Everyone has had a problem at least once in their life when their back hurts in the lumbar region. This symptom often appears after prolonged sitting in an uncomfortable position. The pain is harmless to health and disappears after a good rest.
Treatment can only be prescribed after a full diagnosis and determination of the cause and nature of the disease. No action can be done by yourself without medical examination.
Various reasons
The most common causes of pain are: osteochondrosis, scoliosis, herniated discs. Tumors and tissue infections are much less common.
Pain manifests itself in different ways depending on the disease. If the cause of the pain is renal colic or stomach ulcer, the sensations are constant regardless of the nature of the activity (a person is lying down or exercising vigorously).
If osteochondrosis of the thoracic region is present, the pain radiates to the heart, the patient mistakenly thinks he has angina.
If the lower back hurts when lying down
When the pain appears and a person does not know what to do with it, they prefer to lie down, hoping that the discomfort will go away. But if the pain intensifies when lying down, most likely there is 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 assume its natural position, a person experiences pain when lying down.
Ankylosing spondylitis is hereditary; chronic infectious diseases give impetus to its development. The pain increases if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.
The first sign is a feeling of stiffness in the spine, and when lying down, the back pain gets worse. Early diagnosis can completely cure the disease.
Primary pain syndrome
Doctors distinguish between primary and secondary pain syndromes when it comes to back pain 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 (lesions of the intervertebral joints that affect the mobility of the spine).
Secondary pain syndrome
Secondary syndrome includes a wider variety 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 metastases formed;
- tuberculosis, epidural abscess, brucellosis (infectious diseases);
- stroke, which results in impaired cerebrospinal circulation;
- gastrointestinal diseases (in particular, appendicitis or intestinal disease);
- diseases of the pelvic region (renal colic, venereal disease);
- fracture of the vertebrae (the most dangerous and serious cause).
Acute pain
Low back pain is also classified as acute and chronic. Each of them indicates distinct reasons.
Muscle sprain is a harmless but painful manifestation of acute pain. This happens due to the formation of spasms in the long muscles.
Athletes and people with professional specialties most often suffer. The pain is localized in the lower back, but it is clearly felt in other parts of the body, while a person's mobility is limited, the pain when lying down decreases.
Injury to the spine also causes severe pain. The most dangerous injury is a vertebral fracture.
The fracture can be caused by a fall or it can happen completely unnoticed, for example, if the person has Paget's disease, osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism, or a tumor.
Displacement of the intervertebral discs in the lumbar region also causes pain. In this case, a person's mobility will be severely limited.
The pain itself is caused by compression of the nerve roots. Additional symptoms:
- sensitivity violation;
- decrease or complete absence of Achilles and knee reflexes;
- root pain.
Displacement of the vertebrae can lead to pathology of relatives, who were healthy until the last. Disorders of the lower vertebrae lead to diseases of the bladder and intestines.
Another reason for acute pain is facet syndrome. In this case, the intervertebral disc is not affected, only the compression of the root, which comes out of the spinal canal, occurs. The intervertebral foramen narrows due to the narrowing of the intervertebral foramen.
Serious illness such as epidural abscess can also cause pain. What to do in this case?
The disease should not be delayed, as it can have tragic consequences. It is necessary to immediately take all measures to eliminate the compression of the spinal cord, sometimes surgery is required.
In the area of the lower back to the knees, pain caused by diseases of the hip joint can be given.
Chronic pain
If the back is diseased in the lumbar region and the pain is constantly present, is aching or pulling in nature, this indicates other diseases besides acute pain.
The first reason is deforming spondylosis. The vertebrae of the lumbar spine undergo dystrophic changes, the ligaments weaken, and bone growth begins.
As a result, the bone growths begin to put pressure on the nerve roots and aching pain appears. Numbness and weakness in the legs can be added to the symptoms.
Chronic low back pain can be caused by cancer or metabolic disorders.
In this case, you need to undergo cancer treatment, change the daily regimen and diet to eliminate the root cause, everything else will be ineffective.
Another reason is osteomyelitis, when an infection enters the bone and causes inflammation.
Diseases causing lower back pain
Other conditions that cause lower back pain
- facet arthropathy
- ;
- spinal stenosis;
- herniated disc;
- myogenic pain;
- rupture of the fibrous ring.
In women, pain can be triggered by diseases of the pelvis, such as endometriosis, uterine and ovarian carcinoma. In men - prostatitis or carcinoma of the prostate.
Sick kidneys, tumor of the stomach, duodenum can also be given to the lumbar region. Pain occurs with ulcerative colitis, colon tumors, diverticulitis.
If the pain extends not only to the lumbar region but also to the thoracic region, it is important to rule out the possibility of aortic dissection.
Harmless causes may be physiological changes, for example, the postpartum period or a sharp increase in mass, the effect of epidural anesthesia.
Treatment for such pain is not carried out, the patient cannot do anything, the pain will go away on its own after a while.
Lumbar spine treatment
Before starting treatment, you must make a correct diagnosis. First, the doctor performs a clinical examination of the patient, and then relies on the results of ultrasound and MRI examinations.
Based on the diagnosis, a treatment program is already being selected, combining different methods.
First of all, the treatment is aimed at eliminating the pain syndrome in order to bring the patient back to a comfortable life. After all, a complete recovery from the disease (if possible) can take years.
If a bruise is the cause of the disease, the trauma doctor will treat it. Depending on the cause of the pain, which the therapist / family doctor must identify, an orthopedist, a nephrologist, a urologist, a proctologist, a gynecologist, a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, a pulmonologist, an infectious disease specialistmay maintain additional medical history.
Previously, back pain was treated exclusively with antibiotics. Now there are so many treatment methods that only an experienced doctor will help you choose the right one.
To alleviate the patient's condition, it is recommended to replace the mattress with an orthopedic mattress. The pain will be removed by anesthetic ointments and warming gels, which additionally contain anti-inflammatory components.
It is also advisable to use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Muscle spasms will relieve muscle relaxants, nerve root edema will eliminate diuretics and vascular drugs.
When the patient can resume normal life, treatment is continued with physiotherapy, massage and therapeutic exercises.
Treatment is carried out by the following non-drug methods:
- vacuum therapy
- ;
- acupuncture; laser therapy
- ;
- manual therapy;
- dry traction; pharmacopuncture
- ;
- electrical stimulation; magnetopuncture
- .
This treatment provides rapid pain relief and also eliminates the cause itself, thus ensuring long-term results.