It is difficult to imagine a person over 30 years old who has never experienced discomfort and pain in the lower back.Spending more and more time sitting, in addition to physical inactivity, “gives” us spinal problems.It is good when the pain is isolated, short-lived and quickly passes without a trace.It is worse when the pain increases, is unbearable and does not go away for a long time.This signal must be taken seriously.This is often the body's signal 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 the factors and causes of those diseases that can trigger the development of such pain.
We hope that our popular article will help you avoid the development of serious events for the lower back and maintain your working capacity for a long time.
Risk factors for low back pain
If you experience pain in your lower back, 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 break;
- Prolonged sedentary work;
- Nutritional errors;
- Long-term static and monotonous loads on the spine, vibrations;
- Weightlifting;
- Professional sports (wrestling, boxing, weightlifting);
- Smoking and alcohol.
Any of these factors can be removed or their influence can be significantly reduced, which will allow you to avoid the development of chronic lower back pain.
Causes of lower back pain
The causes of lower back pain are generally divided into secondary and primary causes.
Main causes of low back pain
In fact, this is a pathological process predetermined by musculoskeletal changes.In practice, low back pain is much more common than secondary causes of low 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 bone and cartilaginous structures of the lumbar spine.Sometimes the process affects both the intervertebral discs and adjacent vertebrae;
- Spondyloarthrosis.This pathology affects the joints responsible for mobility of the spine at the lumbar level.
Secondary causes of low back pain
- Deterioration in the condition of bone structures due to metabolic disorders of the lumbar spine (osteoporosis, etc.);
- 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 injuries to the vertebrae of the lumbar region, including fractures;
- Diseases of the stomach and intestines;
- Diseases of the organs and systems of the pelvis (renal colic, sexually transmitted infections, adnexitis, ureaplasmosis);
- Cerebral vascular disorders of the spinal circulation.
Causes of chronic and acute lower back pain
Back pain in the lumbar region can be both acute and chronic.These two factors must be distinguished, since the presence of one or the other will determine the tactics of treating the underlying disease.In some cases, this can even stop the development of complications and chronicity of the disease (its transition to a chronic form).
Causes of chronic low back pain
- Bechterew disease (ankylosing spondylitis);
- Spondylosis deformans.Its symptom is often aching and monotonous pain;
- Tumors and their metastases.Carrying out differential diagnostics in order to exclude oncological processes from the list of causes causing chronic low back pain is carried out with the exclusion of lymphoma, multiple myeloma, cancerous lesions of the body of various localizations;
- Oncological formations of the spinal cord (located both directly in the spinal cord and in the space between the dura mater and the spinal cord);
- Osteomyelitis.Its symptom is often a shooting pain in the lumbar region;
- Additionally, tuberculin tests may be prescribed in order to exclude the causative agent of tuberculosis in the patient (exclusion of spinal tuberculosis).
In order to clarify the diagnosis, additional studies can be carried out in the form of x-ray, myelography and biopsy.
Causes of acute lower back pain
- Tearing or stretching of the muscle mass along the lumbar spine;
- Spinal fractures;
- Displacement of intervertebral discs;
- Facet syndromes (damage to the nerve root in places where it is not anatomically covered by the bony structure of the spine);
- Epidural abscesses;
- Coxarthrosis (rare pathology characterized by intense pain).As such, hip osteoarthritis does not cause lower back pain, but it causes unbearable pain that radiates up to the legs.
Treatment of lower back pain
The appearance of lower back pain, regardless of its location or intensity, should be a reason to consult a qualified doctor.The high intensity of the pain syndrome should be a reason to call a doctor at home or request an ambulance.
The best solution would be to carry out treatment in a hospital environment.
Lower back pain can have various causes, often unrelated to spinal injuries, and therefore, to differentiate between these causes you may need the help of specialists such as:
- gynecologist;
- gastroenterologist;
- infectious disease specialist;
- pulmonologist;
- urologist;
- nephrologist;
- cardiologist and proctologist.
It is important to remember that seeking advice from a professional doctor as quickly as possible will help you avoid developing complications.You should not self-medicate and use folk remedies for pain in the lumbar spine only on the recommendation of a surgeon, orthopedist or vertebrologist.