It is difficult to imagine a person over 30 who has never felt discomfort and pain in the lower back.The increase in sitting time, in addition to physical inactivity, “causes” back problems.It's good when the pain is isolated, short-lived and passes quickly without leaving a trace.It is worse when the pain is increasing, unbearable and does not go away for a long time.This sign must be taken seriously.This is often a signal from the body that it is developing a serious illness that will require attention, effort and even financial expenses.
To avoid the development of such events, it is necessary to know the factors and causes of these diseases that can trigger the development of these pains.
We hope that our popular article will help you avoid the development of serious events in the lower back and maintain your ability to work for a long time.
Risk factors for low back pain
If you have pain in your lower back, you have probably exposed that part of your 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;
- Errors in nutrition;
- Long-term static and monotonous loads on the spine, vibration;
- Weight lifting;
- Professional sports (wrestling, boxing, weightlifting);
- Smoking and alcohol.
Any of these factors can be removed or their influence can be significantly reduced, which will give you the opportunity to avoid the development of chronic low back pain.
Causes of low back pain
The causes of low back pain are generally divided into secondary and primary.
Main causes of low back pain
In fact, they are a pathological process predetermined by musculoskeletal changes.In low back pain practice, they are much more common than secondary causes of low back pain.As a rule, the primary 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 the mobility of the spine in the lumbar region.
Secondary causes of low back pain
- Deterioration of the state of bone structures due to metabolic disorders of the lumbar spine (osteoporosis and so on);
- Oncological processes in the vertebral or paravertebral space.Often, low back pain can cause distant metastases;
- Spine curvature;
- 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 pelvic organs and systems (renal colic, sexually transmitted infections, adnexitis, ureaplasmosis);
- Stroke disorders of spinal circulation.
Causes of chronic and acute low back pain
Back pain in the lower back can be acute and chronic.These two factors must be differentiated, as the presence of one or the other will determine the treatment tactics for the underlying disease.In some cases, this can even prevent the development of complications and the chronicity of the disease (its transition to a chronic form).
Causes of chronic low back pain
- Bechterew disease (ankylosing spondylitis);
- Deforming spondylosis.Often its symptom is dull pain;
- Tumors and their metastases.Carrying out differential diagnoses 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 directly in the spinal cord and in the space between the dura mater and the spinal cord);
- Osteomyelitis.Often its symptom is a dull pain in the lower back;
- In addition, tuberculin skin tests may be prescribed to exclude the causative agent of tuberculosis in the patient (exclusion of spinal tuberculosis).
To clarify the diagnosis, additional studies can be carried out in the form of radiography, myelography and biopsy.
Causes of acute low back pain
- Tear 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 (a rare pathology characterized by intense pain).As such, Coxarthrosis does not cause lower back pain, but it does cause unbearable pain that radiates to the legs.
Low back pain treatment
The appearance of lower back pain, regardless of its location or intensity, should be a reason to seek qualified medical help.The high intensity of the pain syndrome should be a reason to call a doctor at home or look for an ambulance.
The best solution would be to undergo treatment in a hospital environment.
Low back pain can have different causes, often unrelated to damage to the spine and, therefore, to differentiate these causes, the help of specialists such as:
- gynecologist;
- gastroenterologist;
- infectious disease specialist;
- pulmonologist;
- urologist;
- nephrologist;
- cardiologist and proctologist.
It is important to remember that getting advice from a professional doctor as soon 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.