There is probably no person who has never had lower back pain.In addition, discomfort can manifest itself at any age, regardless of sex, work activity and other factors.
Back pain in the lumbar region, of different nature and cause, makes life much more difficult.Neglecting the obvious symptoms of the pathology can worsen the situation.
Types of pain syndrome
The main classification of pain syndrome is as follows:
- Primary.
- Secondary.
The first option is characterized by pathology of the spine and the entire musculoskeletal system.Muscles, ligaments and tendons undergo a series of changes that cause back pain in a person.
Secondary discomforts are not directly related to the lumbar region.Usually its development is influenced by indirect pathologies.
Depending on the cause of its appearance, low back pain varies in different ways.The discomfort can be sharp and sharp, or vice versa, painful and dull.It is necessary to understand the nature of each of the options in more detail.
Sharp, sharp pain
It cannot be considered an independent pathology.Normally, acute low back pain is a sign of some disease.Most of the time people find them after the age of 30.
Severe low back pain can occur for several reasons.One of them is hypothermia of the specified area.The muscles become weak and are easily susceptible to negative effects.Pain in the lower back makes movement difficult, depriving the patient of mobility.It is almost impossible to do anything on your own if your back hurts a lot.The correct thing would be to call a specialist.
The abruptness can be due to several reasons:
- Intervertebral hernia.
- Sedentary lifestyle.
- Excessive loads.
- Injury.
What to do if there is acute pain in the lower back?The best option is to consult a doctor.If this cannot be done immediately, you will need to relieve the symptoms of inflammation with medication.
Dull, aching pain
The causes of pain in the lower back are varied.To establish them, a complete examination of the body will be necessary.The accuracy of the diagnosis depends on many signs.Here are the main ones:
- Place where discomfort is concentrated.
- Patient age category.
- The patient's diet.
- The presence of bad habits (smoking, alcohol addiction, etc.).
- Patient body weight.
Stabbing pain in the lower back often occurs in women of reproductive age.There is a pull in the lower back due to the following reasons:
- Fatigue.Reducing physical activity will help relieve discomfort.Warming the problem area with a heating pad or ointments has a positive effect.
- Pregnancy.A special bandage will come to the woman's aid, reducing the load.
- Menstruation.Medications will help alleviate the situation and relieve the dull pain.
- Incorrect posture, osteochondrosis, osteoporosis.
- Intervertebral hernia, osteoarthritis.
- Pathologies of the genitourinary system.
- Radiculitis.
- Any injury.
To understand why your lower back hurts, you need to conduct a little experiment.The patient should stand with his back straight and lean against the wall.Then slowly lower your chin, pressing it to your chest.The resulting pain or throbbing on any side (top, bottom, side) will help determine the root cause of the pain.
Causes of illness in women.
In addition to the general ones, there are a number of reasons that apply only to the fair sex.
This may include:
- Pregnancy.
- Problems in gynecology.
- Menses.
- Mechanical abortion.
Women usually don't know what to do if they experience back pain due to severe shock or unnecessary worry.The situation can only improve through psychological therapy.
Problems in gynecology.
The presence of gynecological diseases in a woman often becomes the starting point for the development of pain.
The problems may be the following:
- Inflammation of the external genitalia (vulvitis).
- Tumor of any lymph node of the genitourinary system.
- Adnexitis (in other words, inflammation of the appendages).
- Myoma.
The symptoms of the pathology are the following:
- The presence of copious discharge.
- Infection whose foci are concentrated in the vagina.
- Problems conceiving a child.
Often a woman complains of pain in the lower abdomen.Sometimes the pain radiates to the lumbar region.
Pregnancy
The gestation period of the female body does not pass without a trace.In the last trimester of pregnancy, the load on the bones of the spine increases significantly, which is explained by an increase in the size and weight of the fetus.
Due to its physiological structure, the lumbar spine suffers the most.Pain in the lower back is natural and quite noticeable.Low back pain usually goes away after the baby is born.
menstruation
Such a familiar phenomenon for a woman can be accompanied by lower back pain.
This is explained by the following factors:
- Release of the follicle from the ovary.
- Enlargement of the uterus.
- Pathologies of the reproductive system.
Additionally, pain can also appear during menopause.This is usually due to hormonal changes and imbalances.With the onset of menopause, a woman's bones become more fragile and brittle, which is characteristic of osteoporosis.
abortion
The mechanical interruption of pregnancy does not go unnoticed either, being a serious stress for the body.During the contraction of the uterus, an inflammatory process begins..The latter focuses on the inner surface of the organ.
Please note: Women are more susceptible to lower back pain than men.
Causes of illness in men
Men, like women, suffer from lower back pain.
The most obvious reasons are:
- Prostatitis.At first it only hurts in the anus.As the poisoning progresses, the patient begins to feel discomfort in the lower back area.
- In other words, epididymitis is an inflammatory process in the epididymis.As such, the back does not hurt, but sometimes unpleasant sensations appear.
- Oncology of the genitourinary system.It often affects men of pre-retirement age (over 50 years of age).
- Bodybuilding, bodybuilding.
- Injuries to the muscular system.Pain in the lumbar region is caused by a strain in the dorsal muscle.
Professional activity plays an important role in identifying the cause of low back pain.
Causes of diseases in children.
Pathology in children develops due to the following factors:
- Spinal hernia.
- Wrong posture.
Generally the cause of the latter is flat feet.Although choosing a comfortable briefcase and the right footwear is also important.
Please note: in the early stages, the curvature of a child's spine can be corrected.Physiotherapy helps a lot with this.
Connection with diseases
The previous classification is not the only one.The pain can be periodic or constant.
In the first case, the discomfort is directly related to factors such as:
- Excessive physical activity.
- Exacerbation of existing diseases.
- Some characteristics of physiology.
Periodic pain subsides when the symptoms of the underlying pathology are relieved.
Severe deep vessel injuries and injuries to the musculoskeletal system can cause permanent discomfort.The treatment alleviates the situation a little, but does not solve it completely.
Spinal diseases
The causes of constant pain in the lumbar region are as follows:
- Curvature of the spine.The disease is characterized by skeletal deformation, poor posture and the appearance of a hump in the costal region.Sometimes scoliosis is asymptomatic for a fairly long period.
- Intervertebral osteochondrosis of the lumbar region.The pathology destroys bones and cartilage and affects nerve fibers.Sometimes the disease becomes a catalyst for the development of protrusions, sciatica, radiculitis of the lumbar region and herniated intervertebral discs.
- Destructive changes in the vertebrae.They cause lumbago (lumbago).Usually acute pain occurs in men with excessive exercise.The lack of adequate treatment leads to irreversible consequences.
- Spondylosis.The joint system of the lumbar region ages, becomes thinner and loses mobility.This process is quite natural.
- Inflammation of all nodes of bone tissue (osteomyelitis).The nature of the process is infectious.
- Osteoporosis (increased bone fragility).It is generally diagnosed in children and women during menopause.
- Thrombophlebitis, phlebothrombosis.In the deep veins, blood flow stops completely or partially.This causes pain after a long walk.
- Rheumatoid arthritis.Chronic inflammation begins in the joints of the lumbar region, affecting muscles, cartilage and ligaments.This systemic disease is often seen in women.The cause of the pathology is problems with the immune system.
- Atherosclerosis in the last stage.It is often diagnosed in older men.
Some people have lower limbs of different lengths.A wide range of values (more than 1-3 cm) is one of the causes of pain in the lumbar region.
Diseases of internal organs.
The development of the disease is not only influenced by spinal problems.
Pain syndrome manifests itself in the following diseases:
- Inflammation of the appendix.A person is bothered by discomfort in the lower right part of the abdomen, sometimes the pain radiates to the back.
- Cholecystitis (inflammation of the walls of the gallbladder).
- Pathologies of the small intestine.The lower back hurts because the disease affects the nerve fibers in this area.
- Spikes.It is usually the result of surgery.
- Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).The pathology is accompanied by a pain syndrome of a shingles nature.Signs of the disease are vomiting, intestinal problems (diarrhea or constipation), a coating on the tongue and nausea.Low back pain is not diagnosed by palpation.
- Kidney pathologies.
- Tuberculosis of the bones.
- Inflammatory processes in the muscular system.The nature of tissue damage is different (infectious, bacterial, viral).Sometimes inflammation develops due to hypothermia.The process is accompanied by an increase in body temperature and general discomfort.
- A tumor in the lumbar region that grows along nerve fibers.
Excess body weight and obesity also cause discomfort.The pain occurs due to excessive tension in the lower back.
Additional symptoms
To determine why your lower back hurts, you need to take into account all possible signs of the disease.
Here they are:
- Sprains are accompanied by painful spasms and damaged muscles have limited movement.Sometimes the discomfort extends to the back of the lower extremities and the gluteal region.
- Numbness of the extremities occurs if the nerve roots in the lower back have been injured.
- Pupil dilation.
- Excessive sweating.
- Increased heart rate.
- Fever.
If low back pain is the result of some pathology, the symptoms will appear gradually.
Diagnosis of the problem.
What to do if your lower back hurts?First of all, it is necessary to carry out a complete examination of the patient.
The diagnosis is based on procedures such as:
- Urine and blood analysis in a laboratory.Biochemistry will also be required.
- Ultrasound examination of the heart, internal organs of the abdominal cavity.This is relevant if you suspect kidney or gastrointestinal pathologies.
- X-ray of the lumbar region.
- CT and MRI.With its help, you can determine the cause of the pain.
- Dopplerography (vascular examination).
Carrying out all these activities makes it possible to establish a catalyst for the development of pathology and determine methods for its elimination.
Treatment
Getting rid of pathology should be comprehensive and can be carried out in different ways.
To avoid making the situation worse, you should not:
- Warms the lumbar region.
- Take medications at your own discretion.
- Adjust the vertebrae yourself, contact a chiropractor.
Please note: without identifying the root cause of discomfort, self-medication is dangerous.
Physiotherapy and massages.
Treatment of low back pain is possible through physical therapy.
If the patient cannot move due to severe pain, he is shown:
- Massage.Applicable if the patient is bothered by pain in the lower back or finds it difficult to bend.
- Mud therapy.
- Paraffin applications.
- Therapeutic gymnastics.
Sometimes acupuncture and manual therapy are beneficial.They strengthen the bone system, relieving muscle tension.
Medications
If a patient experiences pain in the lower back after any physical activity, drug therapy is indicated.
The following groups of drugs will help alleviate the condition and relieve pain:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
- Muscle relaxants.
- Narcotic analgesic.
- Corticosteroids.
- Chondroprotectors.
It is allowed to use ointments topically..If the effect is not achieved, injections are used.Only a specialist has the right to prescribe how to treat the lower back.
Folk remedies
Along with medications, low back pain can be treated using traditional methods.
The following recipes apply:
- Grind the head of garlic, add a little Vaseline and 1 tsp.lemon juice.Apply the resulting ointment to the inflamed areas.
- Bathe with mustard (200 grams of powder).Then, rinse your body with clean water, dry yourself, and dress warmly.
- If it hurts to walk, make a horseradish compress.Grate it (you can replace it with radish), add the sour cream and place it on a thin cloth.Apply to the painful area, secure and wrap.
The dosage for taking any folk remedy or medicine must be prescribed by your treating doctor.
You can cure your lower back with eucalyptus alcohol tincture.You will need to rub the inflamed area well.
Preventive measures
Heaviness in the lower back can be prevented through prevention.
To do this you need:
- Do gymnastics regularly.
- Control your posture.
- Strengthen your immune system, exercise, abandon bad habits.
- Get annual checkups.
- Drink at least 1.5 liters of water regularly.
Remember that even nervous crises and experiences can provoke the development of a disease.It is important not to self-medicate, but to turn to competent specialists.The time dedicated to non-specialized therapy can sometimes be decisive.