Many patients, who have barely crossed the threshold of the doctor's office and are holding on to their lower back, ask: "Why does the lower back hurt and what medications help with this pain? "
Unfortunately, everything is not so simple, and you can choose the right method of treatment only after identifying the causes that caused the pain.
Quite a few people go through life with mild to moderate back pain and accept it as normal. But even if you've had uninterrupted mild or severe lower back tingling for a long time, you should see a therapist to diagnose the problem. Because if you do not act on time, the condition will worsen.
Although back pain is not the most serious illness, over time it causes severe pain and great discomfort.
Primary and secondary pain syndrome
The causes of lower back pain can be very different, and only after thoroughly understanding where it comes from, you can start to deal with this disease.
According to the medical classification of diseases, primary and secondary pain syndrome occurring in the lumbar region are distinguished.
The primary pain syndrome arises against the background of degenerative-dystrophic pathologies of the spine. These include osteochondrosis, in which cartilage and bone tissue are damaged, and spondylarthrosis, which affects the intervertebral or synovial joints.
Secondary pain syndromes can occur for a variety of reasons. First, the lower back hurts constantly with a curvature of the spine (scoliosis). This condition can also be observed due to metabolic disorders of bone tissue (osteoporosis or osteomalacia).
Very often the cause of pain in the lumbar region is non-infectious inflammation (ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. ).
A rather dangerous cause of back pain is a fracture of the spine.
Pain syndromes can be the result of various infectious diseases that lead to damage to the vertebrae and intervertebral discs (brucellosis, tuberculosis, epidural abscess).
The lower back hurts with acute circulatory disorders in the spine (stroke diseases) and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (obstruction, atypical acute appendicitis).
In some pathologies, back pain is reflected. This occurs when organs in the pelvic area are affected (gynecological pathologies, sexually transmitted diseases, renal colic).
When stretching the lumbar muscles, pain is often observed. The lower back hurts a lot when the lumbar discs are displaced. At the same time, the patient assumes a forced posture of the body due to severe pain and his mobility when walking is also severely restricted.
Coxarthrosis (arthrosis of the hip joint) is also often the cause of subsequent pain.
Other causes of back pain
Often, acute lumbar pain occurs due to unsuccessful movement, prolonged work in an uncomfortable position, improper lifting or carrying weights, a fall or blow, a sharp straightening up with simultaneous rotation, as well as prolonged hypothermia or drafts. All of these "accidents" can cause cramps and inflammation of the deep back muscles.
Many patients note that the lower back often hurts after sleeping. There are reasons for this too. The simplest of these is the uncomfortable position of the body in a dream. For those who like to sleep on their stomach, the muscles of the lumbar back are in constant tension, which provokes the appearance of pain. Sometimes such a painful condition is due to the fact that the bed or pillow itself does not fit the person. For this reason, experts recommend sleeping on an orthopedic mattress to completely relax your back.
Also, morning lumbar pain can be a symptom of diseases of the internal organs. So, pathologies of the circulatory, digestive and urogenital systems are accompanied by back pain.
Lower back pain as a cause of negative emotions
Few of the patients realize that the lower back is one of the most psychosomatic parts of the body and therefore very responsive to intense stress and excitement.
Anger, rage, irritability, or intense fear contribute to the release of significant doses of adrenaline into the blood. As a result - an increase in the tone of the back muscles. And in the event that there is insufficient discharge, the muscles with increased tone begin to gradually tighten. And then - spasm and pain syndrome. It should be noted that diseases of the spine are very common in people with an unstable psyche, and for such patients psychotherapy is the best method of treatment.
Lower back pain during pregnancy
Many pregnant women worry about the causes of back pain. In early pregnancy, this can be due to kidney or urinary tract disease. Also during this period, the production of progesterone increases, due to which there is an insignificant softening of the ligaments, which can cause lumbar pain.
In the second trimester of pregnancy, when the abdomen increases significantly, the load on the spine increases sharply, and therefore there are drawing pains in the lumbar back.
Severe low back pain during pregnancy can sometimes be the cause of a neurological condition (herniated disc or sciatica).
What to do if your back hurts
First of all, in the event that back pain does not go away within three days, a consultation with a neurologist is necessary. Only a specialist can develop a correct treatment strategy, which depends on the severity of the patient's condition.
As a rule, most back pain requires conservative treatment, but sometimes there are cases when it is impossible to do without surgical intervention.
When prescribing conservative treatment, there are three main goals:
- Relieve the patient of pain.
- Development of a program of therapeutic and preventive measures to slow down degenerative-dystrophic processes in the spine.
- Rapid return of the patient to normal life.
First of all, we all need to learn how to properly relax after physical exertion. To do this, you need to take a horizontal position on a hard surface and put a pillow under your knees for the best relaxation.
Patients with limited motor skills are recommended not to stay in bed for more than 2-3 days, even with pain (of course, not very severe), as this significantly weakens the paravertebral muscles. In the case of persistent pain syndrome with recurring pain in the leg, orthopedic consultation is required.
If osteochondrosis is diagnosed, complex drug treatment is prescribed with the help of drugs that relieve pain, improve blood circulation and restore nerve tissue.
Paravertebral blocks have proven to be effective in eliminating back pain. Such injections help reduce inflammation and muscle spasms, thereby reducing pain.
If a herniated disc is found, the question of an operation arises. This technique involves removing a hernia that compresses the root and creating conditions for its recovery.