Causes of low back pain

Even children sometimes experience pain in the lower back. Adults know the trouble firsthand. To deal with it, you need to find out: why does the lower back hurt, what is the cause. The range of causes is wide: from a benign condition to an emergency requiring medical attention. Finding the root of the disease, you will understand what to do, you can help yourself or contact a doctor.

Pain factors

Low back pain is a common phenomenon but belongs to the category of "accidentally". Happens unexpectedly and always at the wrong time. There are explanations for everything, consider the possible explanations in order.

After sleeping

A person wakes up in the morning, intends to wake up. . . And he can't. Penetrating back pain. Yesterday, I didn't lift weights, didn't support my muscles, where the pain came from, I don't know.

Action Algorithm:

  1. With any pain, it's important to stay calm to fully assess the situation.Panic won't relieve the pain, it can make it worse. It didn't work out, we thought lay down.
  2. Remember yesterday.If you spend time at the office and evenings watching TV or the computer, and this is your usual routine, your muscles will go into overdrive (don't be surprised). Continuous, daily. They don't have time to relax in the night. Passive rest does not help restore unstressed muscles. Static loads are heavier than dynamic loads. The first (static) - in the same position - overloads some muscles, causing others not to work. Kinesiology (motion) involves many muscles.
  3. We continue the analysis.You evenly load the muscles, do minimal exercises, do not sit for eighteen hours a day, but wake up with low back pain.

    The reason may be:

    • Uncomfortable sleeping position;
    • the bed is too hard or too soft;
    • Manifestations of internal diseases.

    The second case is rarely related to sleep. A person may feel unwell after waking up, because in a dream the body is relaxed, sensations become dull. The awareness of an awakened person is sharpened, he moves - the suffering organ reacts.

  4. If you calm down, analyze the situation, find the cause of the pain - take action.When convinced: muscle pain, unrelated to visceral disease, gently get up. It didn't work - rolled to the edge of the bed, slid to the floor. There you will exercise to relieve muscle spasms - this is your treatment.

Lower back pain after sleep, which manifests itself for the first time, usually occurs for the reasons listed above.The root cause, mainly due to exercise, is muscle weakness.Weak muscles respond to factors that strong muscles "don't notice". It's not the firmness/softness of the bed, the clumsy movements and flaccid muscles that cause pain.

Orthopedic mattress will prevent low back pain after sleeping

Learn more about comfortable sleep. Which bed is better: a controversial question, the answers are completely opposite. Advocates of hard beds insist on the use of a shield under the mattress, calling such a bed an orthopedic bed. It is believed that on a hard bed, the spine straightens out, which is good for posture.

Opponents of firmness promote a soft thick mattress that allows the body to "sink" in the filler. In a semi-suspended state, the muscles and spine occupy an arbitrary position. Advertisers for "quiet sleep" argue: it's more helpful, the approach is physiological. Mattresses are also called orthopedic.

Low back pain in both women and men occurs after sleeping in any bed. Extreme is not the best solution. Our powerful ancestors, the farmers, slept on chests or stoves, making beds out of feathers. Options in the middle. The posture is excellent, the pain after waking up is not typical for young and middle-aged people.

To keep the body fit, muscles active, regular exercises will help: exercises. Muscle training. How to help yourself "here and immediately" - we will definitely talk about this. When we look at all the possible causes and find out what the cause might be, why does lower back pain appear.

You may also feel pain and burning in other cases, with spinal diseases, injuries. Then they do not specifically morning, disturbed regardless of the time "sleep".

After training

Underload leads to weakness, muscle atrophy, overload - will reward pain for diligence. A message to the practitioner: take the saying "quickly, slowly" as the guideline to overcome. You can't always row with strength and health.Graduation is the key to success.

Calculating the optimal load is not difficult, you need two indicators:

  • HR (heart rate, number of heartbeats per minute measured);
  • Arterial pressure.

Heart rate measurements were taken three times:

  • Before class;
  • At the end of the workout;
  • 5 minutes after school.

In a relatively healthy person with an initial heart rate of 70–72, immediately after exercise, heart rate can be increased with appropriate loads up to 120 (no more). After 5 minutes, the pulse slows down: below 100 beats. If the heartbeat is still more frequent, overloaded, the muscles will respond to the next pain. The lower back is no exception.

Blood pressure should also return to normal in five minutes. This knowledge will tell you what to do so that pain in the lower back does not occur after a workout.

Due to negative emotions

A person who is easily emotional or is under prolonged severe stress can experience pain in the lower back of varying intensity. They are not associated with organic lesions of the spine. The cause of low back pain lies in the body's response to stress.Nervous tension causes muscle spasms.Muscle spasms signal trouble at work - pain.

This doesn't just happen in the lower back, muscle spasms can happen anywhere. Such a symptom in medicine is called psychosis.

Regular exercises are aimed at strengthening and developing muscles, forming a "corset" - preventing neuralgia.

Diseases of the spine

Diseases of the spine, dysfunction of the adjacent muscles are more difficult to treat. Main assistants: willpower, perseverance, patience. The disease has an individual agent. The method of treatment depends on its nature.

injury

The muscles of the spine are injured for two reasons:

  1. Ignorance harms you: not knowing your body's physiology, improperly "exploiting" your body.
  2. External influences (accident, factors, unforeseen circumstances).

Self-mutilation is not intentional (exceptions are rare, we're talking about something else here), injuries are caused by carelessness. The man did not calculate the strength, he jerked the weight, and at the same time awkwardly turned around. Injury to the spine in the lumbar region. The pain is sharp, sharp, does not allow movement.

This is more common in men: they work more with weights.Standard physician recommendations:

  • Restriction of movement (bed rest);
  • strong injections for pain in the back and lower back;
  • Hot massage, ointment, compress, heating;
  • physical therapy procedures;
  • Massage;
  • Exercise therapy - after reduction in intensity, relief of symptoms and during remission.

Let's take a closer look at the nature of prescriptions:

  1. Rest (limited movement). Muscles are in spasm, tension, some muscles are blocked due to wrong load. By depriving the patient of mobility, the doctor inadvertently overcomes this blockage: immobilization will not relieve the spasm. Muscles become rigid - loss of flexibility, tension for a long time. Muscle tissue rapidly weakens throughout the body without exercise. These are the prerequisites for the disease to turn into a chronic form.
  2. Analgesic. The injections "stop" the symptoms, the easier it is for the patient. But there is no cure. The reason is still, the person only feels less pain for two to three hours. Strong drugs, strong drugs also have side effects. Often used to relieve pain in the lumbar spine, a phenylacetic acid derivative that causes serious gastrointestinal problems. Other pain relievers are also not without side effects. And they are used for a long time, of course.
  3. Pain is always swelling. It may be visible or hidden, but pain and swelling coexist without fail. Edema is aggravated by warming manipulations. The situation is the same: the pain subsides, the problem persists or progresses.
  4. Physical therapy for muscle spasms had an effect close to that of placebo. Best script.
  5. Skillful massage will be beneficial, relaxing the muscles. Careful caressing is useless, use a special massage that relieves spasms. A bit painful at first, but helps to recover quickly.
  6. Exercise is essential immediately after an injury. through painThe right movements bring the muscles back to normal without the need for medication. It is necessary to know the correct diagnosis, focus on it, choose a set of exercises. Leave the diagnosis to the doctor.

Severe trauma (soft tissue tear, fracture) requires hospitalization, sometimes surgery. But in rehabilitation, the main thing is to develop and strengthen, restore injured muscles. Drug anesthesia is a temporary measure, recovery achieved with regular exercises.

Osteoarthritis

Osteochondrosis is known as dystrophic changes in the intervertebral discs:

  • The cartilage tissue of the disc is worn down if the muscles that supply the spine, adjacent to it, are underdeveloped, sluggish. The spine is vulnerable without the support of a reliable corset, the load on the discs is uneven.
  • The disc collapses, surrounding tissues lose their elasticity and contract. The pain reflex is transmitted from the place where the vertebral disc is compressed: from the spastic muscle through the nerve to the brain.
  • The edges of the vertebrae become deformed, begin to grow, further damaging the muscles.
  • The chronic process is formed gradually, the sensation of pain ceases at the very beginning. Progression from discomfort and dull pain - to increasing, intense. Often leads to disability.

Osteoarthritis often occurs in men who are forced to lift weights. The disease usually develops in women. Women tend to be less activeInactivity weakens the musculoskeletal system. Staying in one position for long periods of time over-stretches some muscle groups without engaging others. Spinal pain in the lumbar region and other segments.

Root syndrome in osteoarthritis causes low back pain

The scheme is the same: muscle spasms, signals from pain receptors from the discs are read by nerves, a person feels debilitating pain. It's called "root syndrome" (doctors explain this by compressing the roots of the spinal cord). Low blood pressure is a cause parallel to the irresponsible attitude towards health. Muscle tissue can regenerate, for this it needs your conscious help. A pinched nerve (the second, incorrect name, of the syndrome, since the nerve does not contain pain receptors, it transmits an impulse from the edematous muscles) is not easy to cure. Will, patience, time are your allies.

Treatment is carried out inpatient or outpatient, as well as for wounds that do not require surgery. Doctors use blockade analgesics, prescribe anti-inflammatory and pain relievers.

Whole working muscles can only be recovered by regular exercise. System of thoughtful and proficient exercises. Choose from many medical author's rehabilitation methods - right for you.

spondylolisthesis

Left untreated, osteoarthritis progresses against the background of some violation in the regime and the body itself can develop into degenerative spondylosis. The growth of bone tissue is an adaptive response of the body. The muscles of the skeleton, the spine, do not hold. He tried to hold on with his own strength, pushing out the fulcrums - bone spikes. Processes in advanced cases develop together with adjacent vertebrae. The spine is fixed, it becomes rigid, movements in the lower back are hindered.

Protrusions (growths) on the edges of spinal segments repeatedly injure adjacent tissues.

Stop the disease in time, or better yet, prevent it.The transition from osteoarthritis to spondylosis is not allowed: the second case is more difficult to deal with.

At least half an hour - forty minutes of simple exercise (remember gradually) daily. Add steadily to gradually: do not skip classes. Results after two to four weeks, they will be visible. The time to cure completely depends on the initial condition: how far the disease has progressed.

Proper gymnastics will certainly improve your health, but it will only alleviate the neglected phase, not cure it. Severe illness. Operations for spondylosis are ineffective. Treatment is symptomatic. Anesthesia with ointments, injections.

Medicines should be used if the pain in the lower back is intolerable. Dosage and frequency - adjust.For muscles that are strengthened by exercises, the need for anesthesia disappears.The pain will ease. Prevention will serve as a guarantee that they do not return: gymnastics for muscles, joints and the whole body. At the same time, the body recovers completely.

degenerative spine

Pain in the lumbar spine is pronounced in degenerative spondylosis. The pain may radiate down the buttocks and thighs.

The disease is characterized by damage to the joints located between the trunks of the spine. Joint cartilage is destroyed, bone tissue is broken down. Nearby muscles and ligaments become inflamed and tense. Mobility is reduced. The disease is progressive, it occurs in the elderly, young people rarely get the disease - with congenital malformations of the spine.

Factors that trigger spondylolisthesis:

  • Old age:
  • Floor;
  • Fat;
  • Hard work in the past;
  • Strength sports (barbell);
  • Injury;
  • genetic predisposition.

In women, spondylolisthesis occurs twice as often. This fact is associated with metabolic disorders (fluctuations in the level and composition of hormones - pregnancy, menopause). Effect on statistics and differences in life expectancy of different sexes. The age bar for degenerative spondylolisthesis is high, women pass it more often.

The doctor decides the treatment, not the surgery. The procedure is aimed at pain relief. Your doctor will prescribe medication and possible exercises.

radiculitis

If you don't cure osteoarthritis, it can complicate into sciatica. The symptoms are similar, but the disease is more severe. Nerve fibers are affected - bundles located in the muscles adjacent to the spine along the spine. Lower back pain aching, pulling, spreading to the buttocks and left leg, can represent sciatica, osteoarthritis, spinal hernia. The pain also radiates down the right leg, less often on both sides. With sciatica, it is difficult to find a position that reduces pain intensity. Pain that radiates down the leg and is accompanied by other health disorders of the spine, consult a doctor:High-quality diagnosis is half the success of treatment.

Radiculitis in the absence of competent treatment leads to curvature of the spine. A common complication of the disease is spondylolisthesis, a bulging disc caused by compression of the vertebrae. Having a herniated disc in the lumbar spine, constant pain, this is a severe consequence of sciatica.

To diagnose pain in the lumbar region, you must consult a doctor

The occurrence of radiculitis, like osteoarthritis, has a similar cause:

  • Violation of posture;
  • Muscle training;
  • flat feet;
  • The habit of "hugging your back" improperly when walking, sitting, working and resting;
  • Violation of metabolic processes.

If osteoarthritis develops, pain and burning in the back appear, treat the problem immediately. Until she got worse.

Radiculitis is treated in the same way as osteoarthritis:

  • Eliminate pain - apply ointments, gels, pills;
  • Reduce inflammation;
  • Strengthen the muscular system with exercises.

labor process

Infectious tuberculosis can cause myositis in any area. If the muscles of the lower back are inflamed, the pain is there. The process of tuberculosis in the bony tissue of the vertebrae is due to the penetration of specific tuberculosis bacteria into the vertebral tissue with the bloodstream. This provokes the development of tuberculous spondylitis or osteomyelitis (bacteria that infect the bone marrow of the spine).

Diseases of the etiology of tuberculosis of the lumbar region are accompanied by severe pain in an advanced stage.

What to do if spinal tuberculosis is diagnosed? Follow the instructions of an experienced physician. Delaying treatment is very dangerous: the spine is gradually deformed: the vertebrae are destroyed, tumors form.

Long-term, antibacterial, sometimes surgical treatment. Recommended load limit. Medical supervision is necessary even after remission.

tumor

Tumor processes in the lumbar spine and adjacent tissues cause pain, which increases with tumor growth. Discomfort causes tumors of any type: benign and malignant.

If a tumor is suspected, a thorough examination and treatment is important. Symptoms may resemble a pinched nerve, sciatica, or spinal herniation. Therefore, it is important to consult a doctor, establishing a reliable diagnosis.

Diagnosis is difficult due to the similarity of symptoms with other diseases. Night and morning pain are characteristic. A tumor involving the spinal cord is the most serious prognosis.

Benign tumors are treated surgically, they are removed. Malignant tumors often form due to metastases from other organs, and are difficult to cure. You should contact an oncologist, who will plan and conduct treatment. Treatment tactics: anesthesia, supportive therapy, if necessary - surgery.

Diseases of internal organs

disease, symptoms

Why does the lower back hurt?

necessary action

A stroke is a violation of the blood circulation of the brain. Failure of most bodily functions - speech, motor, mental.

Acute circulatory failure due to rupture or narrowing of a vessel can affect the spinal cord. Its functions are disturbed, hypoxia occurs. This causes pain.

Call an emergency worker urgently.

Atypical acute appendicitis

Pain occurs in places that are not typical for this disease - the epigastrium, the left side or the lower back.

Calling an ambulance, hospitalization and surgery is possible.

Pyelonephritis, ICD (kidney disease)

The inflammatory process (pyelonephritis) or the development of kidney stones causes pain in the lower back and lower abdomen of varying intensity - from aching to acute, intolerable.

Call an ambulance.

Bowel obstruction.

Acute life-threatening condition: retention of stool and gas, vomiting, nausea, mass of food not moving through the intestines. Cold sweat, rapid pulse, low blood pressure.

Pain in the form of spasms can be given to the lower back.

Emergency hospital admission.

reflective pain

Give them:

  • Diseases of the pancreas;
  • Pathology of the pelvic organs;
  • Intestinal diseases.

To be examined, examined, diagnosed by a doctor, then prescribed a full treatment.

Women's problems

The cause of the pain is not always pathological, if we are talking about women. Sometimes they lie in the complete physiology of women.

During pregnancy

Pain in the low back in expectant mothers can be attributed to pain. This is a natural feeling of heaviness: the baby grows, the belly expands, the weight on the pelvis is greatest. This increases the load on the spine in the lumbar region. Imagine that you have a bag tied to your belt, a bucket or a bucket and a half of water poured into it. After walking with such a load for several hours, even a man will feel tired, the lower back will ache. Carrying a child is not an easy pleasure in every sense. A pregnant woman may be disturbed by pain in the lower backIn the early stages, the body begins to rebuild, it is felt.

A healthy woman does not consider the desired excess weight as discomfort.Muscles develop normally, gymnastics for pregnant women neutralize the feeling of heaviness.If the pain is severe, pain in the lower abdomen and lower back, tell your doctor. Your doctor will help figure out what it could be. Multiple pregnancy can increase the severity - the load is larger than usual. The possibility of exacerbation of pre-pregnancy diseases is not excluded, consultation with a doctor will reveal this.

Stage = Stage

Normal course shows: healthy woman. When menstruation begins, the cervix is slightly dilated and may be painful. Then the mucous membranes inside the lining of the uterus are shed - which can also be painful. If the pain is unbearable - go to the doctor, he will tell you how to normalize menstruation. Irregular periods can indicate a hormonal disorder.

How to relieve pain?

Acute low back pain not related to visceral damage can resolve quickly on its own and does not require medication.

  1. Exhaling forcefully (deep, from the abdomen) activates the diaphragm, activates blood circulation, the disease goes into remission.

    • Lying on our back, we place a cold object under the lower back (ice heating pad, bag of frozen vegetables, etc. ), the cold also numbs the swollen muscles.
    • We slightly bend the leg at the knee.
    • We bring our hands to our ears, when exhaling we raise our head, shoulders up and down when inhaling.

    Cold reduces swelling, activates blood flow to the lower back. The pain receded.

  2. With all four feet on the floor, stretch the muscles by walking with the support of the palms and knees. 5-20 minutes is the optimal duration of the exercise. Resolve edema, anesthesia occurs.

  3. Lie on your back, resting your feet on a bench (sofa, other comfortable support). Under the lower back - a stone heating pad. Hands behind the head. As you exhale, lift your shoulders up, trying to touch your elbows to your knees. Do 20 or more reps, if possible. Muscles grow, swelling and spasms are eliminated, pain is gone.

There is a set of exercises that help strengthen the lower back muscles, here are the main exercises that help relieve pain quickly. Kind of like an ambulance. The exercises are safe, the initial soreness is natural. If you start doing these movements right away, as soon as a person feels discomfort, the muscle has been "pulled", then the pain syndrome can be relieved in a session or two.

Painkillers of pharmaceutical nature provide temporary relief, but do not eliminate the problem.Apply, if unbearable, ointments, folk remedies (salt water, herbal baths), but the focus is on exercises.

Properly alternate between work and rest, allowing yourself to have a good night's sleep.

Don't be lazy: get your muscles active. Practice movements that eliminate muscle stagnation. They are a dynamic agency. Apply reasonable exercises, not forcing. Please be patient. The work of the muscles is controlled by the mind, their regenerative (recovery) ability is amazing. Under load, new pathways are innervated, damaged pathways are bypassed, and temporarily lost functions of muscles affected by disease or external impact are restored.

Anatomical changes only involve pathways. Health, well-being, mobility - restored.

There is no better investment than in your own health. It's an investment: exercise as part of a lifestyle. To make it a habit - everyday, like brushing your teeth.

Nursing is not an option. The desire to find a comfortable position for the body, reducing pain is understandable. But if "movement is life", then peace (which one so desires in case of pain) is the antithesis of life. Eternal peace - with any degree of laziness - few people care, so you have to disturb the ailing muscles. through painIllnesses are loved when they are pampered (bed rest, minimal exercise, warm-ups, and other indulgences). Butillness recedes before bravery, step over the fear of experiencing pain and overcome itself. Overcoming self-pity: it is an excuse for laziness and fear. A little courage, do light work often, and you'll forget about low back pain.