Why back pain and how to deal with it

There is no person who has not experienced back pain at least once in their life, which limits and limits one's movement for a while. According to medical practice, complaints of low back pain or pain are considered the most common and can be encountered at the most inopportune time. It is worth remembering that with symptoms of constant pain in the back region, you should consult a specialist to determine the exact cause of immobility and prescribe effective treatment. If not treated promptly, serious complications can arise.

back pain when working sedentary

Cause of pain

In fact, the reasons for pain in the lower back and in the back can be very diverse, it is an independent problem and a sign of preliminary diseases of the spine. The main underlying causes of painful sensations are:

  • Excessive mechanical load. About 85% of back pain can be caused by overexertion of the lower back. The so-called "back fatigue" occurs not only when playing sports, but also when constantly sitting in front of the computer, thereby causing the muscles to become heavy and overworked.
  • Disc herniation. A fairly common disease that occurs mainly in people over the age of 40 and occurs as a result of the discs collapsing. This process contributes to the compression of nerve roots leading to severe back pain.
  • Fracture. 4% of patients were diagnosed with the root cause of back pain. According to medical statistics, compression fractures are quite common in elderly people with osteonecrosis. The disease is characterized by bone deterioration, i. e. loss of their mass and density, so there is a high risk of vertebral fractures.
  • Congenital malformations of the spine. Pathologies of this type appear at birth and can accompany a person throughout life. Misalignment occurs in the form of excess or missing vertebrae and is most common in the lumbar spine.
  • Degenerative spine. With spinal disease, the displaced vertebrae cause sharp pain in the upper back.
  • Gynecological diseases. The female genitals are infected with severe back pain.
  • Pregnancy. The pain can be present both in the early stages of pregnancy and later in life. This is due to a change in center of gravity, softening or stretching of ligaments, an increase in body weight and an increase in body weight.
  • back pain during pregnancy
  • Infectious Diseases. With the inflammatory process in the musculoskeletal system of the back, severe pains can occur, spreading to the shoulders, neck and even to the forehead. The pain increases with various movements, making it quite difficult to turn your head and bend over.
  • Intercostal neuralgia. With this disease, the pain occurs precisely in the intercostal region or can be localized in the lower back, below the collarbone and in other places where nerve endings are compressed.
  • Spinal tumors. Usually, with this disease, the pain occurs precisely in the lower or middle part of the back, intensifying in the morning upon waking and sometimes even at night.
  • Pathology of internal organs. Due to the location of pain in a particular region of the back, their intensity and duration, one can predict diseases of a particular organ.

Alarm

When to contact a specialist? What pain is a serious sign of impaired normal function of the spine? Medical assistance is needed when the victim feels:

  1. sudden sharp pain in the back for no apparent reason;
  2. severe pain when lying down or at night;
  3. painful sensations after an injury or bruise;
  4. back pain accompanied by high fever, tingling sensation in the chest area, dizziness, numbness, and other symptoms;
  5. acute pain that does not get better within 2-3 days;
  6. chronic mild pain that does not go away in 2-2. 5 weeks;
  7. Painful sensations are brought to the extremities at the same time, while significantly limiting a person's movement.
Acupuncture for back pain

A specialist should be consulted immediately if back pain is experienced for the first time in someone who has been diagnosed with cancer or osteoporosis, if the pain is felt after drinking too much alcohol, after taking anesthetics or afterwhen taking steroids.

It is worth remembering that the pain that appears in the back does not mean that there are any serious pathologies. It is not recommended to independently diagnose diseases and pathologies of the spine, and even more should not prescribe treatment or perform physiotherapeutic exercises without a specialist.

Diagnose

To determine the exact cause of back pain, specialists conduct an oral examination, as well as a physical examination of the patient, including imaging of the back and assessment of the victim's ability to walk, sit, or lie down. . If necessary, a reflex test is performed using a nerve hammer. The data obtained will help pinpoint the exact source of the pain. If doctors have doubts about the diagnosis or suspect an advanced tumor, tests such as:

  • X-ray. The images can be used to pinpoint the exact location of the bones, allowing you to see the condition of your joints, cracks, and fractures. Such a study is not appropriate for patients with suspected disease involving muscle tissue, spinal cord, or nerve endings.
  • MRI and CT. Magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography allows you to determine if a patient has conditions such as: hernias, diseases of bone and cartilage tissue, problems with blood vessels, nerves and tendons.
  • Osteopathy method. Such a study is rarely prescribed. Thanks to the method of bone scintigraphy, it is possible to identify tumors of bone tissue, fractures caused by compression.
  • Check the nerves. This analysis measures the electrical impulses triggered by the nerves.
X-ray to diagnose back pain

Treatments

Regardless of the intensity of back pain, you should consult a doctor, who can accurately diagnose the cause of their occurrence and accurately determine methods of alleviating the victim's condition. Of course, it is necessary to weaken the pain initially, which can be both sharp, sudden, and cyclical. Quite often, pain is felt when the joints are deformed or the back muscles are stretched. When a sharp pain is felt, doctors advise the victim to lie down, which will help relieve the victim's condition and reduce the load on the spine. After that, you should limit physical activity for a day or two.

Acute flare-ups of pain can be quelled with an ice pack. This method can significantly reduce puffiness, if it appears. In rare cases, ice massage is used, i. e. massaging the painful area with ice cubes for 7-8 minutes. This therapy is done for no more than 1-2 days, after which doctors recommend using hot compress method, which is done at the expense of hot compress or hot towel soaked first. You can reduce muscle spasms in your back by stretching your spine, which is done even in a supine position. To do this, you need to press your knees to your chest, put some pressure on them, and then stretch and release. This exercise should be repeated several times. Pain relievers will help keep your back pain free, which can reduce inflammation around the pain.

Physiotherapy for back pain

Non-traditional methods to alleviate the victim's condition are rarely used in traditional medicine, but they are still considered effective and effective. Back pain can be cured by methods such as acupuncture, vacuum therapy, manual therapy, chiropractic and other folk remedies. It should be noted that such methods of improving the condition of the victim are applied only to pain caused by diseases of the musculoskeletal system. In any case, before using one or another alternative medicine method, you should consult your doctor. To get rid of back pain permanently, it is advisable to eliminate the root cause or pathology, then proceed to completely cure the diseases of the muscles, bones and joints of the back.

Back pain prevention

To avoid different types of back pain, regardless of their original cause, doctors recommend following these simple yet effective tips:

  • Do not lift weights. When a person lifts a heavy object, the mass of which is many times greater than the norm, the discs and blood vessels are strongly pressed. Doctors do not recommend simultaneously lifting an object weighing 15 kg, and even more so to rotate the body along with this weight to the right or to the left.
  • Do not stay in a sitting position for long periods of time. If there are pathological changes in the structure of the spine, it is necessary to limit sitting in chairs, in chairs. With this position of the body, a person begins to sag, quite often putting one foot on another, which contributes to uneven load on the discs and joints. If your main job involves long hours of sitting at a computer, you should get up for hours, walk around, and lean to the right and left.
  • Hypothermia should be avoided. The pain is caused by muscle spasms in the back, which are often caused by hypothermia. Dress warmly, avoid drafts, cold winds and strong air conditioning.
  • You need to move more. The wrong choice of many people is to significantly limit physical activity to maintain the health of the spine. When not moving, the back muscles atrophy over time, so the entire load is transferred from the corset to the spine. In such a situation, the tissues of the disc and articular cartilage are destroyed. A great option to restore back health, strengthen muscles, and stretch the disc space would be systematic stretching exercises, swimming, walking at a moderate pace.
  • Timely treatment. It is not necessary to initiate spinal diseases, such as spondylolisthesis or spondylolisthesis, which lead to serious and often incurable complications. Once the disease is diagnosed, treatment should be started immediately, which can alleviate the condition.
  • Therapeutic procedures. To prevent diseases of the spine, therapists and rehabilitation therapists should participate in various therapeutic courses, namely: massage, spa, gymnastics, yoga.
exercises for back pain

Backaches can occur in people of all ages and in a variety of circumstances, and significantly limit a person's range of motion. To prevent the appearance of chills, you should be more active, take care of your health and do not forget to exercise.