There is probably no one who has never had lower back pain.In addition, discomfort can manifest itself at any age, regardless of gender, professional activity and other factors.
Back pain in the lumbar region, of various nature and causes, makes life much more difficult.Neglecting the obvious symptoms of pathology can aggravate the situation.
Types of pain syndrome
The main classification of pain syndrome is:
- Primary.
- Secondary.
The first option is characterized by pathology of the spine and the entire musculoskeletal system.Muscles, ligaments and tendons undergo a number of changes, leading to back pain.
Discomfort of a secondary nature is not directly related to the lumbar region.Its development is generally influenced by indirect pathologies.
Depending on the cause of the appearance, lower back pain varies in different ways.The discomfort can be sharp and sharp, or vice versa, painful and dull.It is necessary to understand in more detail the nature of each of the options.
Sharp, sharp pain
It cannot be considered as an independent pathology.Typically, acute lower back pain is a sign of illness.Most often, we meet them after 30 years.
Severe lower back pain can occur for several reasons.One of them is hypothermia of the specified area.Muscles become weak and are easily susceptible to negative effects.Lower back pain hinders movement, depriving the patient of mobility.It is hardly possible to do anything on your own if your back hurts a lot.The right thing to do would be to call a specialist.
Breakups can be caused by several reasons:
- Intervertebral hernia.
- Sedentary lifestyle.
- Excessive loads.
- Injury.
What to do if you have acute lower back pain?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 aching lower back pain 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.).
- The patient's body weight.
Shooting pain in the lower back often occurs in women of childbearing age.There is a pull in the lower back for 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 aid of the woman, reducing the load.
- Menstruation.Medications will help alleviate the situation and relieve dull pain.
- Bad posture, osteochondrosis, osteoporosis.
- Intervertebral hernia, osteoarthritis.
- Pathologies of the genitourinary system.
- Radiculitis.
- Any injury.
To understand why your lower back hurts, you should conduct a little experiment.The patient should stand with his back straight and lean against the wall.Then, slowly lower your chin, pressing it against your chest.The resulting pain or throbbing on any side (top, bottom, side) will help determine the root cause of the aching pain.
Causes of illness in women
In addition to general reasons, there are a number of reasons that apply only to the fairer sex.
This may include:
- Pregnancy.
- Problems in gynecology.
- Rules.
- 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 be improved through psychological therapy.
Problems in gynecology
The presence of gynecological diseases in a woman often becomes the starting point for the development of pain.
Problems may include:
- Inflammation of the external genitalia (vulvitis).
- Tumor of all nodes of the genitourinary system.
- Adnexitis (i.e. inflammation of the appendages).
- Myoma.
The symptoms of the pathology are as follows:
- The presence of abundant discharge.
- An 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 spinal bones increases significantly, which is explained by an increase in the size and weight of the fetus.
Due to its physiological structure, it is the lumbar spine that suffers the most.Lower back pain is natural and quite noticeable.Typically, lower back pain disappears after the baby is born.
Menstruation
Such a phenomenon familiar to a woman can be accompanied by pain in the lower back.
This is explained by the following factors:
- Release of the follicle from the ovary.
- Enlargement of the uterus.
- Pathologies of the reproductive system.
In addition, 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
Mechanical termination of pregnancy also does not pass without a trace, constituting significant stress for the body.When the uterus contracts, an inflammatory process begins.The latter focuses on the internal surface of the organ.
Please note: women are more prone to lower back pain than men.
Causes of disease in men
Men, like women, suffer from lower back pain.
The most obvious reasons are:
- Prostatitis.At first it only hurts the anus.As the intoxication progresses, the patient begins to feel discomfort in the lower back.
- In other words, epididymitis is an inflammatory process of 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).
- Bodybuilding, bodybuilding.
- Injuries to the muscular system.Pain in the lumbar region is caused by tension in the latissimus dorsi muscle.
Professional activity plays an important role in identifying the cause of lower back pain.
Causes of illness in children
Pathology in children develops due to the following factors:
- Spinal hernia.
- Bad posture.
The latter phenomenon is generally due to flat feet.Although choosing a comfortable briefcase and suitable shoes 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.
Link to diseases
The above classification is not the only one.The pain may be periodic or constant.
In the first case, discomfort is directly linked to factors such as:
- Excessive physical activity.
- Exacerbation of existing diseases.
- Some characteristics of physiology.
Periodic pain disappears when the symptoms of the underlying pathology are relieved.
Severe damage to deep vessels and injuries to the musculoskeletal system can cause permanent discomfort.Treatment alleviates the situation somewhat, but does not completely resolve it.
Spinal diseases
The causes of constant pain in the lumbar region are:
- 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 remains asymptomatic for a fairly long period of time.
- 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 protrusion, sciatica, radiculitis of the lumbar region and intervertebral disc herniation.
- Destructive changes in the vertebrae.They cause lumbago (lumbago).Typically, sharp pain occurs in men who exercise excessively.Lack of appropriate treatment leads to irreversible consequences.
- Spondylosis.The joint apparatus of the lumbar region ages, becomes thinner and loses its mobility.This process is completely natural.
- Inflammation of all the lymph nodes in the bone tissue (osteomyelitis).The nature of the process is contagious.
- Osteoporosis (increased bone fragility).Usually diagnosed in children and women during menopause.
- Thrombophlebitis, phlebothrombosis.In deep veins, blood flow completely or partially stops.This leads to pain after a long walk.
- Rheumatoid arthritis.Chronic inflammation begins in the joints of the lumbar region, affecting the muscles, cartilage and ligaments.This systemic disease is often seen in women.The cause of the pathology is a problem with the immune system.
- Late stage atherosclerosis.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 right lower 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.Usually the result of surgery.
- Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).The pathology is accompanied by a painful shingles-type syndrome.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.
- Renal pathologies.
- Tuberculosis of 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 malaise.
- Tumor of the lumbar region, developing along nerve fibers.
Excess weight and obesity also cause discomfort.The pain is due to excessive stress 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 the damaged muscles are limited in their movements.The discomfort sometimes extends to the back of the lower limbs and the gluteal region.
- Limb numbness occurs if the nerve roots in the lower back have been injured.
- Pupil dilation.
- Excessive sweating.
- Increased heart rate.
- Fever.
If lower back pain is the result of a pathology, the symptoms will appear gradually.
Diagnosing the problem
What to do if you have lower back pain?First of all, it is necessary to conduct a complete examination of the patient.
Diagnosis is based on procedures such as:
- Laboratory analysis of urine and blood.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 their help, you can determine the cause of the pain.
- Dopplerography (vascular examination).
Carrying out all of these activities makes it possible to establish a catalyst for the development of the pathology and to determine the methods of its elimination.
Treatment
Elimination of pathology must be comprehensive and can be achieved in different ways.
To avoid making the situation worse, you should not:
- Heat the lumbar region.
- Take your medications at your own discretion.
- Adjust the vertebrae yourself, contact a chiropractor.
Warning: without identifying the root cause of the discomfort, self-medication is dangerous.
Physiotherapy and massage
Treatment of lower back pain is possible through physiotherapy.
If the patient cannot move due to severe pain, he is shown:
- Massages.Applicable if the patient is bothered by lower back pain or has difficulty bending.
- Mud therapy.
- Paraffin applications.
- Therapeutic gymnastics.
Sometimes acupuncture and manual therapy are beneficial.They strengthen the bone system, relieving muscle tension.
Drugs
If a patient feels pain in the lumbar region after physical activity, drug treatment is indicated.
The following groups of drugs will help alleviate the disease and relieve pain:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
- Muscle relaxers.
- Narcotic analgesic.
- Corticosteroids.
- Chondroprotectors.
It is allowed to use ointments locally.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
With medication, you can treat lower back pain using traditional methods.
The following recipes are applicable:
- Grind the head of garlic, add a little petroleum jelly and 1 tsp.lemon juice.Apply the resulting ointment to the inflamed areas.
- Take a bath 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 (can be replaced with radish), add 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 should be prescribed by your attending physician.
You can treat your lower back with alcoholic tincture of eucalyptus.You will need to scrub the inflamed area carefully.
Preventive measures
Heaviness in the lower back can be avoided through prevention.
To do this you need:
- Do gymnastics regularly.
- Control your posture.
- Strengthen your immune system, exercise, give up bad habits.
- Get annual exams.
- Drink at least 1.5 liters of water regularly.
Remember that even nervous shocks and experiences can provoke the development of a disease.It is important not to start self-medication, but to turn to competent specialists.Time spent on unskilled therapy can sometimes be decisive.