Back pain in the lumbar region can indicate various diseases of the spine, disorders in the connections of nerve structures, injuries to internal organs, soft tissues and oncological tumors. The pain syndrome can have varying intensity and nature of manifestation. Depending on the type of pain that occurs, the pathology can be identified, but to achieve an accurate diagnosis, an examination is carried out, including a diagnosis with instruments. This allows you to find out why the pain occurs. Based on the results of the examination, the doctor chooses the treatment.
Types of pain
Back pain in the lumbar region may indicate the development of serious pathologies. But in most cases, discomfort is benign and related to 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 diagnosing back pain, the doctor pays attention to the nature of the manifestation and its duration. If the pain occurs due to a cold or simple hypothermia, it will disappear completely 2 weeks after using ointments containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory components. They won't help cure the disease, but after them it doesn't hurt to move around.
If the pain in the spine does not subside, despite the use of local drugs, and sometimes intensifies, a full examination is required. In some cases, such a symptom is an alarming sign that indicates the development of dangerous diseases. With diseases of the spine, at the time of the attack, the pain can radiate to different areas of the body: leg, arm, groin. Often such an attack is accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the body: a feeling of numbness, tingling, goosebumps, burning.
In most cases, the pain in the lower back occurs suddenly, is sharp and looks like lumbago. The patients themselves describe the pain as shooting, sharp, sometimes compressive and less intense. At the time of the attack, a person's movements are limited and it is possible to straighten the lower back only through pain. The movements do not bring relief and sometimes cause increased pain. The acute condition may last only a few minutes, but sometimes persists for a day or more.
Women and men over the age of 50, as well as people who have suffered serious injuries, experience chronic lower back pain. In this case, it is stable, 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.
Lower back pain in pregnant women
Women often experience lower back pain during pregnancy. Its appearance is associated with physical changes. As the fetus grows, around the second trimester of pregnancy, a shift in the center of gravity occurs, causing postural distortion with bending in the lumbar region. This change is not dangerous, it occurs suddenly in more than 70% of women, but it needs monitoring as it can lead to serious health problems in the future.
During pregnancy, no special treatment is carried out. To reduce the intensity of painful attacks, the doctor may recommend that the woman take topical NSAIDs. In some cases, it is recommended to use support structures to ensure proper distribution of the load on the spine.
Also, expectant mothers should not neglect the general rules; they should rest regularly and avoid wearing high-heeled shoes. Be careful when bending over to pick something up. Straighten your back and straighten, then you need to get up as slowly as possible. You should also pay attention to choosing a bed at home; it should be comfortable.
Pain in the evening and in the morning
If severe discomfort bothers a person mainly at night and appears in the morning immediately after waking up, the problem should be sought in the quality of night sleep. The manifestation of intense painful sensations is related to the incorrect position of the body at night during the period of rest. The first thing to do at home is to replace the mattress, bed and pillow. It would be good if the bed was orthopedic.
If the pain occurs 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 do a slight warm-up of your muscles and joints while lying in bed. When you regularly perform such exercises, you can forget about the occurrence of pain. It will be much easier to bend over and the feeling that your back is stiff will go away. It will be easier to get up after warming up.
It is also worth considering that the spine and lower back suffer from excess body weight. The problem of back pain occurs more often in obese people, as well as in patients who lead a sedentary life. After normalization of behavior and improvement of the quality of night rest, periodic pain subsides if it is not related to any disease.
Lower back pain radiates down the leg
Pain that occurs in the back can radiate throughout the body. It most often radiates down the leg and can affect part of the foot and reach the heel. The cause of the pain is sciatica, lumbago or radiculitis, i. e. pathologies associated with damage to nerve tissue. Due to changes in the structure of cartilage tissue, which lead to deformation of the vertebrae and formation of osteophytes, pinching of the nerve endings occurs, against the background of which attacks of sharp pain appear, radiating to the leg.
Sharp pain
The duration of acute pain attacks varies. They can last from a few minutes to several weeks. Chronic pain can appear unnoticed and intense for a person; the patient gets used to it and may not feel it when the attack passes.
Acute, unbearable attacks of pain in the lumbar region are characteristic of various diseases:
- scoliosis;
- myositis;
- arthritis;
- arthropathy;
- neurological damage;
- tumor processes;
- osteomyelitis;
- spondylitis
If the pain has a shooting character, it means that the roots of the spinal cord are involved in the pathological inflammatory process. If the pain seems monotonous, dull and spreads to the abdominal cavity, you should suspect inflammation of the liver. Severe attacks that disturb consciousness and cause its loss may signal urolithiasis or pyelonephritis.
Causes of lower back pain
Back pain in the lumbar region can have different causes. Many of them lead to the development of pathologies that significantly reduce the quality of life, in which pain becomes a constant companion. Trying to deal with the problem on your own is practically pointless and difficult; accurate diagnosis and the choice of appropriate treatment can only be made on the basis of the results of diagnostic instruments.
The most common causes of back pain:
- intervertebral herniated protrusions.
- osteochondrosis;
- disorders in the functioning 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, in the context of hypothermia, it can sting, which causes sharp pain. Other factors can trigger attacks:
- physical inactivity?
- excessive nervous tension;
- hard physical labor;
- damages and injuries.
Pain in the lower back can occur with urolithiasis; it accompanies an attack. They are also characteristic of many sexually transmitted diseases. Lumbar pain in women is not always pathological. It is a normal norm if it occurs before menstruation or at the beginning of menopause. In these cases, the conditions are not dangerous and can be controlled with the use of painkillers. With all the mentioned pathologies, it is problematic to move, bend or do any work at home.
Diseases of the spine
The main cause of lower back pain is various diseases, deformities and injuries of the spine. Pain can be of a completely different nature. The intensity of their manifestation depends on many factors and varies greatly depending on the affected part of the spine. The most common types of pain seen are:
- periodic;
- local or local;
- pull or squeeze;
- burning and cutting;
- hunting.
The intensity of symptomatic manifestations may depend on stress, sitting in an uncomfortable position in a chair, sports and physical activity. Discomfort increases when standing or sitting awkwardly. When the muscle fibers break, the lower back is seen and the whole area hurts. With such pain, stiffness of movement occurs, the symptom spreads to the back of the thigh and can reach the calves and even the feet. Much depends on the type of disease and its nature. The pathology must be treated by a specialist.
Intervertebral hernia
Intervertebral hernias of the lumbar region are often formed with osteochondrosis in the last stages of development. They usually cover mainly the lumbar region, the lower back and are formed between the 4th-5th vertebra, as well as in the sacral region. The pain syndrome in this case is unpleasant, intrusive, associated with damage to the nerve roots, and weak blood circulation occurs. The pain is similar to that experienced with radiculitis and is aggravated when standing or sitting on an uncomfortable stool. If the herniation is large, it compresses the spinal cord, a person experiences a loss of sensitivity, and in complicated cases, paralysis is possible due to the herniation entering between the intervertebral discs.
You can tell what is bothering you about intervertebral hernia by the occurrence of the following episodes:
- it is impossible to stand without support on a chair or other surface, this is due to increased loads on the intervertebral discs.
- Lying on your stomach is extremely uncomfortable.
- a feeling of stiffness in the back;
- it's hard to lean forward.
- The arch of the back is weak because of the pain that prevents movement.
Hernias are treated conservatively and surgically. The appropriate method is determined depending on the patient's condition. Conservative treatment of the disease in advanced cases is ineffective.
Rachiocampsis
With small curvatures, pain does not appear. A feeling of fatigue may occur; a person wants to spend more time lying down because the pain becomes stronger when standing or sitting. Various neurological disorders occur with second-degree deformities. At this stage, pain appears, which can be moderate and moderately intense, occurring on the left and right. As the disease progresses, the discomfort intensifies during the day, in advanced forms it becomes unbearable, and is not relieved by local and systemic painkillers. It is difficult to completely get rid of the manifestation, curvature can be cured quickly.
Osteoporosis
This disease often occurs in men and women over 50 years of age. The pathology is characterized by a rapid loss of bone tissue. Due to this loss, fragility occurs, the vertebrae become less strong, and damage is possible even with minor injuries, physical exercise or lifting heavy weights. Patients bend only out of discomfort and return from a bent position with severe pain. In order for a person to pick up something from the floor, it is better to sit and straighten your back, then straighten. If you sit first, the health risks of osteoporosis will be reduced.
Osteoporosis pain is not only caused by fractures. The disease is dangerous, it can be used to register a disability group.
Injuries of the spine
The most common injury is a bruise. If it is mild, there is moderate discomfort. It tends to intensify during the day with movement, causing local swelling with hematomas and bleeding. The symptom always increases with movement and exercise. In severe cases, the problem not only hurts, but can be accompanied by neurological disorders, especially if 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 occurs, which subsides after local use of anti-inflammatory compounds. The pain is always local, the bruised area is swollen and bleeding is possible.
If, in combination with the described symptoms, pain in the lumbar region on the left is accompanied by the appearance of blood in the urine, it means that there is damage to the kidney. The discomfort will be more intense; with severe injuries to the organs of the excretory system, urination is weakened or becomes impossible. Hematomas may appear on 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;
- post-traumatic?
- Contact;
- hematogenous.
In acute cases, the disease progresses with lightning speed. It is characterized by increasing manifestations of pain that intensify during the day, accompanied by high body temperature and a very sharp deterioration of the general condition. The nature of the discomfort can be different: contraction, pressure, explosion. Seizures are severe, restricting movement and causing someone to freeze in a position because it hurts to move. In chronic pathologies, fistulas may appear with the formation of purulent discharge.
An uncommon but dangerous disease of the spine is tuberculosis of the spine. Already at the initial stage of development, it causes deep and very strong pains below, which reach their peak after exercise. The gait of men and women becomes stiff. As the bony structures are destroyed, the nerve roots are compressed, the pain becomes searing and spreads down the body.
With an epidural abscess of the spine, the pain is quite deep, very strong, accompanied by chills and muscle tension. In the context of progress, the radicular syndrome intensifies, paresis appears and the function of the pelvic organs is disturbed.
Muscle damage
Painful discomfort in the lower lumbar region can occur after physical activity, weight lifting or intense workouts. It also manifests itself during a prolonged stay in a static position with tension in the lower back and gluteal muscles.
With such a lesion, discomfort manifests itself less strongly at rest and after rest, after applying a warming ointment. Muscle damage or myositis occurs not only against the background of infections. It can be caused by stress and hypothermia of the body, severe poisoning and metabolic disorders. The condition is most often accompanied by pain.
Myofascial syndrome
Myofascial syndrome is classified as a painful condition in which lower back discomfort is associated with painful muscle tension. During an attack, trigger points appear in the affected area. The sources of pain are the muscles and fascia, the connective tissues. To treat this pathology, specialists prescribe painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and sedatives.
In some cases, it is indicated for the treatment of the disease with the use of centrally acting muscle relaxants. Such treatments are designed to reduce tonic tension, reduce arousal, and cause the muscles involved in the spasm to relax so that the person can bend. In some cases, specialists resort to point blocking by administering anesthetics.
Tumors of the spine, kidneys
Tumors of the spine and spinal cord are quite rare. The frequency of detection of such diseases does not exceed 0. 5% of the total number of diagnosed cancer pathologies. Neoplasms can be either benign or malignant. Depending on this, the prognosis varies significantly.
With this pathology, the characteristic symptom is pain in the lumbar region. With a benign etiology, the discomfort is relieved by the use of drugs. If the formation is malignant, the treatment must be complex, often limited to surgery.
Also, lower back pain on the left can be identified with kidney cancer. It will have an intense character, it can hurt, press, burst. Discomfort increases over time and urinary disorders develop. Do not steam or apply heat to the affected area. Normalization of the situation is possible after the removal of the formation.
What to do after acute back pain
If acute back pain occurs for a while, the condition can be controlled on your own. If possible, you should visit a specialist and undergo an examination to reduce the risk of a repeated attack.
It is necessary to urgently contact a specialist if the following symptoms appear:
- Lower back pain of any nature persists for a week.
- against the background of pain, the body temperature rises.
- discomfort manifested at the site of previous injuries and damages.
- the pain spreads throughout the body.
- The sensitivity of some areas is lost.
In these cases, the 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 contact?
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 prescribe the necessary organ examination. If your back suddenly hurts, you can call an ambulance. You can use pain relief gel at home.
If you suspect that your low back pain is due to kidney damage, you should see a urologist or nephrologist. You can also see a therapist. Any of the specialists will tell you what to do about lower back pain manifested in the context of kidney disease and will also prescribe additional examination. Laboratory tests of the patient's blood and urine are required to confirm or rule out the disease.
If lower back pain occurs sporadically in women, and is associated with menstruation or menopause, it is worth raising this issue with a gynecologist. A specialist will help you choose a treatment that will eliminate the discomfort. In cases where you need 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 preliminary cause of the violation.
Diagnostics
There are many factors that can cause pain in the lumbar region, so even an experienced doctor cannot make an accurate diagnosis without an examination. The following methods are used as part of the diagnosis:
- X-ray of the painful area.
- MRI?
- Ultrasound of pelvic and abdominal organs.
- general analysis of urine and blood.
- electroneuromyography.
If pain occurs in the context of pathologies of the genitourinary system or gastrointestinal tract, an endoscopic examination of the intestine may be required. If there is suspicion of the development of neoplasms in the body, a biochemical blood test is performed.
Treatment
The intervention scheme necessary for the treatment of low back pain is selected individually. The main rule is that treatment should be comprehensive, including symptomatic treatment and lifestyle changes. The treatment is chosen after the doctor determines the cause of the pain.
Regardless of the causes of back pain, all patients should follow these rules:
- do not lift heavy objects.
- Bend over and straighten your back when sitting.
- give up strenuous sports.
- If you are obese, you should lose weight.
- change the place to sleep, make it comfortable.
- Conduct regular minutes of physical therapy while sitting directly in a chair or armchair.
- light sports;
- do not take a steam bath, do not visit the sauna, do not take a hot bath.
- wearing a support bandage (as prescribed by a doctor).
For diagnosed pathologies of the spine, the therapeutic complex also includes the following recommendations:
- Medicinal 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 a 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 produce results, surgery 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 medicines without consulting a specialist.
Trying to figure out how to get rid of lower back pain and why your lower back hurts is almost pointless. It can be of a different nature, depending on which effective method of influence is chosen. Self-medication for many pathologies is ineffective and dangerous, as it leads to a worsening of the condition.