There is probably no person who has never had lower back pain.In addition, discomfort can manifest itself at any age, regardless of gender, work activity and other factors.
Back pain in the lumbar region, the nature and causes of which vary, significantly complicates life.Ignoring the obvious symptoms of 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 the pathology of the spine and the entire musculoskeletal system.The muscles, ligaments, and tendons go through many changes that cause a person's back pain.
Secondary discomfort is not directly related to the lumbar region.In general, its development is influenced by indirect pathologies.
Depending on the cause of occurrence, lower back pain varies in different ways.The discomfort can be acute and sharp, or vice versa, painful and dull.The nature of each option needs to be understood in more detail.
Sharp and sharp pain
It cannot be considered an independent pathology.Acute lower back pain is typically a sign of some disease.They are most often encountered after the age of 30.
Severe back pain can occur for many reasons.One is hypothermia of the specified area.Muscles weaken and are easily susceptible to negative effects.Pain in the lower back hinders movement and deprives the patient of movement.You can hardly do anything alone if your back hurts badly.It would be the right thing to call a professional.
The suddenness can be caused by several reasons:
- Intervertebral hernia.
- Sedentary lifestyle.
- Excessive loads.
- Injury.
What to do if there is a sharp pain in the lower back?The best solution is to consult a doctor.If this cannot be done immediately, the symptoms of inflammation should be alleviated with medication.
Dull and aching pain
The causes of aching pain in the lower back are varied.To determine these, a full examination of the body will be necessary.The accuracy of the diagnosis depends on many signs.Here are the main ones:
- A place where discomfort is concentrated.
- Age of the patient.
- The patient's diet.
- The presence of bad habits (smoking, alcohol addiction, etc.).
- The patient's body weight.
Throbbing pain in the lower back is common in women of reproductive age.Lower back strain occurs for the following reasons:
- Fatigue.Reducing physical activity will help ease the discomfort.Warming the problem area with a heating pad or ointments has a positive effect.
- Pregnancy.A special bandage will help the woman, reducing the load.
- Menstruation.Medicines help relieve the situation and relieve dull pain.
- Incorrect posture, osteochondrosis, osteoporosis.
- Intervertebral hernia, arthrosis.
- Pathologies of the urogenital system.
- Radiculitis.
- Any injury.
To understand why your back hurts, you need to do 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) helps determine the root cause of the aching pain.
Causes of illness in women
In addition to the general reasons, there are many reasons that apply only to representatives of the fairer sex.
This may include:
- Pregnancy.
- Problems in Gynecology.
- Menstruation.
- Mechanical abortion.
Women usually do not know what to do when they experience back pain due to severe shock or unnecessary worries.The situation can only be improved with psychological therapy.
Problems in Gynecology
The presence of gynecological diseases in a woman often becomes the starting point for the development of pain.
Problems can include:
- Inflammation of the external genitalia (vulvitis).
- Tumor of any node of the urogenital system.
- Adnexitis (in other words, inflammation of the appendages).
- Myoma.
Symptoms of the pathology are as follows:
- Presence of copious discharge.
- Infection, the foci of which 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 pregnancy period of a woman's body does not pass without a trace.In the last trimester of pregnancy, the load on the bones of the spine increases significantly, which can be explained by the 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.Lower back pain usually goes away after the baby is born.
Menstruation
Such a familiar phenomenon can be associated with lower back pain for a woman.
This is explained by the following factors:
- The 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 caused by hormonal changes and imbalances.With the onset of menopause, a woman's bones become brittle and fragile, which is characteristic of osteoporosis.
Abortion
The mechanical interruption of pregnancy does not go away without a trace either, it means serious stress for the body.During the contraction of the uterus, 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 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 feels discomfort in the lower back.
- In other words, epididymitis is an inflammatory process in the epididymis.As such, the back does not hurt, but sometimes discomfort occurs.
- Oncology of the urogenital system.It often affects men of pre-retirement age (over 50).
- Bodybuilding, bodybuilding.
- Injuries of the muscular system.Pain in the lumbar region is caused by the stretching of the latissimus muscle.
Professional activity plays an important role in identifying the cause of lower back pain.
Causes of illness in children
Children's pathology develops due to the following factors:
- Spinal hernia.
- Incorrect posture.
Usually the reason for the latter is flat feet.Although choosing a comfortable briefcase and the right shoes is also important.
Please note: in the early stages, the child's spinal curvature can be corrected.Physiotherapy helps a lot in this.
Relationship with diseases
The above classification is not the only one.The pain can be intermittent or constant.
In the first case, malaise is directly related to factors such as:
- Excessive physical activity.
- Aggravation of existing diseases.
- Some features of physiology.
Intermittent pain subsides when the symptoms of the underlying pathology subside.
Severe changes in deep blood vessels and injuries to the musculoskeletal system can cause lasting discomfort.The treatment alleviates the situation somewhat, but does not completely resolve it.
Spinal diseases
The causes of constant pain in the lumbar region are:
- The curvature of the spine.The disease is characterized by deformation of the skeleton, poor posture, and a hump appearing in the rib region.Sometimes scoliosis is asymptomatic for quite a long time.
- Intervertebral osteochondrosis of the lumbar region.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).Acute pain typically occurs in men who exercise excessively.Lack of proper treatment has irreversible consequences.
- Spondylosis.The joint apparatus of the lumbar region ages, thins and loses its mobility.This process is completely natural.
- Inflammation of all bone tissue nodes (osteomyelitis).The nature of the process is infectious.
- Osteoporosis (increased bone fragility).It is usually diagnosed in children and women during menopause.
- Thrombophlebitis, phlebothrombosis.The blood flow in the deep veins is completely or partially stopped.This causes 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 observed in women.The cause of the pathology is problems with the immune system.
- Arteriosclerosis in the last stage.It is often diagnosed in older men.
Some people have different lengths of lower limbs.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 diseases is not only influenced by spine problems.
Pain syndrome is manifested in the following diseases:
- Inflammation of the appendix.A person is bothered by an unpleasant feeling in the lower right abdomen, sometimes the pain radiates to the back.
- Cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder wall).
- 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 shingles-like pain syndrome.Symptoms of the disease include vomiting, bowel problems (diarrhea or constipation), a coating on the tongue and nausea.Low back pain is not diagnosed by palpation.
- Kidney 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 a rise in body temperature and general malaise.
- A tumor growing along nerve fibers in the lumbar region.
Overweight and obesity also cause discomfort.The pain occurs due to overuse of the lower back.
Additional symptoms
To determine why the lower back hurts, you need to consider all possible signs of the disease.
Here they are:
- Sprains are accompanied by painful spasms, and the movement of the damaged muscles is limited.The discomfort sometimes extends to the back of the lower limbs and the gluteal region.
- Numbness of the limbs occurs when the nerve roots of the lower back are damaged.
- Pupil dilation.
- Excessive sweating.
- Increased heart rate.
- Fever.
If lower back pain is the result of some pathology, the symptoms appear gradually.
Diagnosis of the problem
What to do if your back hurts?First of all, a full examination should be performed on the patient.
Diagnosis is based on procedures such as:
- Analysis of urine and blood in the laboratory.Biochemistry will also be required.
- Ultrasound examination of the heart and internal organs of the abdominal cavity.This is relevant if renal or gastrointestinal pathologies are suspected.
- X-ray of the lumbar region.
- CT AND MRI.With their help, you can determine the cause of the pain.
- Dopplerography (vascular examination).
The implementation of all these activities makes it possible to create a catalyst for the development of pathology and to determine the methods of its elimination.
Treatment
Getting rid of pathology should be comprehensive and can be done in several ways.
To avoid worsening the situation, you should not:
- Warm up the lumbar region.
- Take medications at your own discretion.
- Adjust the vertebrae yourself, consult a chiropractor.
Please note: without identifying the root cause of the discomfort, self-medication is dangerous.
Physiotherapy and massage
Lower back pain can be treated with physical therapy.
If the patient cannot move due to severe pain, the following is shown:
- Massage.It can be used 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 skeletal system and relieve muscle tension.
Medicines
If the patient feels pain in the lumbar region after any physical activity, drug therapy is recommended.
The following groups of drugs help alleviate the condition and relieve pain:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
- Muscle relaxants.
- Narcotic pain reliever.
- Corticosteroids.
- Chondroprotectors.
Topical use of ointments is allowed.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, you can treat lower back pain with traditional methods.
The following recipes can be used:
- Grind the head of garlic, add a little vaseline and 1 tsp.lemon juice.Apply the resulting ointment to the inflamed areas.
- Take a bath with mustard (200 grams of powder).Afterwards, rinse your body with clean water, dry yourself and dress warmly.
- If it hurts to walk, make a horseradish poultice.Grate it (you can replace it with radishes), add the sour cream and place it on a thin cloth.Apply to the painful area, secure and wrap.
The dose of taking folk remedies or medicines must be prescribed by the attending physician.
You can heal the lower back with an alcohol tincture of eucalyptus.The inflamed area should be thoroughly rubbed.
Preventive measures
The heaviness of the lower back can be prevented by prevention.
For this you need:
- Exercise regularly.
- Control your posture.
- Strengthen your immune system, exercise, give up bad habits.
- Do annual inspections.
- Drink at least 1.5 liters of water regularly.
Remember that even nervous shocks and experiences can provoke the development of diseases.It is important not to self-medicate, but to consult competent professionals.The time spent on unskilled therapy can sometimes be decisive.