Low back pain is a common phenomenon that occurs in all ages, but is common in adults. There can be many reasons - from physiological factors to illness. Sometimes back pain comes on for a short time and goes away quickly. However, pain in the lower back can be a sign of serious illness, and in these cases, urgent medical attention.
Reason
There are many causes of acute low back pain, they are completely separate for each person. The most important of them all are illnesses and changes in the spine, which can cause irreversible consequences.
Basic (most common)
The most common ones are:
- Osteochondrosis. Awkward movements put pressure on the roots of the nerve stem of the spinal cord. Non-stop burning and groaning during the day, if you lift a heavy object, simply hell pain in the lower back.
- The disc has been exposed. Usually, a hernia is localized in the lower back and any sudden movement of the body leads to compression of the nerve root.
- Root inflammation. With luminescent kernitis, pain from shot syndrome occurs. It provokes unsuccessful lifting of heavy objects or movement. The intense pain limits the patient's movement to the point that it is impossible to stand upright and maintain position when pain occurs.
- Displacement of vertebrae. This problem is characterized by shooting pain in the back and slightly lower, stiffness with movement. This pathology is accompanied by dysfunction of urination and defecation.
- Aspect syndrome. As the sides of the disc expand both top and bottom, the disc walls decrease. In this case, discomfort arises suddenly and occurs more than once per month. Lying on the patient's back feels discomfort in the back.
- Epidural abscess. The accumulation of pus in the spinal cord occurs due to infectious diseases of the urinary tract. In addition to pain, fever, weakness and an increase in body temperature occur.
These are the causes - consequences of diseases of the spinal cord.
The lower back can be diseased due to the 2-3 cm difference in the length of the legs, the patient's difficulty moving, and back pain due to the constant curvature of the spine.
Overload and physical fatigue
In addition to serious illness, severe pain in the lumbar spine was also caused by a great overload and the trunk leaned forward. Additionally, this problem arises when the temperature effects on the body are violated. The source of these pains is:
- Muscle stretching. Muscle strain in the lower back occurs due to physical overload. Squeezing causes pain and decreases mobility. This problem occurs in athletes and people who do intensive work.
- Neuropathic pain. Hypothermia of the back leads to neuralgia - irritation or compression of nerves. Pathology manifests itself in different ways: sometimes in the form of convulsions, accompanied by redness of the affected area, tremor, tissue edema, and excessive sweating.
- Myositis. Low back pain and discomfort begins at night, as well as a sudden increase, with changes in weather conditions, after hypothermia and strenuous exercise.
Frequent colds, impaired immunity, spinal cord injuries after a blow or fall, both the new and the elderly, can cause attacks.
Internal disorders
Sometimes lumbar pain is caused by damage to other organs: heart, liver, kidney, lungs, gallbladder. During inhalation, pain syndrome from the lumbar region moves along all nerve channels. Usually the cause of this pathology is:
- Pyelonephritis. This is an inflammatory disease of the kidneys and urinary tract. Usually dull pain, but the pain is accompanied by chills, weakness, nausea and vomiting, and fever.
- Urolithiasis. The problem manifests itself as a sudden, unbearable pain from long walks and heavy work. The attack was accompanied by nausea, vomiting and blood urination.
- An ectopic pregnancy. If the fallopian tube is broken with a miscarriage, pain shoots all over the groin and rectum. The rupture is accompanied by loss of consciousness, and with tubal miscarriage, a hematoma is formed in the peritoneal cavity.
- Peritonitis. This is a temporary inflammatory process of the uterine appendage. A woman had severe pain in the groin and back. In addition to the existing unpleasant sensations, chills, fever and palpitations were added.
- Tumors of different origins. Metastatic cancer causes painful attacks when put pressure on the nerve ends. Often there are no early signs of the disease.
Internal organ damage with severe pain in the lumbar region is more difficult to diagnose. Therefore, you should immediately contact a specialist or call an ambulance. In some cases, a delay can lead to serious health problems and even death.
Most pregnant women experience pain in their lower back. This is due to reconstruction of the body and an increase in the load on it. In addition, difficult or complicated labor can also be the cause.
Symptoms of possible diseases
Pain syndrome usually occurs on a pinched nerve base, bone necrosis, deformation and degenerative changes in the disc, stimulation of nerve roots. Muscle spasms can also cause discomfort in the lower back. Features of symptoms for different diseases:
- With low back pain changes begin in the lumbar vertebrae. At first, acute pain can be controlled with medication. However, mobility is still limited.
- With sciatica, symptoms move lower down - to the upper surface of the legs and buttocks. If there is no timely treatment, the disease becomes a regular companion and can cause other diseases.
- Osteochondrosis stimulates the development of other diseases of the spine. Hence, pain can occur not only in the lower back but also to the entire abutment.
- Scoliosis is characterized by the curvature of the skeleton, degenerative changes. The chronic form may be asymptomatic, while others present with pain in the bones.
- Dull and prolonged pains are typical of diseases of the internal organs (mainly the genitourinary system and kidney), benign and malignant tumors.
- When you have spondylitis, the pain is dull, aching, very weak at first. When the disease starts, pain begins in the lumbar region, the movement is constrained. Gradually, the health condition deteriorated, inflammation became more pronounced, it was difficult to walk, even minimal burdens were difficult to give.
- In spinal tuberculosis, in addition to pain, the body temperature increases. A person feels tired, depressed, weak, the appetite gets worse. At night, sweat a lot, urinate frequently.
Views
The pain may be localized or "spread" over the abdomen, spine, and lower back. Symptoms are acute, in the form of low back pain, dullness and soreness, enclosure. It depends on the disease or the pathological process.
Pain may be intermittent. This is often related to physical activity, physiological features, exacerbations of chronic pathologies. Chronic pain constantly occurs against the background of various diseases of the internal organs, with damage to blood vessels, deformation of the musculoskeletal system.
Sharp
Sharp, strong, taking painful photos that limits mobility. In such attacks, a person is frozen in one position and cannot move. Even a slight movement increases pain that is already unbearable. This syndrome is called low back pain. Such symptoms may occur after intense massage or hypothermia.
Whining
Pain that is associated with chronic illnesses, often associated with degenerative spondylosis. Symptoms usually occur at night, right after waking up or after sitting for a long time in one position.
Drag and mute
These painful feelings can last for a long time, exhausting the patient. Usually they can be tolerated. Dull and prolonged pain is not common in osteonecrosis, more in diseases of the spine or damage to internal organs.
For example, with pyelonephritis, the kidney tissue swells up a lot, the cyst stretches causing back pain.
Shingles
Symptoms may appear in one place and radiate throughout the peritoneum, "spreading" along the back. Abdominal pain affects the entire lower back. Without additional diagnosis, symptoms can be mistaken for spinal and joint diseases. However, menstrual cramps are often caused by pathologies of internal organs.
Locate pain
With ankylosing spondylitis, symptoms mainly appear in the lower back area. Basically, the pain occurs in the morning, it can start even late at night and gradually get more intense, causing back pain. In addition, discomfort in the lower back is accompanied by diseases of the pelvic organs, coccyx injuries, urological and gynecological diseases, there is a risk of miscarriage, after giving birth.
In the upper part of symptoms occur with kyphosis, trauma, myositis, bone necrosis, infectious or tumor processes. In addition, the cause can be gastrointestinal disease, gynecological disease, kidney and heart disease, pneumonia, pleurisy, flu, ARVI.
Left or right lumbar pain occurs due to central nervous system disorders, spinal and internal diseases. Symptoms will appear from the side of the affected area. The appearance of immediate negative feelings in the left and right part is accompanied by pleurisy, hepatitis, pneumonia, cholecystitis, prostatitis and in women - appendages.
Characteristics in Women and Men
Certain types of pain may only be present in women. For example, with gynecological diseases. Adnexitis is manifested by a feeling of discomfort in the lower abdomen. In this case, the pain sometimes spreads down the lower back. During pregnancy, the main symptoms occur in the groin area, and spread to the lower back due to an increase in the load on the spine. 
Lower back pain occurs during labor, threatening to miscarriage in late pregnancy.
Menopause can be the cause of lower back pain, when menopause. The appearance of symptoms in the lumbar region is affected by a spike in estrogen levels, circulatory disorders, early stages of osteonecrosis, hernias and other diseases of the spine. Pain also arises from stress that women are exposed to more than men. In this case, symptoms are cyclical.
In men, back pain is often related to professional activities, risky - excessive exertion, hypothermia, working in a windy area. There are a number of diseases that cause negative symptoms in the lower back. With prostatitis, pain first appears in the anal area, but can spread to the back. Crestitis is characterized by an inflammatory process. Pain first develops in the groin area, then spreads to the lower back. At the same time, this is accompanied by an increase in temperature and swelling in the scrotum.
First Aid
What to do if the devilish low back pain appeared spontaneously? The following steps should be taken immediately:
- Gives you absolute rest.
- Comfortable posture, preferably on a hard surface.
- You can apply ice on your lower back, but before that, place the ice on the cheesecloth 3-4 times more. This can only be done if the cause of the pain is not an infection of the internal organs.
- Apply a relaxing pain relief gel to the affected area.
- Take pain relievers.
All these activities will quickly get rid of severe low back pain. But a specialist doctor's consultation and examination is needed to determine the true cause of this attack and to prescribe appropriate treatment.
Don't do anything
If you experience sudden pain in your back, doctors advise against using warming ointments and gels right away. They stimulate blood flow to the pain site, contributing to increased swelling and subsequently increased pain. Before going to the doctor or the emergence of an ambulance, it is completely excluded and classified:
- Do the exercises of your choice.
- Wash in a sauna or steam bath, without using contrast douching.
- Drink alcohol to relieve pain.
Only a doctor after examination and diagnosis can prescribe back pain treatment.
What should I do next, which doctor should I see?
First you need to see a therapist. He conducts initial examinations, prescribes the necessary tests and with the results obtained, sends him to a narrow specialty - an trauma doctor, a surgeon, a neurologist. If the pain is related to malignant formation, the oncologist's consultation is required. When the pathology of the gastrointestinal tract becomes the cause - a gastroenterologist, with a female disease - a gynecologist, a male - a urologist or specialist.
Inspection and Inspection
To find out why the lower back hurts, an initial image examination will be conducted first followed by palpation. With its help, you can locate a symptom. The patient describes the nature of the pain, the duration of the attacks, after which it may appear (fall, physical activity). Furthermore, some research is done:
- Blood test. It may indicate inflammation, the presence of infections, tumors.
- Urine analysis. Allows you to rule out kidney disease. If the analysis is not good, an additional ultrasound will be indicated.
- X-rays. Allows you to identify inflammatory processes, diseases of the spine, injuries, cracks, fractures, pinched nerves. Ideally, an X-ray of the spine and pelvis.
- CT. Tomography is more informative than X-ray, it can show small defects, a 3D image is generated. At the same time, all skeletal structures are visible.
- Magnetic resonance imaging. Provides an opportunity to explore soft tissues inside or near the spine. At the same time, 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. Usually, an X-ray or ultrasound, and lab blood and urine tests are sufficient.
Basic therapy
If lower back pain is caused by spinal problems, apply comprehensive pathological treatment. It includes the following operations:
- holds a gentle regimen for the spine;
- conducts manual therapy;
- massage therapy app;
- physiotherapy and acupressure sessions: acupuncture, UHF and others;
- drug therapy: drugs, ointments, blockade;
- wear a special bra, if necessary;
- demonstrates gymnastics.
The main focus is on drug therapy, mainly aimed at eliminating negative symptoms and reducing inflammation. When additional funding is available, physical therapy, massage, and exercise therapies are prescribed. In difficult cases, surgery may be required.
Drug treatment
Anti-inflammatory medications are the first choice for back pain. They also relieve pain. Pain relievers can be prescribed at the same time. Muscle relaxants are also prescribed. To reduce degenerative processes in cartilage, the drug chondroprotectors are prescribed. For pain relief, blocking medications is sometimes done based on pain relievers.
Ointments and topical gels are grouped into the following categories:
- Means based on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ingredients.
- Combined preparations with anti-inflammatory and tissue-cell regenerating effects.
- Anesthetic and irritant.
- Homeopathic remedies.
- Chondroprotectors promote cartilage tissue repair.
- Massage products (cosmetics).
Be aware that these methods can alleviate pain, but cannot cure it completely. Visceral damage, for example, if low back pain occurs due to this cause. In this case, you should see a doctor, a specialist will prescribe an effective treatment for this particular pathology.
Exercise and massage
Exercise therapy (gymnastics) and massage are recommended to strengthen the back muscles, normalize blood circulation and increase firmness. Exercise prevents back pain and reduces back pain. Complex exercise therapy is selected individually. Massage reinforces the effectiveness of the exercises, restores the elasticity and flexibility of the ligaments. It is permissible to combine it with a bath or sauna only with medical advice.
Physiotherapy
Physical therapy is prescribed only after acute low back pain has subsided. Then, procedures to help ease or prevent exacerbations. The following are used as physiotherapists:
- mud therapy;
- electrophoresis;
- therapy;
- electromechanical stimulation;
- phonophoresis (ultrasound);
- treated with paraffin; reflexology
- ;
- amplipulse therapy.
These tricks help to reduce puffiness, relieve pain, improve blood circulation, relax muscles, normalize metabolism and lymphatic flow.
Surgery
An absolute indication for surgery is equina cauda syndrome, when urinary incontinence and feces occur, and perineal numbness develops. In addition, intervention is required if drug therapy is ineffective, lower back pain persists for more than six months and begins to spread to the legs. Surgical operations are also performed in the presence of a hernia.
Folk remedies
In addition, folk remedies - infusions, decoctions can be used. Compresses are made (for example, from chopped onion, fresh burdock leaves, boiled potatoes with horseradish, mustard). Rub with eucalyptus and burdock alcohol, warm honey, a mixture of perfumes, red peppers, iodine, and valerian are used. For internal use it is recommended to take a vodka alcohol with saber or wheat broth with coriander and milk.
Expert Recommendation
If soreness has been felt for at least 3 months, it is considered acute pain. The following tips will help speed up recovery from acute low back pain and decrease its intensity:
- It is important to provide the patient with absolute rest for 2-3 days. You need to go to sleep and have a comfortable position: lie on your side with a pillow between your knees, or lie on your back with a pillow under your knees. You can't sit still all day - get out of bed every 2-3 hours and warm up for 10-15 minutes.
- If you can't stand the pain, take pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs regularly. Only use them when the pain increases, you may not be able to achieve the desired effect.
- Take a warm bath every 3 hours or a hot compress for 10-15 minutes, or even cold, will help improve blood circulation, reduce pain and inflammation.
As you feel better, you should gradually return to your normal way of life. Long lying in bed will cause muscle atrophy, and this can make the illness worse. You can train your body by walking or walking in a simulation - this is the simplest exercise for low back pain.
If low back pain is not an independent disease, it is the result of an existing serious illness in the body. Therefore, you should immediately contact a medical facility to determine the pathology and have the authority to treat.