What to do if your lower back hurts

Low back pain is a common phenomenon that occurs regardless of age but is more common in adults. There can be many reasons - from physiological factors to disease. Sometimes the back pain appears briefly and goes away quickly. However, pain in the lumbar region can be a sign of a serious illness and in these cases a doctor should be consulted urgently.

Causes

There are many causes of acute low back pain, strictly unique to each patient. The most important of these are diseases and changes in the spine that can have irreversible consequences.

Major (most common)

The most common reasons are:

1. Osteochondrosis. The awkward movement puts pressure on the roots of the nerve trunk of the spinal cord. Burning and whining don’t stop during the day if you lift something heavy, just hellish pain in your lower back.
2. Herniated disc. Usually, the hernia is localized in the lower back, and any sudden movement of the trunk results in compression of the nerve roots.
3. Radiculitis. In lumbosacral radiculitis, shooting pain syndrome occurs. It provokes weight lifting or unsuccessful movements. Sharp pain restricts the patient’s movement so much that he is unable to straighten up and remains in the same position as when the attack occurred.
4. Vertebral displacement. This problem is characterized by lower back pain and slightly lower stiffness. This pathology is accompanied by disorders of urination and bowel function.
5. Facet Syndrome. When the surfaces of the intervertebral plates extend both above and below, the intervertebral foramen decreases. In this case, unpleasant feelings occur that suddenly occur and occur several times a month. Leaning back, the patient experiences discomfort in his back.
6. Epidural abscess. The accumulation of pus in the spinal cord is due to infectious diseases of the urinary tract. In addition to pain, fever, weakness, and fever also occur.

These causes - the consequences of diseases of the spinal cord.

The lower back can get sick because the length of the legs is 2-3 cm different. One can have difficulty moving, the back hurts due to the constant curvature of the spine.

Overload and physical fatigue

In addition to severe illness, severe pain in the lumbar spine is also due to high overload and a sharp forward tilt of the trunk. This problem also occurs when the temperature effect on the body is violated. Sources of these pains:

1. Muscle tension. The worsening of lumbar muscle stretching is due to physical overload. Squeezing muscles causes pain and reduces mobility. This problem occurs in athletes and people who work intensively.
2. Neuralgia. Back hypothermia leads to neuralgia - irritation or nerve compression. The pathology manifests itself in different ways: sometimes in the form of seizures, accompanied by redness of the affected area, tremors, tissue edema, and severe sweating.
3. Myositis. Lumbar pain and discomfort begin at night, with a sudden rise after changes in weather conditions, hypothermia, and overload.

Frequent colds, decreased immunity, spinal cord injury after a blow or fall, both fresh and old can cause an attack.

Disorders of the internal organs

Sometimes it hurts in the lumbar zone due to damage to other organs: heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, gallbladder. During inhalation, the lumbar region pain syndrome differs along all neural channels. The causes of this pathology are often as follows:

1. Pyelonephritis. Infectious inflammation of the kidneys and urinary tract. Usually the pain is dull, but the attacks are accompanied by chills, weakness, nausea and vomiting, fever.
2. Urolithiasis. The problem suddenly manifests itself as sharp pain that becomes unbearable with long walks and hard work. The attack is accompanied by nausea, vomiting and blood in the urine.
3. Ectopic pregnancy. If a miscarriage occurs when the fallopian tube ruptures, there is shooting pain that radiates to the groin and rectum. The rupture is associated with loss of consciousness, and with tubal miscarriage, a hematoma is formed in the abdominal cavity.
4. Pelvioperitonitis. This is a temporary inflammatory process in the uterus appendix. A woman has painful pain in her groin and back. In addition to the existing discomforts, there are chills, fever, and palpitations.
5. Tumors of various origins. Cancer associated with metastases triggers painful seizures when pressure is applied to nerve endings. There are often no initial signs of the disease.

Injuries to the internal organs are more difficult to diagnose with severe lower back pain. Therefore, contact a specialist immediately or call an ambulance. In some cases, the delay can lead to serious health problems and even death.

Lumbar pain is seen in almost all pregnant women. This is due to the restructuring of the body and the increase in the load on it. In addition, it can be caused by difficult or complicated labor.

Symptoms of possible diseases

Pain syndrome most commonly occurs in the background of pinched nerve, osteochondrosis, deformity and degenerative changes in intervertebral discs, and nerve root irritation. Muscle cramps can also cause discomfort in the lumbar region. Symptoms are characteristic of various diseases:

1. With lumbago, changes begin in the lumbar vertebrae. Initially, acute pain can be controlled with medication. However, mobility remains limited.
2. In sciatica, the symptoms move lower - to the upper surface of the legs and buttocks. If there is no timely treatment, the disease becomes a constant companion and can cause other diseases.
3. Osteochondrosis provokes the development of other diseases of the spine. Therefore, the pain may not only occur in the lower back, but may extend to the entire post.
4. Scoliosis is characterized by skeletal curvature and degenerative changes. The chronic form may be asymptomatic, in other cases there may be pain in the bones.
5. Dull and tensile pain is characteristic of diseases of the internal organs (especially the urogenital system and kidneys), benign and malignant tumors.
6. In spondylitis, the pain is dull, sore, very weak at first. At the beginning of the disease, the lower back begins to ache, movements are restricted. Gradually deteriorating health, the inflammation becomes more pronounced, it is difficult to move, even minimal loads are difficult to give.
7. In tuberculosis of the spine, in addition to pain, body temperature rises. One feels tired, weak, weak, appetite deteriorates. There is heavy sweating at night, frequent urination.

Views

Pain can only be localized in one place or "spread" to the abdomen, spine, and lower back. The symptoms are intense, in the form of lumbago, dull and painful, surrounding. It depends on the disease or the pathological process.

The pain may be intermittent. Usually this is due to physical activity, physiological characteristics, exacerbation of chronic pathologies. Constant, chronic pain occurs in the background of various diseases of the internal organs, with vascular changes and deformities of the musculoskeletal system.

Sharp

Sharp, strong, shooting pain leads to limited movement. In such attacks, one freezes in one position and is unable to move. Even gentle stirring increases the already unbearable pain. This syndrome is called lumbago. Such symptoms may occur after intense massage or hypothermia.

Whine

Painful pain is accompanied by chronic diseases, often in spondyloarthrosis. Symptoms usually occur at night, immediately after waking up or sitting in a long position for a long time.

Drag and mute

These painful feelings can last a long time, exhausting a person. They are most often tolerated. Dull and tensile pain is not common in osteochondrosis, but rather in spinal pathologies or damage to internal organs.For example, in pyelonephritis, the kidney tissue swells a lot, the capsule stretches, causing back pain.

Shingles

Symptoms can occur in one place and radiate throughout the peritoneal region, "spreading" along the back. Spine pain affects the entire lower back. Without further diagnosis, the symptoms can be confused with diseases of the spine and joints. However, belt pains usually cause pathologies of the internal organs.

Localize pain

In ankylosing spondyloarthritis, symptoms occur mainly in the lower back. Basically, the pain occurs in the morning, can even start late in the evening, and gradually increases, giving to the lower back. In addition, discomfort in the lower back is accompanied by diseases of the pelvic organs, trauma to the tailbone, urological and gynecological pathologies, with the risk of miscarriage after childbirth.

Symptoms in the upper part occur in kyphosis, trauma, muscle myositis, osteochondrosis, infectious processes, or tumors. The cause may be gastrointestinal pathology, gynecology, kidney and heart disease, pneumonia, pleurisy, influenza, ARVI.

Pain in the lower or left side of the back is caused by disorders of the central nervous system, diseases of the spine and internal organs. Symptoms appear from the side of the affected area. The appearance of negative feelings on the left and right side immediately accompanies pleurisy, hepatitis, pneumonia, cholecystitis, inflammation of the prostate, and in women the appendages.

Characteristics of women and men

Some types of pain can only occur in women. For example, gynecological diseases. Adnexitis is characterized by discomfort in the lower abdomen. In this case, the pain sometimes radiates to the lower back. During pregnancy, the primary symptoms occur in the lumbar region and radiate to the lower back due to an increase in spinal load. Low back pain occurs in late pregnancy during labor with the risk of miscarriage.

Menopause can be a cause of back pain in the lumbar region when menstruation stops. The onset of symptoms in the lumbar region is affected by jumps in estrogen levels, circulatory disorders, the initial stage of osteochondrosis, and other diseases of the hernia and spine. Pain also arises as a result of stress, to which women are more exposed than men. In this case, the symptoms are intermittent.

In men, back pain is more often associated with professional activities and risks - high physical exertion, hypothermia, work in drafts. Many diseases provoke the appearance of negative symptoms in the lower back. With prostatitis, the pain first appears in the rectal area, but it can radiate to the back. Epididymitis is characterized by an inflammatory process. Initially, the pain appears in the groin area and then radiates to the lower back. However, this is accompanied by an increase in temperature and swelling of the scrotum.

First Aid

What to do if hellish low back pain occurs spontaneously? The following steps should be taken immediately:

1. Calm your back.
2. It is in a comfortable position, it is best to lie on a hard surface.
3. You can put ice on the lower back, but in front of 3-4 folded cheese. This can only be done if the cause of the pain is not an organ infection.
4. Apply a relaxing analgesic gel to the affected area.
5. Hurt your painkiller.

These activities help to get rid of severe low back pain quickly. But consultation and examination by professionals is needed to identify the real cause of the seizure and prescribe appropriate treatment.

What not to do

If you experience sudden pain in your back, doctors do not recommend using warming ointments and gels once. They stimulate blood flow to the sore area, which contributes to an increase in swelling and then an increase in pain. It is completely and categorically excluded before visiting a doctor or an ambulance:

1. Perform the exercises of your choice.
2. Washing in a sauna or steam bath, do not use a contrasting washbasin.
3. Drinking alcohol to relieve pain.

Only after examination and diagnosis can a doctor have the right to prescribe treatment for aching low back pain.

What should I do next, which doctor should I go to?

You should see a therapist first. He performs a first examination, prescribes the necessary examinations, and sends the results to a narrow specialist - traumatologist, surgeon, neurologist. If the pain is associated with malignancy, an oncologist should be consulted. When pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract become the cause - gastroenterologist, with gynecological diseases - gynecologist, male - urologist or proctologist.

Inspection and Verification

To find out why your lower back hurts, you should first do a visual examination and then feel it. You can use it to determine the location of the symptom. The patient describes the nature of the pain, the duration of the seizures, after which it may appear (fall, physical activity). In addition, a number of studies are being conducted:

1. Blood Test. It can show inflammatory processes, the presence of infection, tumors.
2. Urine Test. It allows the exclusion of renal pathology. If the analysis is poor, an ultrasound is also prescribed.
3. X-ray. It allows the identification of inflammatory processes, spinal diseases, injuries, cracks, fractures, pinched nerves. Ideally, the bones of the spine and pelvis are x-rayed.
4. CT. Tomography is more informative than X-rays, it can show small flaws, a 3D image is taken. However, all bone structures are clearly visible.
5. MRI. It provides an opportunity to discover soft tissues inside or near the spine. At the same time, we check the condition of the spinal cord, nerve roots, ligaments, muscles. Hernias and vascular changes are clearly visible.

However, CT and MRI are only indicated for severe symptoms. Generally, X-rays or ultrasounds, laboratory blood and urine tests are sufficient.

Basic therapy

If lower back pain is caused by problems with the spine, comprehensive treatment of the pathology is used. It includes the following activities:

• organizing the gentle system of the spine;
performing
• manual therapy;
application of
• therapeutic massage;
• physiotherapy and reflexology classes: acupuncture, UHF and others;
• drug therapy: drugs, ointment, blockade;
• Wear special corsets if necessary;
Performing
• healing gymnastics.

The main focus is on drug therapy, which is primarily aimed at eliminating negative symptoms and alleviating inflammation. Physiotherapy, massage and exercise are prescribed as additional bases. In severe cases, surgery may be required.

Medication

Anti-inflammatory drugs are the first choice for back pain. They also relieve pain. Painkillers can be prescribed at the same time. Muscle relaxants are also prescribed. Chondroprotectors are prescribed to reduce the degenerative processes of cartilage. To relieve pain, drug blockages are sometimes performed on the basis of painkillers.

Topical ointments and gels are grouped into the following types:

1. Devices based on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ingredients.
2. Combined anti-inflammatory and tissue cell repair preparations.
3. Anesthetics and irritants.
4. Homeopathic medicines.
5. Chondroprotectors that help cartilage tissue repair.
6. Massage products (cosmetics).

It is important to know that these methods can relieve pain but are not able to trigger the cause. For example, damage to internal organs if lower back pain has occurred as a result. In this case, you will need to have an examination and a specialist will prescribe effective treatment for that particular pathology.

Exercise and massage

Exercise therapy (therapeutic gymnastics) and massage are recommended to strengthen the back muscles, normalize blood circulation and increase tone. Exercise prevents back and waist pain. The exercise complex is selected individually. The massage strengthens the effectiveness of the exercises, restoring the elasticity and elasticity of the tapes. Its combination with a bath or sauna should only be allowed on medical advice.

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy methods are prescribed only after alleviating the acute attacks of low back pain. The procedures then help to reduce or prevent exacerbation. Used as a physiotherapy:

• mud therapy;
• electrophoresis;
• balneotherapy;
electrical stimulation of
• muscle;
• phonophoresis (ultrasound);
paraffin treatment;
• reflexology;
• amplipulse therapy.

The procedures help reduce swelling, have an analgesic effect, improve blood circulation, relax muscles, and normalize metabolic processes and lymph flow.

Surgical

The absolute indication for surgery is cauda equina syndrome, when urinary and fecal incontinence occurs and numbness appears in the perineum. Intervention is also needed if the medication is ineffective, the lower back pain persists for more than six months and begins to radiate to the legs. Surgical procedures are also performed in the presence of a hernia.

Folk remedies

In addition, folk remedies can be used - infusions, herbal decoctions. Compression is made (for example, from chopped onions, fresh burdock leaves, boiled potatoes with horseradish, mustard). Rub with a mixture of eucalyptus and burdock tincture, warm honey, cologne, red pepper, iodine and valerian. For internal use, vodka tincture with saber or wheat decoction with coriander and milk is recommended.

Expert Suggestions

If the pain is felt for at least 3 months, it is considered acute pain. The following tips will help speed up acute low back pain and reduce its intensity:

1. It is important for the patient to provide absolute rest for 2-3 days. You need to lie down and put it in a comfortable position: lie down on your side and put a pillow between your knees, or lie on your back and put a pillow under your knee. It is not possible to stand still all day - it is recommended to get out of bed every 2-3 hours and warm up for 10-15 minutes.
2. If pain is not tolerated, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken regularly. You can only take them if the pain increases, it may not achieve the desired effect.
3. A warm shower every 3 hours or a warming pad for 10-15 minutes, or even a cold, helps - it improves blood circulation, reduces pain and inflammation.

If you feel better, gradually return to your normal lifestyle. Prolonged lying on the bed contributes to muscle atrophy and this aggravates the disease. You can train your body by walking or walking on the simulator - this is the easiest exercise for lumbar pain.

If lower back pain is not a disease in itself, it is the result of a serious disease that is present in the body. Therefore, consult a physician immediately to identify the pathology and appropriate treatment.