What to do if the lower back hurts is an urgent question for many modern people. Most of them have serious problems with the health of the spine. Currently, osteochondrosis is no longer a disease of the elderly. Today, degenerative dystrophic changes in the cartilaginous tissues of the intervertebral discs develop at a fairly young age. They can be found even in patients aged 20-25 years. Lumbosacral osteochondrosis is the most common cause of back pain. But not only him.
Be sure to consult an experienced doctor. Choose the right specialist. The first thing to remember in this case is that your local therapist does not treat lower back pain. According to medical and economic standards, it only eliminates the symptom for the specified number of days. His task is to return the patient to work as soon as possible. He does not pay attention to the fact that the disease continues to develop intensively. Therefore, many patients lose time during which they can restore the health of the spine without surgery.
We recommend that you sign up for full treatment at the manual therapy clinic. They use completely different methods and approaches. Symptomatic treatment is not used. Doctors working in chiropractic clinics aim to restore the patient to full health, not mask existing symptoms.
In order to understand what to do if the lower back hurts a lot, you need to know how this part of the body works and what can cause an unpleasant symptom. We offer you to familiarize yourself with some aspects of the anatomy and physiology of the lumbar region.
At the heart of this body part is the lumbosacral spine. In adults, the sacrum is a single triangular bone consisting of five fused vertebral bodies. The conditional center of gravity of the human body is between the first sacrum and the fifth lumbar vertebra. It provides the main mechanical and amortization load of the lower limbs.
This is due to the fact that the hip-sacral joints are located on the lateral surfaces of the sacrum. With their help, the pelvic ring is attached to the spinal column. The hip joints are located in the lower lateral part of the pelvic ring. Thus, the entire load of the lower limbs is transferred to the L5-S1 intervertebral disc via the hip and hip-sacral joints.
Due to these anatomical features, the L5-S1 intervertebral disc and the hip-sacral joints are destroyed at a fairly early age in a modern human due to its sedentary lifestyle. And this is a serious reason for the appearance of acute pain in the lumbar region.
The lumbar spine consists of individual vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs. They're pretty solid. Within the lumbar and sacral sections of the spinal column are the segments of the spinal cord with the same name. Paired radicular nerves depart from them, which form the lumbosacral nerve plexus and large nerves. At the bottom of the sacrum, the terminal fibers of the spinal cord come out, forming another large nerve plexus - the "horse's tail".
Long anterior and posterior ligaments run along the spine. They begin in the region of the coccyx and end in the region of the occipital bone. There are also short transverse and interspinous ligaments. They are located between adjacent vertebral bodies. The paravertebral muscles located along the spine provide diffuse nutrition for the cartilaginous tissues of the intervertebral discs. If they work incorrectly, osteochondrosis and its complications develop.
It is difficult to independently determine which tissues are destroyed. You need the help of an experienced doctor. An experienced doctor performs an examination and makes a preliminary diagnosis. Develop a personalized treatment plan.
Causes of lower back pain
The first thing you should do if your lower back hurts is to find out the causes of this pathological condition. The possibility of renal pathology should be ruled out. Very often, urolithiasis, pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis and polycystic kidney disease manifest themselves with a characteristic pain syndrome in the lower back. Other urological symptoms may also be present. These are spasms during urination, changes in the color and transparency of urine, an increase in body temperature, general malaise, poisoning and edematous nephrotic syndrome, an increase in blood pressure, etc.
If you notice these symptoms, we recommend that you see a nephrologist or therapist as soon as possible. You receive professional medical care.
If you fell, were injured, had an accident on the eve of the onset of pain syndrome, you should contact a traumatologist for an appointment. The cause of the pain may be a crack, fracture of the vertebral body or its process, the lower arch of the rib cage. In addition, damage to the tissues of the kidney is possible with a traumatic effect.
The following diseases and conditions can cause pain in the lumbar region:
- traumatic violation of the integrity of the ligament, tendon and muscle system (stretching, microscopic tears, defibrillation, cicatricial deformities, etc. );
- degenerative dystrophic process in the cartilaginous tissues of the intervertebral discs, which leads to the development of osteochondrosis and dorsopathy;
- protrusion of the intervertebral discs (decrease in height and increase in occupied area);
- extrusion (tear) of the annulus fibrosus and exit of the intervertebral hernia;
- unstable position and periodic displacement of the vertebral bodies relative to each other according to the type of laterolisthesis, antithesis and retrolisthesis;
- destruction and inflammation of well-directed intervertebral joints;
- curvature of the spine and distortion of the pelvic bones;
- deforming osteoarthritis of the hip-sacral joints;
- narrowing of the spinal canal;
- pinching of the radicular nerves and their branches (sciatica, sciatica, radiculopathy);
- cauda equina syndrome, piriformis muscle;
- plexitis of the lumbosacral nerve plexus and many others.
It is very difficult to independently determine the real reason why the lower back hurts. For this, you must have extensive practical experience and specialized knowledge. Therefore, you should not engage in self-diagnosis and treatment. It is better to consult an experienced doctor in time and undergo a comprehensive treatment.
The lower back hurts a lot - what to do at home
If your back hurts a lot, the first thing to do is to ensure complete physical rest. It is necessary to lie on your back on a hard, smooth surface and try to relax your back muscles. If the pain syndrome does not begin to decrease within 30-40 minutes, an ambulance should be called. This may be a condition that requires immediate surgical intervention.
The next thing to do at home if your back hurts is to rule out all possible risk factors. These include the following aspects:
- overweight - every extra kilogram repeatedly increases the pressure on the cartilaginous intervertebral discs and causes their premature destruction;
- violation of body posture (rounded or bent back, slouched, etc. ) - violation of the distribution processes of the amortization load is possible, displacement of the vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs is possible;
- heavy physical work associated with lifting and carrying heavy loads;
- household, sports and industrial injuries to the lower back;
- improper organization of the bedroom and workplace;
- sedentary work, which involves prolonged static tension of the body's musculature;
- choosing low-quality clothes and shoes;
- incorrect foot position during walking and running (flat feet or club feet);
- smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages (triggers the intensification of the process of lymphatic fluid and blood microcirculation, which is fraught with the development of ischemia and dystrophy of the tissues of the spinal column);
- malnutrition and insufficient clean water intake.
If your back hurts a lot and you don't know what to do, see a doctor right away. Only a specialist can find the possible cause, eliminate it and develop an individual treatment method.
Back pain - how to treat it with manual therapy methods
So what to do if your lower back hurts - there are currently several options for treatment. The first is to make an appointment with a local therapist at the city clinic. In this case, symptomatic treatment is carried out. All unpleasant symptoms disappear, but the process of tissue destruction of the spinal column continues. And it can even increase, because the doctor completely disables the natural defense mechanisms of the human body with symptomatic remedies for the treatment of pain.
For example, with the protrusion of the intervertebral discs, the pain syndrome in most cases is associated with the fact that the paravertebral muscles compensate for the amortization load, take it upon themselves. This is accompanied by a strong tension in the muscle fibers and pain. But if muscle relaxants are used, then the muscles are paralyzed, and all the damping and mechanical loads are applied entirely to the already damaged intervertebral discs. In some cases, this causes rupture of the annulus fibrosus and the appearance of an intervertebral hernia.
You can also visit a manual therapist. This specialist takes a completely different approach to treatment. He tries to recognize all the risk factors and gives individual recommendations to the patient to eliminate them. You will then develop an individual treatment plan. It will be based on the principle of complete restoration of the disturbed process of diffuse nutrition of the cartilaginous tissues of the intervertebral discs.
In order to restore the normal shape of the intervertebral disc, manual traction of the spinal column is performed several times. During the procedure, the doctor increases the flexibility of the soft tissues surrounding the spine. It then spreads the adjacent vertebral bodies to a normal distance. There is room on the discs for full expansion. After 2-3 procedures, the acute pain syndrome disappears completely.
In the future, a full-scale treatment will be carried out. This may include osteopathy, therapeutic exercises, kinesiotherapy, laser therapy, physiotherapy and more.