Low back pain

Back pain in the lumbar region the need to consult a doctor

Discomfort in this area is familiar to almost everyone. People experience it at a young age, and between the ages of 30 and 40, low back pain becomes common.

However, only a specialist can determine why the lower back can hurt so much that it is impossible to straighten up, even lying down hurts and the pain shoots up in the lower back after each movement.

Many reasons can cause severe lower back pain.

Causes

People want to know why and why the lower back hurts so much when sitting or standing, with any movement the spine behind the back produces pain, why you cannot straighten up after sitting in a chair, and what to do with these. symptoms, how and what to treat, that caused you discomfort. It is impossible to answer these questions unequivocally and without thorough investigation, because there may be many root causes.

Spinal diseases

When a person complains "I can't sit down and it hurts to walk", his lower back hurts when standing or sitting in a chair, he often cannot walk or stand for a long time, it is impossible to relax sitting for a long time. per month, the cause of this is spinal diseases.

In addition, pathologies can be congenital or acquired due to improper lifestyle, predisposition or injury.

Common causes of pain in spinal diseases:

  • Congenital anomalies.
  • Poor blood circulation in the spinal cord.
  • Degenerative changes.
  • Damage to secondary nerves that develops against the background of changes in the position of the bones of the spine.

Deformation

Before deciding how to quickly and effectively treat lower back pain, you need to understand why, when getting up from a sitting position, your back hurts so much that it is difficult for you to straighten up. Acquired or congenital deformities of the spine are usually to blame.

Low back pain due to spinal deformity such as scoliosis.

Curvature occurs throughout life. Often, a person himself causes changes in himself, not taking care of his posture or preferring to sleep in a soft bed. As a result, the load on the bones, muscles and ligaments is not distributed physiologically, causing pain.

People with established diagnoses will have to experience regular attacks:

  1. Kyphosis.
  2. Scoliosis.
  3. Lordosis.
  4. Flat back syndrome.

In this case, it may be useful to strictly follow the doctor's recommendations. Even if a person is born with such pathologies, today it is possible to stop development and live a full life.

Osteoporosis

Aching, pulling pain that radiates into the chest may be the only sign of developed osteoporosis. At the same time, unpleasant sensations are weak and appear irregularly. More often, discomfort is felt after intense physical exertion or when the weather changes.

Osteoporosis is one of the causes of low back pain.

Even if the disease was not congenital, it can develop during life as a secondary disease after a series of negative influences, including poisoning and improper use of medications.

A pathological fracture is considered dangerous. It is accompanied by more intense pain than usual. At the same time, since no injury as such has occurred and does not interfere with movement, it often remains undiagnosed. Which after a while can cause additional complications.

The question of how to quickly cure lower back pain is relevant for people with osteoporosis, because in their case unpleasant attacks can be easily and quickly stopped.

Injuries

When you think about why, when I sit or stand for a long time, my lower back constantly hurts in the spinal area, often below the lower back, try to remember if you hit this place.

Even a minor bump or fall can cause serious injuries that may not be easily detected at first glance.The most common causes of traumatic back pain:

  • Contusion of the spine.You can easily get it by falling unsuccessfully or crashing into your back. It manifests itself as mild pain, sometimes the formation of swelling or bruising at the site of impact. Most of the time it does not require special treatment. However, in severe cases it can cause neurological symptoms.
  • Compression fracture.More often it occurs with a sharp, forced bending of the torso. Later it manifests as intense pain when moving. Acute processes of the vertebrae can be felt locally.
  • Vertebral subluxationIt manifests itself not only with pain and swelling, but also with frequent numbness at the site of the injury. The lower extremities also gradually begin to go numb.
Various back injuries cause pain in the lumbar region

It is extremely important to be very careful with impacts and falls in the spinal area. Due to mild pain, it is easy to miss serious damage, which will subsequently lead to greater restrictions in life.



Infections

The cause of chronic intense burning pain that constantly aches, stabs, grabs and does not go away in the lower back and lower back may be infections.

There are pathologies that affect the spine. Without treatment, these diseases will quickly turn a person into a disabled person. Spread of infection:

  1. OsteomyelitisIt can enter the body through an injury, during surgery, or through contact with another infected person. The infection causes sharp, severe pain that occurs with every sudden movement. In this case, the chronic course of the infection is characterized by softened manifestations of pain. Additionally, the person suffers from intoxication, chills and fever.
  2. epidural abscessIt leads to intense pain, combined with chills and intense muscle tension.
  3. Tuberculosis of the spine.It develops slowly but inevitably. At first it manifests itself only as periodic pain after physical exertion and stiffness when walking. As bones deteriorate, pain increases and the ability to fully move decreases.

Local inflammation

Low back pain caused by local inflammation.

In addition to the constant spread of unpleasant sensations, sometimes people experience shooting pains in the lower back, in the lower back, when sitting, what it could be and what it is called is determined by a specialist based on the results of examinations and evidence. The cause is local inflammation.

Boils, carbuncles, and paranephritis are easy to recognize. The first two phenomena are lumps on the skin that react painfully to touch. In the case of paranephritis, fever appears first and on days 2-3, severe pain develops, preventing full movement and walking. The condition is considered serious and requires hospitalization.

Infectious diseases

Sometimes the explanation why the lower back can hurt is that it constantly digs into it, grabs when you stand for a long time, and sometimes the back starts to hurt as if it will soon fall, and the decision about what to do and what. treat can be infectious diseases.

Doctors say infectious diseases are the cause of low back pain

Increased temperature, intoxication, the need to find a more comfortable position, pain in muscles and joints - these are signs of an infected person. It often occurs in severe cases of ARVI or influenza.

Similar symptoms may also indicate infection:

  • Ebola fever.
  • Human-type foot-and-mouth disease.
  • Severe course of the coronavirus.
  • Generalized forms of viral or fungal infections.

If such signs appear, you should immediately consult a doctor, as the condition can worsen within hours.

muscle damage

To find out why the lower back hurts and pulls, why it squeezes the back in the spinal area, why when you sneeze it radiates to the back, which began to hurt much more often, it is necessary to establish the cause first. decide what to do.

In addition to problems directly with the spine, muscle damage can also affect a person. This problem is usually encountered by professional athletes, people who do a lot of strength training or who do physical work. After excessive tension for several days, painful sensations arise in the lumbar muscles, which disappear under the influence of medications, hot ointments and massage.Lower back pain due to tension in the back muscles.


However, there are also chronic changes in muscle tissue, which often occur against the background of serious diseases and are their consequence. If they are detected, complex therapy is carried out, sometimes even surgical intervention is required.


types of pain

To understand what helps with lower back pain and how to get rid of it, it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristics of the symptom.

If the unpleasant sensations arose suddenly and recently, then the phase is called acute, and if you suffer for more than 3 months, it is called chronic.

Depending on the intensity and variety of sensations, there are:

  • Mechanic.It occurs after intense physical activity, often in the afternoon, along with a feeling of fatigue. It heals easily with rest. In most cases, this is a result of the degradation of the bone structures of the spine or its pronounced curvature.
  • Inflammatory.It intensifies after rest, a period of immobility. After a while, it weakens due to constant movement or taking anti-inflammatory pain relievers.
  • Local.Result of direct damage to muscles, joints or ligaments. Focuses directly on the point of damage.
  • Koreshkovaya.It appears when the nerves are pinched due to injury, tumors, or hernias. Simultaneously with the appearance of pain, the sensitivity of the injury site decreases.
  • Reflection.The most dangerous type because he deceives people. The patient thinks that he has lower back pain, but in reality these are reflex sensations that arise due to a disease of the internal organs.
  • Myofascial.A protective mechanism, as appears due to muscle spasm when bones are damaged.

Depending on the description of the sensations, the doctor will be able to understand in the first minutes what kind of illness the person who contacts him has.

Which doctor should I contact?

If you have lower back pain, you should consult a general practitioner or neurologist.

As soon as an unpleasant prick appears in the lower back, constant pain or discomfort, the question arises of consulting a doctor.

Since this part of the body is specific due to the fact that there are not only the spine and muscles, but also a large number of internal organs, which can also cause discomfort if the disease develops, it is not recommended to treat it at home. Due to the inability to determine the source of the pain, the situation may worsen.

Initially, it is better to consult a family doctor with such symptoms. Depending on the symptoms that appear, the characteristics of the pain and the location of the injury, you will be able to determine which specialist should address the problem.You may be referred to:

  1. Neurologist.
  2. To the surgeon.
  3. Urologist or gynecologist.
  4. Nephrologist.

After the examination, they will prescribe the necessary tests to determine the exact cause of the discomfort.

If you decide to go to a specialist on your own without first consulting a therapist, you risk making an inaccurate diagnosis and wasting valuable time.

Diagnosis

A CT scan or MRI will help doctors determine the cause of low back pain

Very often, patients come to the doctor when hellish pain appears in the back, so intense that it hurts to get up and walk, without even straightening up, why it hurts in the center or lower back, what can bother you in the spine. , what causes the condition, what to do and what treatment for low back pain.

Diagnosis:

  • Patient interviewcollection of data on signs and time of development of the disease. It is also important to know your medical history and identify chronic diseases that may influence the development of attacks.
  • Neurological examination.The doctor checks whether reflexes are preserved, to what extent muscle strength and reaction speed are affected, and to what extent movement is limited. Additionally, the degree of superficial and deep sensitivity is examined.
  • X-ray of the affected area of the back.The image will show the injuries received, a pathological decrease in the intervertebral space, curvature and the appearance of degenerative processes. New growths are also detected.
  • CT scan or MRIIt is used to clarify the data obtained. They help determine the location of even small hernias or processes in the spine, help to understand where the pinched nerves are located and why this happened.
  • Functional studiesThey are aimed at determining the state of the muscles and the degree of damage to the nervous tissue, the speed of passage of the nerve impulse.
  • Lab tests.It is necessary to take a blood sample to determine if the inflammation is infectious in nature.

Additionally, depending on indications, an X-ray of the internal organs located near the painful area may be prescribed. This is done to prevent exacerbations of chronic diseases of the kidneys, gastrointestinal tract or genitourinary system.

Treatment

It is extremely important to correctly provide first aid to the patient and transport him to a medical facility without additional injuries. In case of an attack, place the person on something hard or lighten the load on the back and then take him to the hospital.

How and with what to treat the back and what to do when the back in the middle of the spine is very severe and constantly hurts in the lumbar region, the lower back, the doctor decides only after finding out the reasons why this happened, the Treatment in this case is prescribed both conservatively and in the form of surgical intervention.

Before the examination, the use of medications to suppress symptomatic pain is not recommended, only a single dose of analgesics is allowed.

After examination and diagnostic measures, the doctor will prescribe appropriate and complex treatment for back diseases.Therapy includes:

  1. Taking medicines.
  2. Physiotherapy.
  3. Use of external medications.
  4. Changes in lifestyle.

In difficult cases, surgical intervention is also performed.

Several types of medications are used to treat back pain:

  • NSAIDs are analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs.At the first visit it can be administered by injection, in the future doctors recommend a combination of tablets and ointments with a similar effect.
  • local anestheticsIt is used to create a blockage in cases where the pain becomes unbearable.
  • B vitaminsenhance the effect of other medications, stimulate better blood supply to the affected area of the back.
  • Physiotherapyperformed after relief of acute pain. As soon as the attack ends, a special therapy is selected that has a positive effect on the condition of the spine. Additionally, a series of physiotherapy exercises are prescribed.
Intervertebral hernia in the lumbar spine is a reason to undergo surgery

Surgical intervention is an undesirable option to develop the situation. Since the spine is one of the most complex organs in the human body. Near it there are many points that affect the functioning of the body, so doctors try to carry out as little surgical intervention as possible. However, there are desperate situations when it is impossible to restore health without a surgeon's scalpel.

Surgical intervention required:

  • In case of tumor formation.They are eliminated regardless of their benignity or malignancy, since a gradual increase causes severe pain and can lead to the appearance of paralysis.
  • intervertebral hernias,gradually destroying the space around them. They are the culprits of constant and endless pain.
  • Narrowing of the intervertebral canal.
  • Instability of the spinal elements.Serious injuries that require additional fixation of bones in place.

After a treatment or surgery, the patient must be prepared for the fact that there is still a lot to do to finally say goodbye to pain.

Rehabilitation

Therapeutic exercise is one of the components of low back pain rehabilitation.

Depending on the reasons why the spine hurts in the lumbar region and the intensity of the pain, treatment is prescribed. However, taking medication and possible surgery is not all that is needed to return to a full and healthy life.

More often, additional rehabilitation includes physiotherapy procedures.Frequent quotes:

  1. Massage.Also, it is not recommended to choose this procedure yourself.
  2. physiotherapy course,which is performed under the supervision of an experienced trainer who knows at what speed and intensity the exercises should be performed. It is also possible to use specialized simulators.
  3. Manual therapy.
  4. Acupuncture.
  5. Physiotherapy,aimed at the additional use of analgesics: electrophoresis, magnetotherapy, laser treatment.

Deciding how to treat severe, acute or painful back pain in the lumbar region, the doctor determines what to do if the spine hurts and constantly hurts, the muscles are stiff and stiff, depending on the reasons, additional treatment is prescribed. In which a course of restorative procedures is also prescribed in detail that will help improve well-being and return to a healthy state. Patients should be prepared that the rehabilitation period may last more than a month if the nerve endings or vertebrae are severely damaged.

Consequences

The consequence of ignoring lower back pain can be a herniated disc.

If, turning to your friends with a complaint: "If your lower back suddenly hurts for no reason, your back falls, what to do in such a situation? " in response you only hear a suggestion to take a pain reliever, do not hesitate to follow this advice.

The main consequences of untreated spinal diseases:

  • Greater spread of pain.intensification of attacks due to the fact that more healthy tissue will suffer from a gradually expanding problem area.
  • A sharp deterioration in the functioning of the cardiovascular system.And problems in this area can lead to the development of chronic diseases of any organ, including deterioration of brain function.
  • In the worst case it is possibletemporary or permanent paralysis of the extremities.

In addition, self-medication without preliminary diagnosis and medical prescription can lead to a deterioration in well-being. And subsequently, the course of treatment and recovery will be long and complex.

Prevention

Physical activity can help prevent lower back pain

The main medical direction that helps maintain health and avoid unpleasant days when you will be deprived of the opportunity to live a full life is prevention. It will help avoid inflammation or the appearance of many lower back diseases.

You must comply with several rules and tips:

  1. Choose a medium firm mattress for the bedroom.
  2. If you move little during the day, but sit at the computer a lot, then take a break for a few minutes every hour to do a short warm-up of the lumbar spine.
  3. Give up bad habits.
  4. Try not to make sudden and reckless body movements.
  5. Exercise regularly. Even a small 15-minute exercise in the morning already has a positive effect on the condition of the spine. After 30, it is best to look for a hobby that allows you to do the physical activity you need, with little chance of injury. Consider doing yoga or swimming in the pool to stay fit.
  6. Control your posture.
  7. Avoid severe hypothermia in the lower back.
  8. Timely treat detected diseases.
  9. Get regular preventive checkups.
  10. If you feel pain in your back, contact the clinic immediately for a consultation.

Painful sensations in the spine are one of the most unpleasant. In addition to direct pain, they also bring with them stiffness in movements, which prevents them from leading a full and normal life.

The sooner professional treatment for back problems begins, the sooner a person can return to a full life. And neglecting your health in this case can lead to disability.