Because of work or hobby, do you spend a lot of time in a sitting position, or do you exercise a lot in the gym? Everything was fine before, but now you have frequent pains in your back and lower back? So maybe you should see a doctor for help? What causes back pain? Which doctor should I go to and how to deal with a wound? We will talk about this and much more later in the article.
What causes the pain?
So, "What should you do if your back hurts and what can cause it? " Let’s take a closer look at this question. There may be more than enough reasons. The fact is that the pain in the back and lower back can signal a number of diseases, both of the spine itself and of the internal organs. This is due to the fact that many nerve endings that surround all the internal organs leave the spine. Therefore, according to the localization of pain in a particular area of the ridge, we can talk about some specific diseases.
Causes of occurrence
What do low back pain say and which doctor should I contact? Both habits and diseases can cause pain in the lower back. The first are:
- Permanent sedentary work. IT employees and drivers are at risk.
- Continuous work on foot.
- Frequent great physical activity. Athletes, especially weightlifters, are at risk.
- Sedentary lifestyle.
- A special risk group includes pregnant women and women who have recently given birth.
- Overweight.
As you can see, everything is simple with habits. As for the second case, often the pain in the lumbar region can be caused by diseases. Here you can also highlight the diseases of the spine and diseases in which pain in the lumbar region is just a symptom. The first include osteochondrosis, spondyloarthritis, intervertebral hernia, and elongation.
The second group contains the following possible causes of back pain:
- Crest fracture due to trauma.
- A fracture caused by osteoporosis.
- A tumor localized in the spinal canal.
- Prolonged muscle strain.
- Narrow structure of the spinal canal (quite rare).
- Various complications during pregnancy.
- Various arthritis like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis.
- Spinal deformities, for example, kyphosis, scoliosis, Scheuermann-Mau disease, kyphoscoliosis.
- Spinal tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, discitis.
- Urolithiasis, pyelonephritis.
- Ovarian cancer, endometriosis, ovarian cyst.
When should you see a doctor?
Mild back pain, which passes quickly and is the result of prolonged exertion, is the norm. But if the lower back hurts for a fairly long period or the pain is periodic, then it arises spontaneously, then disappears, then it is worth sounding the alarm. You should also go to the hospital immediately after a severe back injury. It should be understood that back pain can be accompanied by pain in the legs or feet. Also, part of the leg or buttocks may become numb. In this case, you have something serious and should be examined as soon as possible.
You yourself are unlikely to diagnose yourself, so you should go to the hospital, but which doctor should you go to? Someone says a chiropractor, and someone says a neurologist is more experienced. Both options are correct, however, it would be more accurate to consult a neurologist because he is the one who will be able to describe and perform the entire course of diagnosing the disease correctly. And in this case, the cause will be more accurately identified and there is every chance of successfully coping with it. So, taking the view of a neurologist, with pain in the lower back, based on the intensity and strength of the pain, you can roughly determine the cause of its occurrence.
Sharp pains
Acute back pain in both men and women is the result of a recent injury (fall, muscle strain, shock, sudden movements). Also, the reason may be long-term work in an uncomfortable position or prolonged holding and lifting of heavy things. And, finally, do not forget about a cold spine, due to hypothermia or prolonged exposure to a draft. Here you can easily treat low back pain with folk remedies.
Lumbago and dislocation of the intervertebral discs can be distinguished separately from the usual ones. The first disease suffers from people whose field of activity involves constant heavy physical work, which is why the lower back hurts in men. According to people, the disease is called "lumbago". It usually stops on its own with a break or after a few days. However, it can easily last up to a month, so it requires at least home treatment for back pain.
Acute and severe pain in the lower back appears even when the intervertebral discs are displaced. The disease can be caused by various injuries, hard physical work or an illness such as osteochondrosis. You will not be able to undergo medical treatment at home. Hospitalization and full diagnosis are required. It can even go as far as surgery.
Strong pain
Severe pain differs from acute pain in that it is of a more prolonged nature and is the result of a type of disease associated with the musculoskeletal system. These include sciatica and lumbar spine osteochondrosis. With them, the pain of the girdle in the lower back is felt during sneezing, coughing, sitting, walking, in a word, the back hurts during every movement. Also, pain can be given to the lower extremities and they can even numb. Here it is no longer necessary to run, but to fly to the doctor who attends for an examination.
Pain
As a rule, the back can ache from a strong strong tension of the spinal muscles. You can relieve back pain simply by resting for a few hours. But you should not fly in the clouds, you should be on alert, because your back can ache from severe hypothermia. Thus, a more chronic myositis disease may develop, in which the psoas muscles become inflamed. In this case, a few days of rest are required, as well as to know how to remove the pain.
chronic
It is often caused by deforming spondylosis. The main symptoms of this disease are pain in the lower back that radiates to the buttocks or legs. Numbness of the lower extremities may also occur. Other diseases that cause similar symptoms include: cancer, impaired metabolism, ankylosing spondylitis.
He moved
Such painful sensations are not the result of a disease of the back, but the result of a disease of any organ entering the dorsal region. This includes diseases of the pelvic organs of the male and female half, as well as diseases of the colon, kidneys, pancreas and various types of tumors.
How is the treatment performed?
So how do we get rid of back pain? First, you need to go to the hospital and make an appointment with a specialist for an examination. After the examination, the attending physician should refer you for an examination to confirm or deny the diagnosis he or she suspects. In order to find out what it might be, they may send you to do an x-ray of the spine. Today, a more advanced method called myelography is used.
This method allows you to examine in detail the pathways leading to the spinal cord. Detects all pathologies in the presence of a decrease in road permeability. It is worth noting that before the radiograph, you will be injected into the spinal cord with a syringe with a xenon substance, which will highlight everything in the figure. This method is quite expensive, but very effective and almost always helps to find out why your back hurts. In addition, MRI, ultrasound, ECG and CT may be prescribed. In additional cases, other tests may be required, such as a complete blood count, etc.
treatment
In most cases, medications are excellent for back pain. It aims to relieve pain, eliminate and further prevent inflammatory processes, improve blood circulation and rejuvenate damaged tissue. Thus, once we have learned why the lower back hurts, we can get an overview of how to treat back pain.
Conventionally, the whole treatment can be divided into 3 phases, respectively: the beginning of the treatment, the treatment itself and the end of the therapy. At any stage, medications can act as drops, as well as in the form of blockages and injections. Treatment of back pain in the first stage should eliminate the pain itself, reduce swelling and inflammation, relieve spasms and relax the muscles. In the second stage, you need to completely get rid of the cause of the disease. Here, the treatment is mainly performed on site. Oils, mixtures for compresses are used. In addition, physiotherapy is recommended.
The third stage consists of injections, which increase the regeneration of damaged tissues and nourish them with all the necessary ingredients. Thus, the full functionality of the segment is restored. At all stages, the choice of medication and therapy depends on your diagnosis and the choice of attending physician. Self-medication is strongly discouraged.
Physiotherapy
Once the cause of the pain has been accurately identified, treatment can be used using physiotherapy methods. Based on their reasons, the following methods of treatment can be distinguished:
- Ultrasound.
- Laser therapy.
- Exposure to electricity, etc.
Physical therapy is more focused on how to treat back pain in the early stages. In the later stages of the disease, it can be recommended as an adjunctive method of treatment. The therapy you need is prescribed only by the attending physician after the examination.
Surgical intervention
In the vast majority of cases, back pain will not require surgery. However, if you have had pain for a long time and over time they only get worse, and you categorically refuse to consult a doctor, then this method of treatment is also possible. In this case, most likely, general anesthesia will be used, where a lytic mixture is used, in order to completely immobilize the patient. The operation plan itself will be developed by the surgeon based on the diagnostic data.
Popular methods
To the question "How to relieve back pain? " Traditional medicine can also answer. Here, depending on how severe the pain symptoms are, various home-made ointments, lotions, etc. can be used. The main focus of such medicines is to relieve pain and inflammation. In most cases, treating the lower back with folk remedies is justified only as first aid. With prolonged self-medication, without knowing the root cause of the pain, the disease can get much worse. Next, some folk remedies.
- A compress with minced horseradish and radish mixed with sour cream is placed on the injured area of the back. From above, all this is covered with a paper napkin, and the entire lower back is tied with a scarf. Such a compress perfectly eliminates the symptoms of pain and relieves muscle spasms.
- When your back hurts, hot compresses from an infusion prepared with a mixture of medical injuries will help. This includes thyme, chamomile, St. John's wort, and black elderberry. The compress is applied at night. The affected area is wrapped in a warm cloth. It is advisable to perform the treatment at night. An identical compress is prepared from an infusion of dried burdock leaves.
- Another treatment with folk remedies is based on the healing properties of horse chestnut. First you need to grind the chestnuts into powder. Then mix with camphor oil and melted fat. The ingredients are given in approximately the same amount. The resulting oil is spread on a slice of black bread and applied to the back of the wound as a compress. Such a drug can improve blood circulation, has nutritional and anti-inflammatory properties.
But remember, no matter how well the folk remedy appears, it is still necessary to consult a doctor. After all, self-medication is always performed at your own risk and peril. In addition, it may turn out that the treatment procedures bring only short-term relief, after which the pain will intensify from time to time.
Prophylaxis
When the back hurts in the lumbar region, it is too late to engage in prevention. But in order not to face such a problem for as long as possible, you need to think about how to prevent it and what leads to it? It has already been described above that people who lead a sedentary or sedentary lifestyle, athletes, especially weightlifters and overweight people are at risk.
Therefore, the best prevention of the disease will be the obligatory morning exercises, sports, therapeutic exercises, reduction of the load on the back, massage, food control, etc. Also, to remove what can cause pain in the lower back, periodic checkups planned with participants the doctor will help
First aid
What to do if your lower back hurts too badly, and it is too far to go to the hospital? How to quickly relieve back pain in order to wait for the doctor? To do this, you need to know some first aid methods. Of course, they will not have a healing effect, but they will help to cope with the pain. So we do everything in stages:
- We lie on our backs, on a firm bed or on the floor. The blanket should be removed from the bed.
- At the same time, the legs are raised and bent at the knees. For added convenience, place a rolled up pillow or blanket under your raised legs.
- We take the usual dose of painkillers or anti-inflammatory medications we have.
- We lie down and try not to make sudden movements.
- During the procedure, do not forget to call a doctor at home.
- In most cases, you will need rest and bed rest for the following days. After the doctor's visit, call work and notify your supervisor.
- Try to avoid spicy and smoked foods during and after treatment.