It is hard to imagine a person over 30 who has never experienced discomfort and pain in the lower back.An increasing amount of time of life spent in a sitting position, in addition to the lack of physical activity, "gives us" problems with the spine.It is good when the pain is isolated, short-lived and passes quickly without leaving a trace.It is worse when the pain is increasing, unbearable and does not go away for a long time.This signal should be taken seriously.Often this is a signal from the body that it is developing a serious illness that will require attention, effort and even financial expenses.
To avoid the development of such events, you need to know about the factors and causes of those diseases that can cause the development of such pains.
We hope that our popular article will help you avoid the development of serious events for the lower back and help you maintain your ability to work for a long time.
Risk factors for low back pain
If you feel pain in the lumbar region, then you have probably exposed this part of the body to one or more of the following factors:
- Lack of physical activity for a long time;
- Excessive physical activity after a long rest;
- Prolonged sitting work;
- Errors in nutrition;
- Long-term, monotonous static load on the back, vibration;
- weight lifting;
- Professional sports (wrestling, boxing, weightlifting);
- Smoking and alcohol.
Any of these factors can be removed or its impact can be significantly reduced, which will give you the opportunity to avoid developing chronic lower back pain.
Causes of back pain
The causes of back pain are usually divided into secondary and primary.
The main causes of lower back pain
In fact, they are a pathological process that is predetermined by musculoskeletal changes.In back pain practice, they are much more common than secondary causes of back pain.As a rule, the main causes are understood as one of several degenerative-dystrophic processes:
- osteochondrosis,caused by the development of dystrophic changes in the bones and cartilaginous structures of the lumbar spine.Sometimes the process affects both intervertebral discs and adjacent vertebrae;
- Spondyloarthrosis.This pathology affects the joints that are responsible for the mobility of the spine in the lumbar region.
Secondary causes of low back pain
- Deterioration of the condition of bone structures due to metabolic disorders of the lumbar spine (osteoporosis and so on);
- Oncological processes in the vertebral or paravertebral space.Often, low back pain can cause distant metastases;
- Curvature of the spine;
- Infectious lesions of the body (tuberculosis, brucellosis);
- Inflammatory processes of a non-infectious nature (rheumatoid arthritis, Reiter's syndrome);
- Traumatic lesions of the vertebrae in the lumbar region, including fractures;
- Stomach and intestinal diseases;
- Diseases of organs and systems in the pelvis (renal colic, sexually transmitted infections, adnexitis, ureaplasmosis);
- Cerebral disorders of spinal circulation.
Causes of chronic and acute back pain
Back pain in the lumbar region can be acute or chronic.These two factors must be distinguished, since the presence of one or the other of them will determine the treatment tactics for the underlying disease.In some cases, this can even stop the development of complications and the chronicity of the disease (its transition into a chronic form).
Causes of chronic low back pain
- Bechterew's disease (ankylosing spondylitis);
- Spondylosis deformans.Often its symptom is a monotonous aching pain;
- Tumors and their metastases.Carrying out differential diagnosis to exclude oncological processes from the list of causes that caused chronic low back pain is carried out with the exception of lymphoma, multiple myeloma, cancerous lesions of the body of various localizations;
- Oncological formations of the spinal cord (located directly in the spinal cord and in the space between the dura mater and the spinal cord);
- Osteomyelitis.Often its symptom is annoying pain in the lumbar region;
- In addition, tuberculin tests may be prescribed to exclude the causative agent of tuberculosis in the patient (exclusion of spinal tuberculosis).
To clarify the diagnosis, additional studies can be carried out in the form of radiography, myelography and biopsy.
Causes of acute back pain
- Disruption or stretching of the muscle mass along the lumbar spine;
- Fractures of the spine;
- Intervertebral disc displacement;
- Facet syndromes (damage of the nerve root in places where it is not anatomically covered by the bone structure of the spine);
- Epidural abscess;
- Coxarthrosis (a rare pathology characterized by severe pain).As such, coxarthrosis does not cause low back pain, but causes excruciating pain that radiates down the leg.
Back pain treatment
The appearance of back pain, regardless of its location or intensity, should be a reason to seek qualified medical help.The high intensity of the pain syndrome should be a reason to call a doctor at home or seek an ambulance.
The best solution would be to carry out a course of treatment in a hospital setting.
Pain in the lower back can have a number of causes, often not related to spinal cord injury and therefore, to distinguish such causes, you may need the help of specialists such as:
- gynecologist;
- gastroenterologist;
- specialist in infectious diseases;
- pulmonologist;
- urologist;
- nephrologist;
- cardiologist and proctologist.
It is important to remember that getting advice from a professional doctor as soon as possible will help you avoid developing complications.You should not self-medicate, and use folk remedies for lower back pain only on the recommendation of a surgeon, orthopedist or vertebrologist.