Back pain in the lumbar region can indicate various diseases of the spine, disruption of nerve structures, damage to internal organs, soft tissues, and oncological tumors. Pain syndrome can have different intensity and nature of manifestation. Depending on the type of pain that occurs, the pathology can be determined, but an examination, including instrumental diagnostics, is performed to obtain an accurate diagnosis. This allows you to find out why the pain occurs. Based on the examination results, the doctor chooses the treatment.
Types of pain
Back pain in the lumbar region can indicate the development of serious pathologies. But in most cases, anxiety is pleasant and is associated with the influence of various external factors:
- hypothermia;
- staying in an uncomfortable position for a long time;
- compression of blood vessels;
- soft tissue damage due to trauma.
When back pain is diagnosed, the doctor pays attention to the nature and duration of its manifestation. If the pain occurs due to cold or simple hypothermia, it will disappear completely after 2 weeks of using ointments containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory components. They will not help to cure the disease, but it does not hurt to act after them.
If, despite the use of local drugs, the pain in the spine does not go away, sometimes intensifies, a full examination is necessary. In some cases, such a symptom is an alarming sign indicating the development of dangerous diseases. With diseases of the spine, the pain during an attack can spread to different parts of the body: leg, arm, groin. Often, such an attack is accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the body: numbness, tingling, gas buds, burning.
In most cases, pain in the lower back occurs suddenly, is sharp and resembles lumbago (lumbago). Patients themselves describe the pain as burning, sharp, sometimes pressing and less intense. At the moment of an attack, a person's movements are limited, and it is possible to straighten the back only with pain. Movements are not comfortable and sometimes cause increased pain. An acute condition may last only a few minutes, but sometimes lasts a day or more.
Women and men over the age of 50, as well as people with serious injuries, experience chronic back pain. In this case, it is constant but tolerable, patients note only mild discomfort, stiffness of mobility in the morning and pain at night. Chronic pain attacks can be triggered by stress, heavy lifting, or hypothermia. The rest of the time there is no pain, there is stiffness and discomfort.
Back pain in pregnant women
During pregnancy, women often experience back pain. Its occurrence is associated with natural changes. As the fetus grows, in the second trimester of pregnancy, there is a change in the center of gravity, which causes posture deformation with bending in the lumbar region. This change is not dangerous, it occurs acutely in more than 70% of women, but it should be monitored because it can cause serious health problems in the future.
There is no special treatment during pregnancy. To reduce the intensity of painful attacks, the doctor may recommend a woman to take NSAIDs locally. In some cases, it is recommended to wear supporting structures to ensure proper distribution of the load on the spine.
Also, expectant mothers should not neglect the general rules, rest regularly and avoid high-heeled shoes. Be careful when bending over to pick something up. Straighten and straighten your back, then you should rise as slowly as possible. You should also pay attention to the choice of bed at home, it should be comfortable.
Night and morning pains
If severe discomfort bothers a person mainly at night and occurs in the morning immediately after waking up, the problem should be sought in the quality of night sleep. Manifestation of acute painful sensations is associated with the incorrect position of the body at night during the rest period. The first thing you should do at home is to change the mattress, bed and pillow. It would be good if the bed was orthopedic.
If the pain is observed only in the morning, it is worth considering the possibility of making sudden movements after waking up. It is better to wake up earlier and warm up your muscles and joints slightly while lying in bed. When you perform such exercises regularly, you can forget about the manifestation of pain. Bending will become easier and the feeling of stiffness in your back will disappear. After warming up, it will be easier to stand up.
It is also worth considering that the spine and lumbar region suffer from excess weight. The problem of back pain occurs more often in obese people, as well as in patients who lead a sedentary lifestyle. After normalizing the behavior and improving the quality of night rest, periodic pain disappears if it is not related to any disease.
Lower back pain spreads to the leg
Pain in the back can spread throughout the body. It often spreads to the leg and can cover part of the leg and reach the heel. The cause of pain is sciatica, lumbago or radiculitis, that is, pathologies associated with nerve tissue damage. Compression of nerve endings occurs due to changes in the structure of the cartilage tissue, which leads to the deformation of the vertebrae and the formation of osteophytes, against the background of which sharp pain attacks radiating to the leg appear.
Sharp pain
The duration of acute pain attacks varies. They can last from a few minutes to several weeks. Chronic pain can appear imperceptibly and acutely for a person, the patient gets used to it and may not feel it when an attack occurs.
Attacks of sharp, unbearable pain in the lumbar region are characteristic of various diseases:
- scoliosis;
- myositis;
- arthritis;
- arthrosis;
- neurological lesions;
- tumor processes;
- osteomyelitis;
- spondylitis
If the pain is of a burning nature, it means that the roots of the spinal cord are involved in the pathological inflammatory process. If the pain appears monotonous, dull and spreads to the abdominal cavity, inflammation of the liver should be suspected. Violent attacks that disrupt consciousness and cause loss may signal urolithiasis or pyelonephritis.
Causes of lower back pain
Back pain in the lower back can be due to various reasons. Many of them lead to the development of pathologies that significantly reduce the quality of life, where pain becomes a constant companion. Trying to deal with the problem yourself is practically pointless and difficult, accurate diagnosis and selection of competent treatment can be made only based on the results of instrumental diagnostics.
The most common causes of back pain are:
- intervertebral hernia protrusions;
- osteochondrosis;
- disorders in the work of the gastrointestinal tract;
- curvature of the spine;
- tumors;
- damage to muscles and ligaments;
- soft tissue infections.
Often, the cause of pain is simple hypothermia, which affects the largest nerve in the human body, the sciatic nerve. Also, against the background of hypothermia, it can be compressed, which causes severe pain. Other factors can cause attacks:
- physical inactivity;
- excessive nervous tension;
- heavy physical labor;
- damage and injury.
Lower back pain can occur with urolithiasis, they accompany an attack. They are also characteristic of many sexually transmitted diseases. Back pain in women is not always pathological. If it occurs before menstrual bleeding or at the beginning of menopause, this is the physiological norm. In these cases, the conditions are not dangerous and can be managed with the use of painkillers. With all the listed pathologies, it is problematic to move, bend or do any work at home.
Spine diseases
The main cause of back pain is various diseases, deformations and injuries of the spine. Pain can be of a completely different nature. The intensity of their manifestations depends on many factors and varies greatly depending on the affected part of the spine. The most common types of pain are:
- periodic;
- native or local;
- pulling or squeezing;
- burn and cut;
- filming.
The intensity of symptomatic manifestations can depend on stress, sitting in an uncomfortable position in a chair, sports and physical activity. Anxiety increases when you stand or sit awkwardly. When the muscle fibers spasm, lumbago is observed and the whole area hurts. With such pain, stiffness of movement occurs, the symptom spreads to the back of the thigh, can reach the calves and even the feet. Much depends on the type and nature of the disease. It should be treated by a pathologist.
Intervertebral hernia
Intervertebral tears of the lumbar region often occur with osteochondrosis in the later stages of development. They usually mainly cover the lumbar region, the lower back and are formed between the 4th and 5th vertebrae, as well as in the sacral region. In this case, the pain syndrome is unpleasant, intrusive, associated with damage to the nerve roots, and poor blood circulation occurs. The pain is similar to that of radiculitis and worsens when standing or sitting on an uncomfortable stool. If the herniation is large, it compresses the spinal cord, the person has a loss of sensation, and in complicated cases, paralysis can occur due to the herniation between the intervertebral discs.
By looking at the following episodes, you can understand what worries you about an intervertebral hernia:
- it is impossible to stand on a chair or other surface without support, this is due to increased loads on the intervertebral discs;
- lying on the stomach is extremely uncomfortable;
- feeling of stiffness in the back;
- it is difficult to bend forward;
- It is impossible to bend the back due to pain that prevents movement.
Hernias are treated conservatively and operatively. The appropriate method is determined depending on the patient's condition. In advanced cases, conservative treatment of the disease is ineffective.
Rachiocampsis
Pain is not visible with small bends. There may be a feeling of fatigue, a person wants to spend more time lying down, because the pain gets worse when standing or sitting. Various neurological disorders occur with secondary deformities. At this stage, moderate to moderately intense pain occurs on the left and right. As the disease progresses, the discomfort intensifies during the day, becomes unbearable in advanced forms, and is not relieved by local and systemic painkillers. It is difficult to completely get rid of the manifestation, the curvature can be treated quickly.
Osteoporosis
This disease often occurs in men and women over 50 years of age. It is characterized by a rapid loss of pathological bone tissue. Due to such loss, fragility occurs, the vertebrae become less strong, and damage is possible even with minor injuries, physical exertion or weight lifting. Patients bend only with discomfort and return from the bent position with severe pain. It is better to sit and straighten your back so that someone can pick something up from the floor, and then straighten it. If you sit first, the health risks of osteoporosis will be reduced.
Pain in osteoporosis is not only due to fractures. The disease is dangerous, it can be used for registration of the disability group.
Spinal injuries
The most common injury is a bruise. If it is mild, there is moderate discomfort. Tends to intensify during the day with movement, causing local swelling with hematoma and bleeding. The symptom always improves with movement and exercise. In severe cases, the problem does not only cause pain, it can be accompanied by neurological disorders, especially if the nerve endings are involved in the process. It is impossible to completely get rid of the problem, it is not always possible to treat the consequences of injuries even surgically.
Soft tissue and kidney injuries
With bruises of soft tissues, mild pain appears, which decreases after local use of anti-inflammatory compounds. The pain is always local, the bruised area swells, bleeding is possible.
If, along with the described symptoms, the pain in the lower back is accompanied by the appearance of blood in the urine, it means kidney damage. Anxiety will be stronger, with serious damage to the organs of the excretory system, urination is impaired or impossible. Hematomas may occur in the lower back. The development of shock and life-threatening conditions is not excluded.
Spinal infections
Infectious lesions of the spine are more dangerous. Osteomyelitis can be:
- postoperative;
- after trauma;
- connection;
- hematogenous.
In acute cases, the disease progresses at lightning speed. It is characterized by increased pain manifestations, which intensify during the day, accompanied by high body temperature and a very strong deterioration of the general condition. The nature of anxiety can be different: twitching, pressing, bursting. Attacks are severe, hinder movement and force you to freeze in one position because it is painful to move. In chronic pathologies, fistulas may appear with the formation of purulent discharge.
A rare but dangerous disease of the spine is spinal tuberculosis. Already at the initial stage of development, it causes deep and very strong pain below, which peaks after exercise. The gaits of men and women stiffen. When the bone structures are destroyed, the nerve roots are compressed, the pain begins to burn and spreads to the lower part of the body.
With a spinal epidural abscess, the pain is very deep, very strong, accompanied by tremors and muscle tension. Against the background of progress, the radicular syndrome intensifies, paresis occurs, the activity of the pelvic organs is disturbed.
Muscle damage
Painful discomfort in the lower back can occur after physical activity, lifting weights or doing intense exercises. It also manifests itself during a long stay in a static position with tension in the back and gluteal muscles.
With such a lesion, discomfort manifests itself less intensively at rest and after rest, after applying a warming ointment. Muscle damage or myositis is not only caused by infections. Stress and hypothermia of the body can cause severe poisoning and metabolic disorders. The condition is most often accompanied by excruciating pain.
Myofascial syndrome
Myofascial syndrome is classified as a painful condition in which discomfort in the lower back is associated with painful muscle tension. During an attack, trigger points appear in the affected area. The sources of pain are muscles and fascia, connective tissues. To treat this pathology, specialists prescribe painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and sedatives.
In some cases, treatment of the disease using centrally acting muscle relaxants is indicated. Such remedies are designed to reduce tonic tension, reduce agitation, and induce relaxation of the muscles involved in the spasm so that the person can bend. In some cases, experts resort to blocking points by applying anesthesia.
Tumors of the spine, kidneys
Tumors of the spine and spinal cord are extremely rare. The frequency of detection of such diseases does not exceed 0. 5% of the total number of diagnosed cancer pathologies. Neoplasms can be benign or malignant. Depending on this, the forecast varies significantly.
A different symptom with this pathology is pain in the lumbar region. With benign etiology, anxiety is relieved by the use of drugs. If the formation is malignant, the treatment should be complex, often reduced to surgical intervention.
Also, pain in the lower back on the left can be traced to kidney cancer. It will have an open character, it can be painful, oppressive, explosive. Over time, anxiety increases, urinary disorders develop. Do not steam or apply heat to the affected area. Normalization of the situation is possible after the formation is eliminated.
What to do after acute back pain
If acute back pain appears for a moment, you can manage the situation yourself. If possible, you should visit a specialist and undergo an examination to reduce the risk of repeated attacks.
If the following symptoms occur, you should urgently contact a specialist:
- back pain of any nature lasts a week;
- against the background of pain, the body temperature rises;
- discomfort manifested itself at the site of previous injury and damage;
- pain spreads throughout the body;
- The sensitivity of certain areas is lost.
In these cases, pain cannot be ignored. It is important to see a doctor as soon as possible and start treatment, otherwise the disease will progress.
Which doctor should I see?
If you suspect the development of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, you should consult a traumatologist or neurologist. Specialists will conduct a survey, physical examination and determine the necessary instrumental examination. If your back hurts suddenly, you can call an ambulance. You can use pain relief gels at home.
If you suspect that pain in the lumbar region is due to kidney damage, you should consult a urologist or nephrologist. You can also consult a therapist. Any of the specialists will tell you what to do for back pain that manifests itself against the background of kidney disease, as well as prescribe additional examination. Laboratory tests of the patient's blood and urine are required to confirm or deny the disease.
If back pain in women occurs sporadically and it is related to menstruation or menopause, it is worth discussing this issue with a gynecologist. A specialist will help you choose a treatment that will relieve anxiety. In cases where it is necessary to clarify the origin of the pain syndrome, you should visit a therapist, family doctor or general practitioner. The doctor will conduct an examination and determine the primary cause of the violation.
Diagnostics
There are many factors that can cause pain in the lumbar region, so an experienced doctor cannot make an accurate diagnosis without an examination. The following methods are used as part of the diagnosis:
- x-ray examination of the painful area;
- MRI;
- Pelvic and abdominal ultrasound;
- general analysis of urine and blood;
- electroneuromyography.
If the pain occurs against the background of pathologies of the genitourinary system or the gastrointestinal tract, an endoscopic examination of the intestine may be required. If you suspect the development of neoplasms in the body, a biochemical blood test is performed.
Treatment
The mode of intervention necessary for the treatment of back pain is selected individually. The main rule is that therapy should be comprehensive, including symptomatic treatment and lifestyle changes. Treatment is selected after the doctor determines the cause of the pain.
Regardless of the cause of back pain, all patients should follow these guidelines:
- do not lift heavy objects;
- straighten your back when bending and sitting;
- to refuse heavy sports;
- if you are obese, you need to lose weight;
- change the place to sleep, make it comfortable;
- Conducting regular minutes of physical education while sitting directly in a chair or chair;
- light sports;
- do not take a steam bath, do not visit a sauna, do not take a hot bath;
- wearing a support bandage (as prescribed by the doctor).
The treatment complex for diagnosed spinal pathologies also includes the following recommendations:
- Drug effect. The use of painkillers, anti-inflammatory and decongestants is indicated. Medicines can be prescribed for oral administration and topical use in the form of pain-relieving cream, gel or ointment.
- Blockage of the lumbar region.
- Physiotherapy. Patients are prescribed physical therapy, massage, magnetic therapy and electrophoresis.
- Acupuncture, manual therapy, osteopathy.
In severe cases, when conservative intervention for spinal pathologies does not work, surgical intervention is performed.
The information in the article should not be the basis for self-diagnosis and treatment, it is provided for informational purposes only. You should not take any medicine without consulting a specialist.
Trying to figure out how to get rid of back pain and why your back hurts on your own is almost pointless. Effective influence may have a different nature depending on the choice of method. Self-treatment for many pathologies is ineffective and dangerous, as it leads to worsening of the condition.