One of the most common pain syndromes is related to the lower back. Some experts believe that waist pain is a kind of retribution to humans walking upright. The greatest load falls on the lumbar spine, which bears the main burden of human body mass. Lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, obesity, and stress can also have adverse effects. For many people, back pain (lower back pain) is so common that it becomes a part of daily life. It can only be born once and disappear without a trace, or it can return again and again, causing considerable suffering.
Many of us have at least once, but worry about waist pain. According to statistics, this kind of pain occurs in 90% of the population. The lower back can be injured by gastrointestinal disease, kidney disease, genital disease, and women's menstrual period. But in most cases, this pain is caused by osteochondrosis-degenerative dystrophic changes of the spine. Among the many pain syndromes of osteochondrosis, back pain occupies a dominant position.
Lower back pain may be of different nature-pain, a sharp shot that occurs after a long period of static load while sitting or sleeping, or when it moves suddenly or is in an uncomfortable position. All of these are related to squeezing the waist. Spasticity, swelling, and irritation of nerve roots and lumbar muscles and ligaments that accompany osteochondrosis.
Causes of low back pain
The lumbosacral spine is under the greatest pressure, and the intervertebral discs (the pads between the vertebrae) wear faster here. There are many causes of osteochondrosis in the lower back, but there are two main ones: heavy, prolonged static load and sharp maximum load, which usually occurs when bending over and lifting heavy objects. Here are some numbers. According to biomechanics, in the supine position, the intervertebral disc bears 50 kg of pressure, in the standing position-100, in the straight back sitting position without support-150 and the bent over sitting position-220.
Now calculate how many times you sit in a day. . . How much time do you have to bend down this time. . .
More figures: when the body is only tilted forward 20°, there is no weight on the hands-150, when the weight is only 10 kg (a few bags of groceries)-200 kg, if the tilt is lower, the angle is 70°, the load will beIncrease to 300 kg. For example, according to biomechanical data, when a person lifts a weight of 50 kilograms in a forward leaning position, the load on the spine is 700 kilograms. Now to answer your own question: Do you lift heavy objects? From the floor? And tilt and turn?
Back pain can be divided into primary pain and secondary pain. As you know, the spine is a series of vertebrae connected by elastic tissue (muscles and ligaments). They (except bone tissue) contain nerve endings and may be the source of back pain.
The cause of primary back pain is due to the pathology of the spine-joint dystrophy and functional changes of the vertebrae, intervertebral discs, muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
The secondary syndrome of lower back pain is related to spinal trauma, tumors and infection processes, internal organ diseases, osteoporosis and other pathologies. This is an alarm signal that the body is malfunctioning. A particularly common cause of persistent low back pain is benign and malignant diseases of the pelvic organs (endometriosis, uterine fibroids, dysmenorrhea, macrovascular disease, kidneys, chronic prostatitis, some neurological diseases).
There are 5 most common causes of back pain:
Osteochondrosis (back disease)-The most common source of pain in the lower back. The examination revealed degenerative diseases of the spine-osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis. The height of the intervertebral discs is reduced, which can lead to disturbances in the mechanical balance between the spinal structures-so the lower back is continuous, quite tolerable, but periodically increases pain.
Muscle cramps.Have you experienced acute low back pain during intense and excessive physical activity that is unusual for you? The predisposing factor is prolonged static and incorrect posture of the body (in front of the computer, squatting, bending over during work in the summer cabin). As a result, muscle spasms develop, limiting the mobility of a certain part of the spine. Tight muscles become the source of pain, triggering a vicious circle of back pain-muscle cramps-pain. This situation can last a long time and cause many unpleasant times. attention! For persistent low back pain, especially if it starts quickly and severely, consult a doctor to determine the underlying disease and develop modern and correct treatments.
Herniated disc, Compression of the root of the spinal cord is especially common in men over 40. The first symptom of trouble is low back pain, accompanied by many other symptoms: when coughing, sneezing, and laughing, pain from the roots of the hips to the feet, and difficulty in bending and stretching the lumbar spine (this is particularly noticeable in the following cases)Socks and shoes), the unpleasant sensation can be increased when the straight legs are raised on the supine. This back pain is often referred to as obsolete sciatica or colloquial low back pain. The pain worsens when standing upright, and decreases when lying down.
Spinal instabilityIt is a typical problem for middle-aged women. It manifests as back pain, which is aggravated by prolonged physical activity and standing. At the same time, there is a feeling of tiredness and want to lie down. The disease is caused by damage to the intervertebral disc or intervertebral joints and usually occurs in the context of moderate obesity. It is difficult for such patients not to bend over, but to straighten their body and make "extra" movements.
Spinal stenosis.The most common symptoms are pain at rest and pain when walking. It spreads from the buttocks along the roots to the feet, and it is always painful, even if you are lying or sitting, you cannot sit on the "sore" buttocks. Spinal stenosis syndrome is the result of spinal nerve roots being violated by degenerative changes of the spine and proliferation of bones and joint structures.
In addition, you have a real chance to experience back pain on your skin if:
- overweight
- Do you like summer cottage work
- Spend a lot of time driving a car or computer
- Living a sedentary (office worker) or standing (vendor, waiter, street sign, surgeon) lifestyle
- Overload yourself in the gym or health club. If you recently started exercising, please be extra careful.
- Perform dynamic physical work with sharp changes in body position (especially when your expertise is related to heavy physical activity)
Additional risks for women:
- You are pregnant or recently gave birth
- Has reached the menopause, which is conducive to the development of osteoporosis
Back pain, how to do:
And now, based on the above reasons, the same promise is recommended to those who want to reduce chronic waist discomfort and prevent the occurrence of low back pain.
- Spend less time sitting. If you still have to do this, please sit in the right position.
- If you sit for a long time, be sure to take a break every hour to allow you to do a few movements (stretching, bending, simple walking, etc. ).
- Do not lift heavy objects. If you really must lift them, use the rules for moving heavy objects.
- Tighten your abdominal muscles, just like tightening the zipper of your pants. The abdominal muscles support the lumbar spine. By tightening the abdomen, you can slightly reduce the burden on the lower back.
- Regularly exercise the spine and strengthen the muscle corset. Strong muscles will help you reduce excessive pressure on your lower back in any position. A flexible spine will help avoid squeezing blood vessels and nerve endings.
- Find yourself a comfortable orthopedic mattress.
In addition, for back pain, your doctor will usually recommend:
- The specialist may prescribe muscle relaxants to relieve muscle spasms, as well as diuretics and vascular drugs to reduce nerve root swelling and improve blood circulation in the affected area.
- Relax for 2-5 days. Usually, we are talking about bed rest on a hard and flat surface.
- Take painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs-non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They come in tablets, injections and ointments.
- If necessary, wear a special bandage.
- When your health condition improves, perform physical therapy to consolidate the positive results. Physiotherapy procedures (magnetic therapy, electrophoresis, sound wave introduction) as well as massage and physiotherapy exercises can relieve muscle tension, improve blood circulation and stop the inflammatory process
- Use ointments and gels containing analgesic, anti-inflammatory or warm ingredients for topical treatment.
Recently, doctors can use dual-acting agents-analgesics and muscle relaxants (muscle relaxants), which are very important for the treatment of pain syndromes in the pathology of the musculoskeletal system and muscle spasms. These drugs have a triple effect-analgesics, muscle relaxants, and neuroprotective agents (protect nerve cells from damage). In fact, we are talking about a new way to treat back pain.
No matter what the cause of the back pain is, I can't determine it with certainty. If the waist does not rest day and night, it is best to consult a specialist in time, and he will tell you the treatment strategy. All these tips will help you prevent and reduce lumbar discomfort. However, if you experience acute pain in your lower back and sacrum, please do not postpone your visit to the doctor. Give the final diagnosis to an expert! There are many reasons for low back pain, not necessarily related to spinal pathology. If back pain and low back pain occur, it is recommended to perform computed tomography (showing the condition of the bone tissue of the spine) and magnetic resonance imaging (which can assess the condition of the soft tissue) tomography. Generally speaking, most patients will recover within 2-3 months, and only a few patients who complain of low back pain develop serious illnesses.