitation

Depending on why the spine hurts in the lumbar region and the intensity of the pain, treatment is prescribed. However, returning to a full, healthy life requires more than just a course of medication and possible surgery.

Further rehabilitation more often involves physiotherapy procedures.Frequent meetings:

  1. Massage.In addition, it is not recommended to choose this procedure for yourself.
  2. Physiotherapy course, which is performed under the supervision of an experienced trainer who knows the speed and intensity at which the exercises should be performed. It is also possible to use special simulators.
  3. Manual therapy.
  4. Acupuncture.
  5. Physiotherapy,it is aimed at the further use of painkillers: electrophoresis, magnetic therapy, laser treatment.

When deciding how to treat severe, acute or aching back pain in the lumbar region, the doctor determines what to do if the spine constantly hurts, the muscles are tight and stiff, additional treatment is prescribed depending on the causes. In which restorative procedures are also prescribed in detail, which help to improve well-being and return to a healthy state. Patients should be prepared that the rehabilitation period may last more than a month if the nerve endings or vertebrae are severely damaged.

Consequences

Ignoring low back pain can result in a herniated disc.

If you turn to friends with a complaint: "If the waist suddenly hurts for no reason, the back falls, then what should be done in such a situation? ", and in response you only hear a suggestion to take a pain reliever, do not hesitate to follow this advice.

The main consequences of untreated spine diseases:

  • Greater spread of painintensification of attacks, as more healthy tissue will suffer from the gradually expanding problem area.
  • A sharp deterioration in the functioning of the cardiovascular system.And problems in this area can lead to the development of chronic diseases of any organ, including deterioration of brain function.
  • In the worst case, it is possibletemporary or permanent paralysis of the limbs.

In addition, self-medication without prior diagnosis or a doctor's prescription can lead to a deterioration in well-being. And after that, the process of treatment and recovery will be long and complex.

Prevention

Physical activity can help prevent lower back pain

The main medical direction that will help you maintain your health and avoid unpleasant days in which you will be deprived of the opportunity to live a full life is prevention. It helps to avoid inflammation or the occurrence of many lower back diseases.

There are several rules and tips to follow:

  1. Choose a medium firm mattress for the bedroom.
  2. If you move little during the day, but sit a lot in front of the computer, take a few minutes every hour to warm up the lumbar spine for a short time.
  3. Give up bad habits.
  4. Try not to make sudden, thoughtless body movements.
  5. Regular exercise. Even a 15-minute exercise in the morning has a positive effect on the condition of the spine. After the age of 30, it is best to find a hobby that allows you to perform the necessary physical activity with minimal injury. Consider doing yoga or swimming in the pool to stay in shape.
  6. Control your posture.
  7. Avoid severe hypothermia in the lower back.
  8. Timely treatment of recognized diseases.
  9. Carry out regular preventive examinations.
  10. If you feel pain in your back, go to the clinic immediately for a consultation.

Painful sensations in the spine are one of the most unpleasant. In addition to direct pain, they also bring with them stiffness of movement, which prevents them from living a full, normal life.

The sooner back problems are treated professionally, the sooner a person can return to a full life. And neglecting health in this case can lead to disability.