It is difficult to imagine a person over 30 years old who has never experienced aches and pains in the lower back.Spending more and more time sitting, in addition to physical inactivity, “causes” spinal problems.It is good when the pain is isolated, short-lived and passes quickly without a trace.It is worse when the pain grows, is unbearable and does not go away for a long time.This sign should be taken seriously.Often this is a signal from the body that it is developing a serious illness that will require attention, effort and even financial expenses.
To prevent the development of such events, it is necessary to know the factors and causes of diseases that can trigger the development of such pain.
We hope that our popular article will help you avoid the development of serious problems in the lower back and help you maintain your ability to work 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 your body to one or more of the following factors:
- Lack of physical activity for a long time;
- Excessive physical activity after a long rest;
- Prolonged sedentary work;
- Nutrition errors;
- Prolonged static and monotonous loads on the spine, vibrations;
- weightlifting;
- Professional sports (wrestling, boxing, weightlifting);
- Smoking and alcohol.
Any of these factors can be eliminated or their influence significantly reduced, which will prevent the development of chronic low back pain.
Causes of low back pain.
The causes of low back pain are usually 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 the adjacent vertebrae;
- Spondylarthrosis.This pathology affects the joints that are 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, etc.);
- Oncological processes in the vertebral or paravertebral space.Low back pain can often 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 of the vertebrae in the lumbar region, including fractures;
- Diseases of the stomach and intestines;
- Diseases of organs and systems of the pelvis (renal colic, sexually transmitted infections, adnexitis, ureaplasmosis);
- Cerebrovascular disorders of spinal circulation.
Causes of chronic and acute low 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 treatment tactics of 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.Often its symptom is a monotonous pain;
- Tumors and their metastases.Carrying out differential diagnoses to exclude oncological processes from the list of causes that caused chronic low back pain is carried out with the exclusion of lymphoma, multiple myeloma and 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.Often its symptom is persistent pain in the lumbar region;
- Additionally, tuberculin tests may be prescribed to exclude the causative agent of tuberculosis in the patient (exclusion of spinal tuberculosis).
To clarify the diagnosis, additional studies may be performed in the form of x-ray, myelography and biopsy.
Causes of acute low back pain.
- Tearing or stretching of the muscles 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 severe pain).As such, coxarathrosis does not cause lower back pain, but it does cause unbearable pain that radiates to the legs.
Low back pain treatment
The appearance of low 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 carry out treatment in a hospital environment.
Low back pain can have various causes, often not related to damage to the spine, 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 consulting a medical professional as soon as possible will help you avoid the development of 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.