Back pain in the lumbar region can indicate various diseases of the spine, disorders of the connections of nerve structures, injuries to internal organs, soft tissues, oncological tumors. The pain syndrome can have different intensity and nature of manifestation. Depending on the type of pain that occurs, the pathology can be identified, but in order to get an accurate diagnosis, an examination is carried out, including instrumental diagnostics. This allows you to understand why the pain occurs. Based on the results of the examination, the doctor chooses treatment.
Types of pain
Back pain in the lumbar region may indicate the development of serious pathologies. But in most cases the discomfort is benign and is related to the influence of various external factors:
- hypothermia;
- staying in an uncomfortable position for a long time;
- compression of blood vessels;
- soft tissue damage due to trauma.
When diagnosing back pain, the doctor pays attention to the nature of its manifestation and duration. If the pain appears due to a cold or simple hypothermia, it will disappear completely 2 weeks after using ointments that contain non-steroidal anti-inflammatory components. They will not help to cure the disease, but after them it does not hurt to move.
If the pain in the spine does not disappear, despite the use of local drugs, and sometimes intensifies, a full examination is necessary. In some cases, such a symptom is an alarming sign indicating the development of dangerous diseases. In diseases of the spine during an attack, the pain can radiate to different parts of the body: leg, arm, groin. Often such an attack is accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the body: a feeling of numbness, tingling, goosebumps, burning.
In most cases, pain in the lumbar region occurs suddenly, is sharp and resembles lumbago (lumbago). The patients themselves describe the pain as shooting, sharp, sometimes squeezing and less intense. At the time of the attack, a person's movements are limited, and it is possible to straighten the lower back only through pain. The movements do not bring relief and sometimes provoke increased pain. The acute condition may last only a few minutes, but sometimes lasts a day or more.
Women and men over the age of 50, as well as people who have suffered serious injuries, experience chronic lower back pain. In this case, it is constant but tolerable, patients note only slight discomfort, stiffness of mobility in the morning and pain at night. Attacks of chronic pain can be triggered by stress, heavy lifting or hypothermia. The rest of the time there is no pain, there is stiffness and discomfort.
Lower back pain in pregnant women
Women often experience lower back pain during pregnancy. Its appearance is associated with natural changes. As the fetus grows around the second trimester of pregnancy, there is a change in the center of gravity, which leads to postural deformation with a deviation in the lumbar region. This change is not dangerous, occurs suddenly in more than 70% of women, but should be monitored, as it can lead to serious health problems in the future.
No special treatment is given during pregnancy. To alleviate the intensity of painful attacks, the doctor may recommend that the woman take a topical NSAID. In some cases, it is recommended to wear support structures to ensure the correct distribution of the load on the spine.
In addition, expectant mothers should not ignore the general rules, they should rest regularly and avoid wearing high-heeled shoes. Be careful when bending down to pick up something. Straighten your back and stand up, then you need to get up as slowly as possible. You should also pay attention to the choice of bed at home, it should be comfortable.
Pain at night and morning
If severe discomfort bothers a person mainly at night and appears in the morning immediately after waking up, the problem should be sought in the quality of sleep at night. The manifestation of acute painful sensations is associated with an incorrect position of the body at night during rest. The first thing to do at home is to change the mattress, bed and pillow. It would be good if the bed was orthopedic.
If the pain is observed only in the morning, it is worth considering the possibility of making sharp movements after waking up. It is better to wake up earlier and do a light warm-up of the muscles and joints while lying in bed. When you regularly perform such exercises, you can forget about the manifestation of pain. It will be much easier to bend over and the feeling that your back is stiff will disappear. It will be easier to get up after warming up.
It is also worth considering that the spine and lower back suffer from excess body weight. The problem of back pain is more common in obese people, as well as in patients leading a sedentary lifestyle. After normalizing behavior and improving the quality of night rest, periodic pain disappears if it is not related to any diseases.
Pain in the lower back radiates to the leg
Pain that occurs in the back can spread throughout the body. It most often radiates to the leg, and can cover part of the sole and reach the heel. The cause of the pain is sciatica, lumbago or radiculitis, i. e. pathologies associated with nerve tissue damage. Due to changes in the structure of cartilage tissue, leading to deformation of the vertebrae and the formation of osteophytes, pinching of nerve endings occurs, against the background of which attacks of sharp pain appear, radiating to the leg.
Sharp pain
The duration of acute pain attacks varies. They can last from a few minutes to many weeks. Chronic pain can appear unnoticed and suddenly for a person, the patient gets used to it and may not feel it when the attack passes.
Sharp, unbearable attacks of pain in the lumbar region are characteristic of various diseases:
- scoliosis;
- myositis;
- arthritis;
- arthrosis;
- neurological lesions;
- tumor processes;
- osteomyelitis;
- spondylitis
If the pain has a shooting character, it means that the roots of the spinal cord are involved in the pathological inflammatory process. If the pain seems monotonous, dull and spreads to the abdominal cavity, inflammation of the liver should be suspected. Severe attacks that disrupt consciousness and cause its loss may signal urolithiasis or pyelonephritis.
Causes of lower back pain
Back pain in the lumbar region can have various causes. Many of them lead to the development of pathologies that significantly reduce the quality of life, in which pain becomes a constant companion. Trying to deal with the problem yourself is practically pointless and difficult, an accurate diagnosis and the choice of competent treatment can only be made based on the results of instrumental diagnostics.
The most common causes of back pain:
- intervertebral hernial protrusions;
- osteochondrosis;
- disturbances in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
- curvature of the spine;
- tumors;
- damage to muscles and ligaments;
- soft tissue infections.
Often the cause of the pain is simple hypothermia, which affects the largest nerve in the human body, the sciatic nerve. Also, against the background of hypothermia, it can pinch, which causes sharp pain. Other factors can trigger attacks:
- lack of physical activity;
- excessive nervous tension;
- heavy physical work;
- damage and injury.
Pain in the lower back can occur with urolithiasis, they accompany an attack. They are also characteristic of many sexually transmitted diseases. Pain in the lumbar region in women is not always pathological. It is a physiological norm if it appears before menstrual bleeding or at the beginning of menopause. In these cases, the conditions are not dangerous and can be controlled by the use of pain relievers. With all the listed pathologies, it is problematic to move, bend or perform any work at home.
Diseases of the spine
The main cause of pain in the lower back is various diseases, deformations and lesions of the spine. Pain can be of a completely different nature. The intensity of their manifestation depends on many factors and varies significantly depending on the affected part of the spine. The most commonly observed types of pain are:
- periodic;
- native or native;
- pulling or squeezing;
- burns and cuts;
- shooting.
The intensity of symptomatic manifestations may depend on stress, sitting in an uncomfortable chair position, sports and physical activity. Discomfort increases when standing or sitting uncomfortably. When the muscle fibers spasm, lumbago is observed and the whole area hurts. With such pain, stiffness of movement appears, the symptom spreads to the back of the thigh and can reach the calves and even the feet. Much depends on the type of disease and its nature. The pathology must be treated by a specialist.
Intervertebral hernia
Intervertebral hernias of the lumbar region are often formed with osteochondrosis in the later stages of development. Usually, they mainly cover the lumbar region, the lower back and are formed between the 4-5th vertebra, as well as in the sacral region. The pain syndrome in this case is unpleasant, intrusive, is associated with damage to the nerve roots, and poor blood circulation occurs. The pain is similar to that of sciatica and worsens when standing or sitting in an uncomfortable chair. If the hernial formation is large, it presses on the spinal cord, a person experiences a loss of sensitivity, and in complicated cases paralysis is possible due to herniation between the intervertebral discs.
You can find out what is bothering you with an intervertebral hernia by the appearance of the following episodes:
- it is impossible to stand without support on a chair or other surface, this is due to the increased load on the intervertebral discs;
- lying on your stomach is extremely uncomfortable;
- feeling of stiffness in the back;
- it is difficult to bend forward;
- arching the back is impossible due to pain that impedes movement.
Hernia treatment is carried out conservatively and surgically. The appropriate method is determined depending on the patient's condition. Conservative treatment of the disease in advanced cases is ineffective.
Rachiocampsis
With minor distortions, pain does not appear. A feeling of fatigue may appear, a person wants to spend more time lying down, because the pain becomes stronger when standing or sitting. In second-degree deformities, various neurological disorders occur. At this stage, pain appears, which can be moderate and moderately intense, present on the left and right. As the disease progresses, the discomfort increases during the day, in advanced forms it becomes unbearable and is not relieved by local and systemic pain relievers. It is difficult to completely get rid of the manifestation, the curvature can be cured quickly.
osteoporosis
This disease often occurs in men and women over the age of 50. The pathology is characterized by a rapid loss of bone tissue. Due to such loss, fragility occurs, the vertebrae become less strong, and damage is possible even with minor injuries, physical exertion or heavy lifting. Patients bend only because of discomfort and return from a bent position with severe pain. For a person to pick up something from the floor, it is better to sit down and straighten your back, then stand up. If you sit first, the health risks of osteoporosis will be reduced.
Osteoporosis pain is not just caused by fractures. The disease is dangerous, it can be used to register a group with disabilities.
Spinal injuries
The most common injury is a bruise. If it is mild, there is moderate discomfort. It tends to worsen during the day with movement, causing local swelling with hematomas and hemorrhages. The symptom always worsens with movement and exercise. In severe cases, the problem not only hurts, but can be accompanied by neurological disorders, especially if nerve endings are involved in the process. It is impossible to completely get rid of the problem, it is not always possible to cure the consequences of injuries even surgically.
Soft tissue and kidney injuries
In soft tissue bruises, mild pain appears, which disappears after local application of anti-inflammatory drugs. The pain is always local, the bruised area is swollen, bleeding is possible.
If, in combination with the described symptoms, the pain in the lumbar region on the left is accompanied by the appearance of blood in the urine, this means that there is damage to the kidneys. The discomfort will be stronger, with serious injuries to the organs of the excretory system, urination is impaired or impossible. Hematomas may appear in the lower back. The development of shock and life-threatening conditions is not excluded.
Spinal infections
Infectious lesions of the spine are more dangerous. Osteomyelitis can be:
- postoperative;
- post-traumatic;
- contact;
- hematogenous.
In acute cases, the disease progresses rapidly. It is characterized by increasing pain manifestations that intensify during the day, accompanied by high body temperature and a very strong deterioration of the general condition. The nature of the discomfort can be different: twitching, pressing, bursting. Attacks are severe, making movement difficult and forcing a person to freeze in one position because it hurts to move. In chronic pathologies, fistulas with the formation of purulent discharge may appear.
An unusual but dangerous disease of the spine is spinal tuberculosis. Already in the initial stage of development, it causes deep and very strong pains below, which reach a peak after physical exertion. The gait of men and women becomes stiff. As the bone structures are destroyed, the nerve roots are compressed, the pain becomes burning and spreads to the lower part of the body.
With a spinal epidural abscess, the pain is quite deep, very strong, accompanied by chills and muscle tension. Against the background of progress, the radicular syndrome intensifies, paresis occurs and the functioning of the pelvic organs is disturbed.
Muscle damage
Painful discomfort in the lower lumbar region can appear after physical activity, lifting weights or performing intensive training. It also occurs when staying in a static position for a long time with tension in the lower back and gluteal muscles.
With such a lesion, the discomfort manifests itself less intensely at rest and after rest, after applying a warming ointment. Muscle damage or myositis occurs not only against the background of infections. It can be provoked by stress and hypothermia of the body, severe poisoning and metabolic disorders. The condition is most often accompanied by piercing pain.
Myofascial syndrome
Myofascial syndrome is classified as a painful condition where lower back discomfort is associated with painful muscle tension. During an attack, trigger points appear on the affected area. The sources of pain are muscles and fascia, connective tissue. To treat this pathology, specialists prescribe pain relievers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and sedatives.
In some cases, treatment of the disease with the help of centrally acting muscle relaxants is indicated. Such drugs are designed to reduce tonic tension, reduce agitation and provoke relaxation of the muscles involved in the spasm so that the person can bend. In some cases, specialists resort to point blockade of points by applying anesthetics.
Tumors of the spine, kidneys
Tumors of the spine and spinal cord are quite rare. The frequency of detection of such diseases is no more than 0. 5% of the total number of diagnosed cancer pathologies. Neoplasms can be both benign and malignant. Depending on this, the prognosis varies greatly.
In this pathology, the distinctive symptom is pain in the lumbar region. With a benign etiology, the discomfort is relieved by the use of drugs. If the formation is malignant, the treatment must be complex, often reduced to surgery.
Also, pain in the lower back on the left can be traced to kidney cancer. It will have a pronounced character, it can be painful, pressing, bursting. Over time, discomfort increases and urination disorders develop. Do not steam or heat the affected area. Normalization of the condition is possible after removal of the entity.
What to do after acute back pain
If a sharp pain in the back appears for a moment, the situation can be controlled by yourself. If possible, you should visit a specialist and undergo an examination to reduce the risk of a repeat attack.
It is necessary to urgently contact a specialist if the following symptoms appear:
- pain in the lower back of any nature lasts a week;
- against the background of pain, the body temperature rises;
- discomfort occurs at the site of previous injuries and damage;
- the pain spreads throughout the body;
- The sensitivity of certain areas is lost.
In these cases, the pain cannot be ignored. It is important to see a doctor as soon as possible and start treatment, otherwise the disease will progress.
Which doctor should I contact?
If you suspect the development of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, you should consult a traumatologist or neurologist. Specialists will conduct a survey, physical examination and prescribe the necessary instrumental research. If your back suddenly hurts, you can call an ambulance. You can use pain relief gels at home.
If you suspect that the pain in the lumbar region is due to kidney damage, you should visit a urologist or nephrologist. You can also see a therapist. Each of the specialists will tell you what to do with pain in the lower back, which occurs against the background of kidney disease, and will also prescribe an additional examination. Laboratory tests of the patient's blood and urine are necessary to confirm or refute the disease.
If lower back pain occurs sporadically in women and is associated with menstruation or menopause, it is worth raising this issue with a gynecologist. A specialist will help you choose a treatment that will eliminate the discomfort. In cases where you need to clarify the origin of the pain syndrome, you should visit a therapist, family doctor or general practitioner. The doctor will conduct an examination and determine the preliminary cause of the violation.
Diagnosis
There are many factors that can cause pain in the lumbar region, so even an experienced doctor cannot make an accurate diagnosis without an examination. The following methods are used as part of the diagnostics:
- x-ray examination of the painful area;
- MRI;
- Ultrasound of pelvic and abdominal organs;
- general analysis of urine and blood;
- electroneuromyography.
If the pain occurs against the background of pathologies of the genitourinary system or the gastrointestinal tract, an endoscopic examination of the intestines may be necessary. If the development of neoplasms in the body is suspected, a biochemical blood test is performed.
Treatment
The mode of intervention necessary for the treatment of back pain is chosen individually. The main rule is that therapy should be comprehensive, including symptomatic treatment and lifestyle changes. The treatment is chosen after the doctor determines the cause of the pain.
Regardless of the causes of back pain, all patients should follow these rules:
- do not lift heavy objects;
- bend over and straighten your back when sitting;
- give up heavy sports;
- if you are overweight, you need to lose weight;
- change the sleeping place, make it comfortable;
- Carrying out regular physical education minutes while sitting directly on a chair or armchair;
- light sports;
- do not take a steam bath, do not visit a sauna, do not take a hot bath;
- wearing a support bandage (as prescribed by a doctor).
In the case of diagnosed spine pathologies, the treatment complex also includes the following recommendations:
- Healing effect. The use of pain relievers, anti-inflammatory and decongestants is indicated. Medicines can be prescribed for oral administration and topical application in the form of a cream, gel or ointment that relieves pain.
- Lumbar block.
- Physiotherapy. Patients are prescribed physiotherapy, massage, magnetotherapy and electrophoresis.
- Acupuncture, manual therapy, osteopathy.
In severe cases, when conservative intervention for spinal pathologies does not give results, surgical intervention is performed.
The information in the article should not become the basis for self-diagnosis and treatment, it is provided for informational purposes only. You should not take any medication without consulting a specialist.
Trying to figure out on your own how to get rid of lower back pain and why your back hurts is almost pointless. It can have a different character, depending on which effective method of influence is chosen. Self-medication for many pathologies is ineffective and dangerous, as it leads to a worsening of the condition.