Back pain, according to statistics, around 80% of people of different age categories face this unpleasant and scary symptom at least once in their life. At the same time, it is important to be able to distinguish between situations in which painful sensations should be disturbing and when you should not be concerned.
Of course, if the onset of pain was preceded by physical exertion or a minor blow, in 2-3 days it will dissipate, there is no reason for concern. But if your back hurts a lot, for a long time, and the pains are not similar to muscle aches, hurry up to see a doctor.
Why does my back hurt?
The causes of back pain are varied, from minor external factors to the development of all kinds of pathological processes, of which there are also many.
At the same time, doctors still identify 3 common reasons that are the most common:
- Nonspecific pain: Combines a number of factors, including muscle pain caused by incorrect posture, prolonged stay in one (uncomfortable) position, overexertion due toexcessive physical strain on the spine and back. . . . This point can also include painful sensations that arose after hypothermia, in such cases they say: "cold back".
- Irradiation pain: occurs less frequently, but cannot be ruled out. This includes diseases of internal organs located in other parts of the body. For example, the formation of tumors and pulmonary tuberculosis, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, heart and others. In each of these cases, the pain can radiate (give way) to the back in different parts of the back.
- Mechanical damage and pathology of the spine: pain in the spine also occurs due to a large number of factors, we are talking about pathological processes. These include any disease of the spine, starting with injuries (bruises, fractures, etc. ) and ending with osteochondrosis, radiculitis, hernia formation, and other pathologies of the spine that affect the spine.
These are the main causes of back pain, summarized. All of these problems threaten severe spinal dysfunction and require a mandatory visit to a doctor.
In some cases, without proper treatment, there is a risk of developing serious problems that threaten serious complications. If the tissues of the spine or spinal cord are affected, there is a risk of paralysis of the extremities or even the whole body.
Symptoms
To see a doctor in a timely manner and correctly describe your complaints, you need to have an idea of the symptoms.
At the same time, the symptoms of back pain may differ slightly, and if we consider that pain itself is a symptom, we must highlight its main manifestations, which differ in nature and location:
- By nature, painful sensations are: sharp, dull, stabbing, cutting, painful, pulling, burning, etc.
- Painful sensations are strong, moderate and weak, these indicators are individual for each person. However, they should be taken into account, for example, when defining treatments for chronic back pain.
- Back pain in the whole spine is quite rare. Most often, the painful sensations are punctual or assigned to a separate section of the spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar).
- However, it also happens that pain radiates in the upper part of the spine (or any other). In this case, the pain syndrome affects other parts of the back, it is often called ambulation.
- As a general rule of thumb, acute pain in the spine is more uncomfortable and affects everyday life more, but is often wavy and easier to treat. At the same time, the dull pains are less intense, but they are constantly present, set for a longer period, and respond worse to therapy.
These are general guidelines for painful sensations in different areas of the back. But in addition to understanding the general symptoms of pain, it is also important to know that, depending on the disease, the clinical picture can change. So, in one case, the pain is felt between the vertebrae of the cervical spine, in another case it is localized in the lumbar region and has a different character.
For this reason, it is worth considering the symptoms of various pathological processes accompanied by back pain, separately.
Osteochondrosis
If your back hurts in the spine, the most likely diagnosis will be osteochondrosis, as this disease is more common than others. It is also important to understand that doctors distinguish three types of osteochondrosis: cervical, thoracic and lumbar.
In each of these cases, pain between the vertebrae is linked to different parts of the spine. The disease itself involves the destruction of the cartilaginous tissue in the intervertebral discs, while the pathological process also occurs in the vertebrae, since due to the reduction of the space between them, they are erased.
The main symptom of the disease is pain, but clinical signs of the nervous system can also occur, since the spinal cord is most likely affected, its roots are infringed.
Myositis
Rare disease characterized by an inflammatory process in the muscular tissues of the body, including the back. Most often, myositis is accompanied by painful aches, but sharp pain or so-called back pain is also possible.
The pain syndrome is localized directly to the place where muscle tissue is inflamed, but pain can radiate to nearby areas.
Spondylosis
If your spine hurts, spondylosis may be one of the most likely causes. This pathology is characterized by the growth of the bone tissue of the vertebrae, as well as its dystrophic changes. In this case, painful sensations appear during physical exertion due to prolonged stay in one position, for example, during sedentary work.
Sciatica
The term denotes a pinch of the sciatic nerve with its additional inflammation. The pathological process is accompanied by cutting, stabbing and sharp pains. With sciatica, the pains are not felt constantly, they arise suddenly, roll in waves.
Severe pain with sciatica directly at the site where the infringement or inflammation occurred. However, due to the fact that the sciatic nerve has a very long length, painful sensations are present in different areas, most often the legs hurt.
Osteoporosis
The disease develops due to a deficiency of calcium in the body. As a result, the bone tissues throughout the entire spinal column lose elasticity and stiffness, microtrauma and cracks are formed everywhere.
In this pathological process, the entire spine hurts, especially in the later stages of the disease.
Herniated disc
Acute and severe pain in the spine may be evidence of a herniated disc. In this case, the pain syndrome is constant, but intensifies with physical exertion, bending over, coughing, sudden or careless movements.
In most cases, a hernia is formed in the lumbar spine, which is explained by the vulnerability of this area to excessively heavy loads, heavy lifting. A hernia often occurs as a complication of osteochondrosis, which is due to the peculiarities of the course of this pathology.
In this case, a hernia is dangerous not only with pain, there is a risk of pinching the nerve branches of the spinal cord and the development of neurological symptoms.
Excessive spinal mobility
This problem is also called vertebral hypermobility or spinal instability. A clear sign of pathology is painful sensations that intensify with intense physical exertion and lifting weights. Painful sensations in the back are fickle in nature, disappear, and then suddenly reappear.
The most severely affected is the cervical spine, if the disease progresses, a person finds it difficult to support the head.
Scoliosis
Interestingly, curvature of the spine is a direct cause of pain. One of the most common problems is scoliosis. The pain in scoliosis is more muscular in nature. This is due to increased tension in certain back muscles, while others are relaxed.
In scoliosis, due to the curvature of the spine, the individual vertebral discs are compressed and the cartilage tissue is deformed.
Painful sensations with scoliosis are constant, painful or pulling, their intensity is low, in rare cases the pain is strong and sharp.
Spinal injury
Of course, any mechanical damage, even minor, is painful. In this case, the pain is stronger, the more severe the damage, and sometimes even with a seemingly insignificant injury, a sharp pain is felt, which may indicate serious internal injuries. In this case, bumps, bruises, sprains, dislocations are taken into account, but fractures are the most serious type of injury.
It is noteworthy that old wounds healed long ago are making themselves felt decades later. So back and neck pain can remind you of how you fell on the ice as a child.
Bechterew's disease
This dangerous disease is also called ankylosing spondyloarthritis. The pathology is characterized by a chronic inflammatory process in the joints, in other words, inflammation of the spine.
Ankylosing spondylitis is accompanied by severe pain, and the intensity of the pain syndrome is high from the beginning of the disease process and only intensifies in the future. In this case, the pain intensifies after rest and depending on the climate change, but they are well controlled with drugs from the group of NSAIDs and physiotherapy.
Oncological diseases
Cancer is the most dangerous pathology, a clear sign of which is pain. In this case, the pain syndrome appears in both benign and malignant neoplasms, if they are located not far from the spine and exert pressure on it.
Metastases are an even more dangerous manifestation of oncology. In this case, the pains are constant and strong, they haunt a person always and everywhere, regardless of the position of the body or any action. The back hurts equally a lot even when lying down.
Kidney disease
The causes of low back pain are not always related to back problems. Due to the anatomical location of the kidneys, the pathologies that affect them also respond with severe pain in the lumbar region.
The pain can be dull and drawing or sharp stabbing, its intensity varies according to the disease and the degree of progression.
It is important to understand here that painful sensations can be on both sides or only on one side, indicating which kidney is involved in the pathological process.
Cardiovascular pathology
The opinion that in diseases of the cardiovascular system, pain occurs exclusively in the chest region is wrong. For example, with ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction, the pain sensations spread, radiating down the back in the thoracic region. They are characterized by being sharp, stabbing, and occur abruptly.
Pathologies of the cardiovascular system include aortic aneurysms, in which sharp, sharp pain occurs near the spine in the thoracic region.
Pathology of the digestive tract
Diseases of the digestive tract also often cause back pain, however in such cases there are always a number of distinctive clinical signs. In addition to pain, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or diarrhea, and general malaise occur.
Infections
Among the infectious diseases accompanied by back pain, the most serious and dangerous is tuberculosis of the bones. The disease is accompanied by serious pathological processes in the tissues of the bones, the entire spine hurts. The pains are of a different nature, sometimes pulling, sometimes stabbing, but always constant.
Respiratory diseases
The lungs occupy most of the thoracic region of the body, so pulmonary pathologies are often accompanied by back pain. Among those ailments are pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, pleurisy, etc.
With such pathologies, the pain intensifies when coughing, sneezing, deep breathing, yawning. In addition, the clinical picture is enriched by cough, shortness of breath, and other similar symptoms.
Congenital pathologies
The congenital anomaly factor is extremely rare, but it still occurs. In this case, the main suspicions fall on the congenital excess or insufficient number of vertebrae in the spine. This affects the muscles and ligaments, the structure of the body, threatens the protrusion of the spine or compression, which is invariably accompanied by pain.
Pregnancy and childbirth
Pregnancy is also one of the causes of painful back symptoms.
Spinal pain and other problems of a similar nature appear more frequently in the third trimester, which is entirely dependent on the growth of the fetus and the increased load on the spine.
In such cases, the pain is usually dull, pulling, subsides or disappears temporarily after a short break when the expectant mother lies down.
Inflammatory processes
Many different inflammatory processes lead to the development of pain syndrome, we have already talked about some of them. Take spondyloarthritis (ankylosing spondylitis). This pathology begins in the lumbosacral region, then inflammation and, with it, back pain, goes up the spine.
Pain radiating to the spine
As mentioned at the beginning, there is a kind of pain called radiating. This means that back pain "emits" into the spine from other parts or organs where the disease has been exacerbated. Let's talk about such pains in more detail.
Pathologies of the heart and great vessels
The most likely diseases of the cardiovascular system, accompanied by pain in the back, were mentioned above. It is only important to understand that, in addition to pain, such pathologies are accompanied by violations of blood pressure, arrhythmias and pallor of the skin - this is their distinctive feature.
Gallbladder disease
The clearest example of such a pathological process is cholecystitis, which leads to the irradiation of pain in the right shoulder blade and the central part of the spine in the thoracic region.
The acute form of the disease is accompanied by strong cuts, while the chronic form is more difficult to diagnose, as the pain is inconsistent and of low intensity.
Pancreatic lesions
The most common disease of the pancreas is pancreatitis. The clinical sign of such a condition is pain in the abdomen, but they are also enveloping, characterized as sharp and stabbing. However, in addition to pain, the patient suffers from nausea, vomiting, and painful sensations appear after eating fatty, sweet and fried foods.
Pathology of the kidneys and upper urinary tract
Kidney and urinary tract diseases are also associated with pain syndrome, and it is often severe. Severe pain occurs during urolithiasis, but it is not only felt in the lower back. There is severe discomfort in the lower abdomen and groin.
Diagnosis
As can be seen from the huge list of possible problems and probable diseases, to eliminate pain in the back and spine, it is necessary to identify the main cause of its appearance.
To do this, you should definitely consult a doctor and conduct a full differential diagnosis, including:
- Radiographyis a simple but quite effective way to determine the condition of the spine, which allows detecting deformities and various pathologies.
- CT: Computed tomography more accurately reveals the pathology of the intervertebral discs and vertebrae.
- MRI- MRI is an even more advanced and more effective diagnostic method that will show not only probable problems in the structure of the vertebrae and intervertebral discs, but will also allow to identify or excludeinvolving nerves, spinal brain.
If previous surveys yielded no results, contact specialists with a limited profile in other fields. Perhaps the problem lies in diseases of the heart, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, pelvic organs, etc.
How to treat back pain
Treatment of acute back pain requires a comprehensive and systematic approach. The methods of struggle become clear after a thorough examination and accurate diagnosis. It is also important to understand that in case of problems of this nature, it is imperative to contact a specialist, self-medication is in no way unacceptable.
The treating physician will determine the treatment regimen, which will likely include drug therapy, physical therapy, exercise therapy, and a course of massage.
Physiotherapy
It is one of the main methods to treat pathologies that involve the spine.
Treatment of back pain includes the following procedures:
- Electrophoresis.
- Exposure to ultrasound.
- Laser therapy;
- Magnetotherapy.
The treatment is carried out in a course of 7-10 procedures or more, the intervals between procedures are 3-5 days.
Gymnastics
Physiotherapy and gymnastics are also included in the treatment of pain syndrome, however these techniques are mainly used for recovery when there is no more severe pain. Gymnastics is necessary to restore muscle elasticity, mobility, keep them in good shape, and speed recovery from back injuries.
It is important to carry out the first sessions with a physiotherapist, who will correct the methodology and distribute the load, will teach you how to do it correctly. In the future, classes are held at home, and most importantly, the requirements are a systematic approach.
Drug therapy
Drug therapy is at the core of all treatment. Each drug is prescribed by a doctor based on the diagnostic data obtained. The technique depends on the intensity of the pain syndrome, the stage of progression of the disease.
The following medications are needed for back pain:
- NSAIDs(non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) - are prescribed in the form of ointments, tablets, injections, sometimes in the form of suppositories. NSAIDs have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects and reduce the local temperature.
- Pain relieversare pain relievers that block the nerve centers responsible for recognizing pain.
- Muscle relaxantsare given in cases where the muscle spasm needs to be removed.
- Vitamin complexesincluding B vitamins. Their effect contributes to the restoration of nerve fibers and the establishment of metabolic processes.
The doctor determines the duration of drug therapy, frequency of drug use, and dosages.
Massage
A massage course is another effective method of pain relief. Appointed when the painful sensations subside, it is carried out exclusively by a narrow specialist.
Massage therapy can stimulate blood circulation, relieve pain, restore elasticity of the nose and muscles, etc. To achieve a tangible effect, a massage course is required, consisting of at least 10 sessions.
Prevention
To minimize the risk of developing pathologies that cause pain in the spine or reduce the risk of disease recurrence, you should follow simple preventive recommendations:
- Eliminate bad habits.
- Eat right, eat less junk food, switch to a fractional feeding system.
- Lead an active lifestyle, play sports, preferably swimming or some form of gymnastics.
- It is helpful for the back to hang from the horizontal bar at least 3-4 times a week.
- When you're sitting down, take breaks to warm up.
- Avoid strenuous physical activity and injury.
- If it is impossible to avoid lifting weights, do everything correctly, lift heavy things with a straight back.
- Sleep on a moderately hard bed, buy an orthopedic mattress.
Remember, if the pain persists for more than 4-5 days, or is so severe that it is difficult to bear, see your doctor immediately. Treatment started on time allows you to save health and avoid many dangerous complications.