When a person has constant or sharp back pain in the lower back, it is very difficult to do anything. It is an exhausting and debilitating feeling that leads to irritability and anger. And there can be many reasons for the pain. They are far from being associated with articular or bone pathologies, but they can indicate abnormalities in internal organs. Particularly attentive to these sensations should be women whose low back pain is often associated with dangerous gynecological pathologies.
Causes and nature of pain
Although there are primary reasons for each type of pain, the nature of the sensations may not always indicate 100% of a particular disease. Violations in the human body can be masked by different signs.
Low back pain is characterized by the following characteristics:
- Acute discomfort. The patient has difficulty walking, symptoms appear abruptly, radiating to the lower extremities. Acute pain is typical for injuries, compression of the vertebrae, for bone diseases, eg with tumors, Cushing's syndromes and multiple myeloma. Displacement of the vertebrae is also accompanied by sharp pain.
- It's a dull pain. It mainly develops with muscle spasms, herniated spine, radiculitis, and osteochondrosis. But it can occur with pathologies of the genitourinary system, kidneys, intestines and other organs. Radiculitis is divided into 2 diseases: lumbago with dislocated vertebrae and sciatica, in which the nerve endings are affected and lumbago occurs. Painful pain often appears with kidney pathologies.
- Periodic pains of a different nature. They arise mainly in the context of excessive physical exertion, especially with prolonged inactivity and lack of warm-up before practicing sports. At the same time, periodic pains can be reflected and radiating if they are associated with organs.
- Constant pain. They are mainly associated with varicose veins and other vascular pathologies, muscular dystrophy, degenerative diseases of bones and cartilage, as well as inflammation in these elements. It is extremely difficult to get rid of persistent symptoms.
- Shooting pains. Sharp, sudden and very strong sensations, which are accompanied by prolonged and unpleasant pain after lumbago. They develop in the context of careless movement, excessive stress and also under the influence of factors such as hypothermia.
- Radiating pain. Mainly associated with diseases of the kidneys, pelvic organs, genitourinary system. They can be cramps, calculi, as well as pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract, including diseases of the gallbladder, ulcers, tumors and pathologies of the pancreas. In men, diseases of the testicles and prostate are often the cause, and in women - ectopic pregnancy, diseases of the uterus and ovaries, cysts.
With the position of pain predominantly on the right, liver abnormalities may be suspected.
Other reasons why the lower back hurts
Among the pathologies that lead to low back pain, diseases in which symptoms are ambiguous, may be weak or acute, rare or permanent, can also be distinguished:
- osteochondrosis - refers to the degenerative forms of the disease, in which the intervertebral disc becomes inflamed, with loosening of the bone surface and damage to nerve endings;
- protrusion and intervertebral hernia are diseases that become stages 2-3 of osteochondrosis;
- scoliosis - a bending of the spine to the left or to the right can cause very unpleasant sensations in the context of a decrease in muscle and skeletal function;
- ankylosing spondylitis - a chronic autoimmune change in spinal joints that leads to loss of mobility;
- Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammation of large and small joints for many reasons;
- bone infections, including bone tuberculosis, as well as infectious processes within organs;
- pancreatitis, digestive tract adhesions after surgery, appendicitis, cholecystitis;
- pyelonephritis, kidney stones and colic;
- benign and malignant tumors of organs, tissues, and bones that compress the nerve endings in the lower back.
The painful sensations can cause muscle spasms, leading to chilling symptoms as well as sprains caused by injury or sudden movement.
Characteristics of causes in women and men
In women, tugging and sometimes sharp painful sensations can develop during ovulation, midway through the cycle. These symptoms disappear quickly and do not cause severe discomfort. For some women, pain occurs after a miscarriage, which is recognized as very stressful on a woman's health. Low back pain can persist for a long time and is usually associated with inflammatory processes in Organs pelvic organs. This happens in the context of an imprecise procedure and severe trauma to the walls of the uterus.
In women, low back pain can be caused by inflammation of the appendages and ovaries, overgrown uterine fibroids, large cysts, as well as bleeding in the ovaries, endometritis, and endometriosis. Sometimes this discomfort occurs during menopause, which is associated with a sudden change in hormonal balance.
In men, in addition to prostate cancer and prostatitis, back pain can appear with epididymitis - inflammation of the epididymis, but the main symptoms are located in the groin area.
diagnostic methods
Before undergoing diagnoses and prescribing treatment for lumbar spine lumbodynia, you will need to visit an experienced specialist - a vertebrologist or orthopedist. But it is the vertebrologist who deals with spinal disorders and knows all about effective therapy for these disorders.
After examination, palpation, collection of information about the patient, the doctor will prescribe several diagnostic methods:
- X-ray. With the help of an X-ray, doctors identify the stage of osteochondrosis and other degenerative processes in the spine. The X-ray clearly shows the growth of the osteophytes and makes it possible to measure the distance between the vertebrae.
- Column magnetic resonance. It reveals pathological changes in discs, vertebrae, and joints, as well as in the surrounding soft tissue. Magnetic resonance imaging easily shows osteochondrosis and spondyloarthrosis, even in the early stages.
- Myelography. A technique that uses a contrast agent, which helps detect vascular pathologies, tumors, as well as spinal canal narrowing, abscesses, and other similar changes.
To exclude diseases of Organs internal organs and identify inflammatory processes, urine and blood are also prescribed. Sometimes a diagnosis of the gastrointestinal tract is needed, including enzymes from the liver, pancreas, and stomach juice.
Back pain diagnosis helps to distinguish some conditions from others and allows you to choose the right treatment tactics. At home, just from the symptoms, it is impossible to understand which disease causes pain.
How to relieve low back pain
Regardless of the cause of the pain, the patient will receive medications from the following groups to alleviate the unpleasant symptoms (at the doctor's choice):
- Analgesics. They do not help all patients and mainly target weak sources of pain.
- Ines. Powerful pain relievers, which are taught in courses. They also have anti-inflammatory properties.
- Hormonal agents. Applied within 6 to 10 days, they include.
- Injections and blockages. Combination medications are often used in combination with glucocorticosteroids and anesthetics.
- Muscle relaxants. They help with muscle spasms as well as osteochondrosis and other disorders when there is pain in the muscles.
- Topical products. Pain relievers, warming creams, gels and patches should also be used only when indicated.
In some cases, especially in severe stages of joint or bone pathologies, several groups of drugs are used.
The doctor should prescribe medications, especially complex ones such as glucocorticosteroids or hormonal blockages. Only strict adherence to instructions and recommendations, systematic and strict administration of medications in the prescribed dosage, will help to get rid of unpleasant sensations.
Treatment characteristics depending on the type of pain
For the treatment of low back pain to be effective, it is important to consider its nature. For every disorder and illness, the pain can be of one nature or another.
Myofascial Pain Treatment
This is the name of the pain associated with muscle stretching or spasms. They thrive against the backdrop of excessive loading, improper weight lifting, as well as the wrong approach to exercise. Myofascial pain can arise from prolonged standing in an uncomfortable position when carrying bags in one hand or on the shoulder. Sometimes this symptom occurs in the context of poor posture.
With spasms, the spinal roots are violated, so the symptoms are similar to those of sciatica: burning pain in the thighs, lower legs, numbness in the limbs.
You can treat these pains with pain relievers and NSAIDs in the form of ointments, injections, pills, patches. Among the ointments, it is better to choose heating and irritating agents.
Sometimes myositis, which causes pain, is triggered by infections or toxins from worms. Next, you need to drink antibiotics or anthelmintic medications to defeat the cause of pain. Warming compresses and ointments in this case are prohibited.
Crest diseases involving nerve endings
This category of diseases includes all disorders associated with dystrophic changes and injuries, whether osteochondrosis or spondylolisthesis. Requires the following treatments:
- bed rest during seizures - you need to lie down on a hard surface, placing a small roller under your knees;
- drug treatment - most often NSAIDs are used in the form of injections;
- irritating and distracting ointments as well as pepper patches, mustard patches and iodine nets;
- mud treatment and heating as well as ozokerite are used during remission;
- spasms are relieved with vacuum massage and acupuncture.
In radicular syndrome, which is expressed by severe pain, blockade with novocaine or weak opiates, bed rest, dry or underwater traction of the lumbar spine, stimulation by electrophoresis and microcurrents should be used.
Treatment for Degenerative Inflammatory Diseases
To get rid of back and lower back pain in degenerative diseases (spondyloatrosis), bed rest is prescribed with bending the legs in a froglike position. Also, non-steroidal drugs are used, with severe pain they are injected. Muscle relaxants are used to relieve muscle tension. Patients often suffer from chronic fatigue and depression caused by pain and require antidepressant medication.
treatment of tumor diseases
Benign and malignant tumors can be very different in nature: fatty lipomas, neuromas that affect the nerves, spinal cord hemangiomas, gliomas, osteosarcomas, and chondrosarcomas. Tumor diseases require complex, long and complex treatment.
Prescription anti-cancer devices are mandatory, sometimes potent opiates are prescribed to patients. They also perform therapy for the causes of tumors, for which hormonal drugs, chemotherapy toxins, and specific drugs can be used.
Therapy for tumor diseases is one of the most difficult, requiring both patient and physician responsibility. The use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy can worsen the patient's condition for a long time. The main thing is not to give up at this point and remember that detection of tumors up to stage 2 offers a very high chance of recovery. Even with stage 3 oncology, you can count on fighting the disease successfully.
Dangers and consequences of pain
If low back pain is not treated and ignored or attempted to suppress with NSAIDs and other pain relievers, this can lead to dire consequences for the patient. Injuries are especially dangerous in this regard, as damage to the vertebrae can cause displacement, cracking, and compression fractures. Other complications can also cause severe pain:
- the formation of chronic painful sensations, which it is impossible to get rid of, even taking strong painkillers;
- spinal cord and brain diseases, extensive nervous system damage and paralysis;
- decreased sensitivity of the upper and lower extremities;
- a severe limitation of mobility;
- complication of internal organs to paresis, fecal and urinary incontinence.
When the first symptoms of low back pain appear, it is important to make a diagnosis to identify the causes of the discomfort.
Back Pain Prevention
The following prevention rules will help prevent certain illnesses and discomfort:
- moderate physical activity, daily gymnastics to strengthen the muscular corset and improve blood circulation;
- the use of hard surfaces for seating, the exclusion of constant permanence on upholstered furniture;
- if the person works for a long time sitting, he should use the furniture indicated for that;
- to prevent many diseases, a correct diet and rejection of bad habits are necessary;
- you need to transfer the weight correctly, distribute the weight in both hands and carefully, without shaking, lift a lot of weight.
Not a single person is immune to back pain. If the disease and pathological changes in the spine are detected early enough, you can get rid of them quickly and correctly.