According to medical statistics, acute back pain is the second leading cause of disability. At least 80% of people have suffered at least once. They can occur sporadically or observed when spinal disease worsens. But in any case, acute and chronic back pain requires effective treatment and targeted actions for its causes.
Acute back pain: the cause
Acute pain is pain that lasts less than 6 weeks. In most cases, it will disappear within 2 weeks. Although initially it is impossible to predict how long it will last. However, in almost half of the cases, similar or more severe attacks will repeat in the future and become chronic pain.
The intensity of acute pain, dull pain, burning pain, etc. may be different. Sometimes, the pain radiates to the arms, legs and buttocks. The so-called back pain usually occurs after hypothermia, excessive physical exertion and sprains. It may take several days between the influence of traumatic factors and the direct manifestation of the pain syndrome, and under the influence of trivial physical labor (such as bending), the symptoms will manifest themselves.
They may also be the result of the first manifestations of back injuries or spinal diseases, including:
- Osteochondrosis;
- Intervertebral hernia;
- Spondyloarthropathy;
- Spinal stenosis, etc.
Increase the possibility of back problems:
- Constant pressure;
- Increase physical exercise regularly;
- Overweight;
- Stands often.
In addition to severe back discomfort, headaches, burning sensations in the legs and dizziness may also occur. All these symptoms must be reported to the doctor at the time of appointment.
No matter which anatomy is destroyed first, this requires a series of continuous changes, which increases discomfort. Initially, inflammatory factors are formed in the lesion, causing swelling and irritation of nerve fibers. In response to this, muscle cramps often occur, which further aggravates the condition and causes circulatory diseases in the affected area. This leads to a reduction in the amount of nutrients and oxygen entering the lesion, and the retention of metabolites therein.
Treatment of acute back pain
To relieve pain, please lie on a hard surface. This will relax your back muscles and reduce pressure on your spine. To enhance the effect, orthopedic pillows can be placed under the knees and under the head, but it is important to avoid sagging waist. If severe pain occurs, short-term intake of NSAID drugs is allowed. In the future, be sure to contact a neurologist or spine surgeon to determine the cause of the pain syndrome.
If there is no improvement within a week, recurrence of foot or knee or radiating pain, poor urination and bowel movements, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. To diagnose existing diseases, show the patient:
- MRI;
- CT;
- X-ray;
- Biochemical blood test;
- UAC.
Based on the results of the study and the characteristics of symptoms, doctors make a diagnosis and develop treatment strategies. If acute pain makes a person incapacitated, he may be required to undergo spinal block surgery, which relieves the pain syndrome within minutes.
After the discomfort is relieved, it is important not to lie in bed. Moderate physical exercise, coupled with special exercises in medical gymnastics, is the best way to prevent such attacks from happening again in the future.
When you go to the hospital, you will surely receive high-quality treatment for pain syndrome and its causes. Experts will be able to work out the most effective treatment strategies and quickly relieve pain through carefully crafted, affordable blockades.
Chronic back pain: the cause
People often suffer from chronic back pain. They get worse and become acute pain episodes, which completely frees a person from the usual rhythm. In most cases, they are caused by the following reasons:
- A sedentary lifestyle leads to weakening of the muscular corset. This will increase the load on the spine and compression of the vertebrae. The result is osteochondrosis, herniated disc and herniated disc, and spondylopathy.
- Posture disorder. Long-term preservation of any position of the human body (the natural curve of the spine is interrupted) will cause its curvature and the development of scoliosis or kyphosis. This leads to degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc, redistribution of muscle load and compression of nerve roots.
- Weakened abdominal muscles. Because they act as a support for internal organs and partially relieve the spine, when they become weak, the burden on the lower back increases, which increases lordosis and causes chronic pain. In addition to a sedentary lifestyle, pregnancy or obesity can also cause weakness in the abdominal muscles.
- Age changes. Over the years, the intervertebral discs have gradually become dehydrated, causing their elasticity, strength and size to decrease. The fibrous ring around the jelly-like nucleus pulposus dries out and becomes more fragile. The load can cause cracks to form, which can lead to the formation of protrusions and hernias. The resulting protrusions can squeeze tightly lying blood vessels, nerve roots, and spinal cord, causing pain syndrome.
Chronic back pain diseases include:
- Osteochondrosis;
- Spondyloarthropathy;
- Osteoporosis;
- Intervertebral hernia;
- Face syndrome;
- Ankylosing spondylitis;
- Lumbar spondylolisthesis;
- Rheumatoid Arthritis;
- Intercostal neuralgia;
- Tumor diseases, etc.
A common cause of chronic pain is the deterioration of the small joints. Due to the excessive pressure on the spine, the cartilage in it is also prone to thinning. As a result, they stop performing the shock-absorbing function while moving, causing friction and inflammation of bone fragments.
Low back pain treatment
Develop treatment strategies based on the diseases detected during the diagnostic study. When spinal disease is discovered, conservative treatments are initially prescribed, including:
- Medication;
- Physiotherapy;
- Massage;
- Exercise therapy.
Conservative therapy
Overall, a personalized approach is important when treating back pain. Depending on the cause of the occurrence, a variety of drugs will be prescribed to the patient, especially:
- NSAIDs-This group of drugs has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, but long-term use will have a negative impact on the condition of the digestive tract;
- Corticosteroids-drugs with obvious anti-inflammatory properties, prescribed in moderate to severe patients;
- Muscle relaxants-help eliminate increased muscle tension and cramps;
- Antidepressants-help eliminate psychological discomfort, which usually reduces the effectiveness of conservative treatments;
- topical medication-ointments or gels containing anti-inflammatory, warm or cooling ingredients can help reduce the severity of pain and cause almost no side effects;
- Chondroprotectants-preparations containing glucosamine and chondroitin have a beneficial effect on the condition of cartilage tissue, increase its elasticity and help restore normal thickness.
In mild cases, oral medications are sufficient. But in more complicated cases, the patient may be given intra-segment injections. If the pain is severe, it is recommended to perform a blockade at one time or the entire treatment course, up to 10 times.
In order to improve the effectiveness of drug treatment, massage courses and physical therapy were prescribed for patients. The correct action on the back muscles helps activate blood and lymph, improve metabolic processes and eliminate muscle spasms. Manual therapy is very effective for spinal deformities, especially scoliosis of 1-2 degrees. Regular exercise can help restore the normal posture of the spine and reduce the pressure on the internal organs.
As part of physical therapy, a meeting was assigned to the patient:
- UHF;
- Magnetic therapy;
- Bernard trend;
- Laser therapy;
- Electrophoresis;
- UFO;
- Beauty treatment.
If the condition cannot be improved within six months or there is a risk of complications, the patient can be provided with surgical treatment for the existing disease.
Surgical treatment
Modern surgical methods are known for their high efficiency and safety. They enable you to quickly eliminate the pathological causes of the development of pain syndromes and usually do not require hospitalization. However, most minimally invasive and microsurgical methods can only be used when the patient is referred to a spine surgeon early in the disease.
The indications for surgical treatment are:
- Progressive disc herniation;
- Spinal stenosis;
- Isolate hernia;
- Spinal fracture;
- Grade 3-4 scoliosis;
- Severe form of spondyloarthritis;
- Compress the spinal cord or its nerve roots;
- Vertebral hemangioma;
- The instability of each segment of the spine;
- Cauda equina syndrome.
The surgeon determines the type of surgery based on the severity of the patient's condition. With the same diagnosis, surgical treatment can be performed in different ways, with different invasiveness, effectiveness, recovery time and cost.
Recently, minimally invasive methods of surgical treatment are very popular. With their help, the treatment of herniated disc, herniated disc, hemangioma and many other diseases. Minimally invasive surgery takes no more than an hour. After completion, the patient can walk almost immediately and leave the clinic on the same day or the next day.
The great advantage of this method is that it has a good cosmetic effect (in most cases, all necessary surgical instruments are inserted through soft tissue puncture), easy to repair and reasonable price. In the case of intervertebral hernia, only cold plasma nucleoplasty or hydroplasty (water discectomy) can be considered a more promising method.
In cases where microsurgical techniques cannot be applied, the surgeon will perform open surgery. During the treatment process, the pathologically changed tissue can be completely removed, the severe deformity of the spine can be eliminated, the unrecoverable structure can be replaced with an implant, and the normal function of the spine can be realized by installing a metal titanium structure.
Modern spine surgery can solve almost any back problem. Many institutions offer all the latest methods for surgical treatment of spinal diseases. A team of doctors from different backgrounds will help you get rid of acute or severe chronic back pain as soon as possible.
Prevent back pain
After the epileptic seizure is over and the pain is relieved, it is recommended to avoid the second seizure:
- Don’t lift heavy objects;
- Don’t bend down;
- Go more;
- Give up heavy physical labor;
- After sitting down, take regular breaks to warm up.