Everyone has had a problem with back pain in the lumbar region at least once in their life. This symptom often occurs after prolonged sitting in an awkward position. The pain is safe for health and passes after a good rest.
Treatment can be prescribed only after a complete diagnosis and determination of the cause and nature of the disease. No action can be done on your own without a doctor's examination.
A number of reasons
The most common causes of pain are: osteochondrosis, scoliosis, disc herniation. Tumors and tissue infections are much rarer.
Pain manifests itself in different ways, depending on the disease. If the cause of the pain is renal colic or a stomach ulcer, then the sensations are constant regardless of the nature of the activity (the person is lying down or active)
If there is osteochondrosis of the thoracic region, then the pain radiates to the heart, then the patient mistakenly believes he has angina pectoris.
If your lower back hurts while lying down
When pain occurs and the person does not know what to do with it, he prefers to lie down, hoping that the discomfort will disappear. But if the pain increases in the supine position, then there is most likely a disease of the musculoskeletal system, called ankylosing spondylitis.The disease affects young men, changes occur in the vertebrae and they grow together, while the flexibility of the spine decreases.
Due to the fact that the spine cannot take its natural position, the person feels pain while lying down.
Ankylosing spondylitis is hereditary; chronic infectious diseases give impetus to its development. The pain increases if you lead an inactive lifestyle.
The first sign is a feeling of stiffness in the spine, and if you lie on your back, the pain gets worse. Early diagnosis can completely cure the disease.
Primary pain syndrome
Doctors distinguish between primary and secondary pain syndrome when it comes to back and lower back pain.
Primary low back pain syndrome involves musculoskeletal changes of a morphofunctional nature.
These are the most common causes of pain:
- osteochondrosis (damage to bone and cartilage tissue, intervertebral disc);
- spondyloptrosis (damage to the intervertebral joints that affects the mobility of the spine).
Secondary pain syndrome
Secondary syndrome includes a wider range of conditions that cause back pain in the lumbar region:
- scoliosis (curvature of the spine);
- reflected pain;
- osteoporosis and osteomalacia (damage to bone tissue);
- ankylosing spondylitis (inflammation of a non-infectious nature); rheumatoid arthritis;
- isolated tumor or metastasis;
- tuberculosis, epidural abscess, brucellosis (infectious diseases);
- stroke condition, which leads to damage to the cerebrospinal circulation;
- gastrointestinal diseases (especially, appendicitis or bowel disease);
- diseases in the pelvic area (renal colic, sexually transmitted diseases);
- spinal fracture (the most dangerous and serious cause).
Acute pain
Low back pain is also classified as acute and chronic. Each of them points to separate reasons.
A harmless but painful manifestation of acute pain is muscle sprain. It occurs due to the creation of cramps in the long muscles.
Athletes and people with working specialties suffer the most. The pain is localized in the lower back, but is clearly felt in other parts of the body, while the person’s mobility is limited, the lying pain subsides.
Spinal injuries also lead to acute pain. The most dangerous injury is a spinal fracture.
A fracture can occur by a fall or can occur completely unnoticed, for example, if a person has Paget's disease, osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism, or has a tumor.Moving the intervertebral discs in the lumbar region also leads to pain. In this case, human mobility will be severely limited.
The pain itself is caused by compression of the nerve roots. Additional symptoms:
- sensitivity violation;
- reduction or complete absence of the Achilles and knee reflex;
- radicular pain.
Moving the vertebrae can lead to pathology nearby, which was healthy until the last. Disorders of the lower vertebrae lead to diseases of the bladder and intestines.
Another cause of acute pain is facet syndrome. In this case, the intervertebral disc is not affected, there is only compression of the root that comes out of the spinal canal. The intervertebral foramen narrows due to the narrowing of the intervertebral foramen.
A serious illness like an epidural abscess can also lead to pain. What to do in this case?
The disease should not be delayed, as it can lead to tragic consequences. It is necessary to immediately take all measures to remove the compression of the spinal cord, sometimes surgery is required.
Pain caused by hip joint pain can occur in the area from the lower back to the knee.Chronic pain
If the back is diseased in the lumbar region, and the pain is constantly present, it is painful or pulling, this indicates other diseases than acute pain.
The first reason is spondylosis deformities. The vertebrae of the lumbar spine suffer from dystrophic changes, the ligaments weaken and bone growth begins.
As a result, the bony outgrowths begin to put pressure on the nerve roots and painful pain occurs. Numbness and weakness in the legs may be added to the symptoms.
Chronic low back pain can be caused by cancer or metabolic disorders.
In this case, you have to carry out anti-cancer therapy, change your daily regimen and diet to eliminate the underlying cause, everything else will be ineffective.
Another reason is osteomyelitis, when the infection enters the bone and causes inflammation.
Diseases that cause lower back pain
Other conditions that cause lumbar pain
- facet arthropathy;
- spinal stenosis;
- disc herniation;
- myogenic pain;
- ring fiber rupture.
In women, pain can be caused by pelvic diseases, such as endometriosis, uterine and ovarian cancer. In men - prostatitis or prostate cancer.
Kidney diseases, tumors in the stomach, duodenum can also be given in the lumbar region. Pain occurs in ulcerative colitis, colon tumors, diverticulitis.
If the pain spreads not only to the lumbar region, but also to the thoracic region, then it is important to exclude the possibility of aortic dissection.
Harmless causes may be physiological changes, for example, postpartum period or sudden weight gain, the effect of epidural anesthesia.
Treatment of such pain is not carried out, the patient can do nothing, the pain will disappear on its own after a certain time.
Treatment of the lumbar spine
You must make the correct diagnosis before starting treatment. First, the physician conducts a clinical examination of the patient and then relies on the results of the ultrasound and MRI examination.
Based on the diagnosis, a treatment program that combines different methods is already selected.
First of all, the treatment is aimed at removing the pain in order to return the patient to a comfortable life. Finally, complete cure of the disease (if possible) can take years.
If the bruise is the cause of the disease, the trauma doctor will treat it. Depending on the cause of the pain, which therapist / family doctor should identify, an orthopedist, nephrologist, urologist, proctologist, gynecologist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, pulmonologist, infectious disease specialist can keep a further history of the disease.
Previously, back pain was treated exclusively with antibiotics. There are now so many methods of treatment that only an experienced doctor will help you choose the right one.
To alleviate the patient's condition, it is recommended to change the mattress to an orthopedic one. The pain will be relieved by anesthetic ointments and warming gels, which additionally contain anti-inflammatory components.
The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is also recommended. Muscle cramps will relieve muscle relaxants, nerve root edema will eliminate diuretics and vascular medications.
When the patient can return to normal life, treatment is continued with physiotherapy, massage and therapeutic exercises.
Treatment is performed by the following non-drug methods:
- vacuum therapy;
- acupuncture;
- laser therapy;
- manual therapy;
- dry traction; pharmacopuncture;
- electrical stimulation;
- magnetopuncture.
This treatment provides quick pain relief and removes the cause itself, thus ensuring long-term results.