Low back pain can be caused by a number of injuries, conditions, or diseases, but most of the time it is caused by an injury to the back’s muscles or tendons.
Most of the time, lower back pain gets better with rest, painkillers, and exercise (PT).
Cortisone injections and hands-on treatments (like osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation) can help ease pain and speed up the healing process.
Some back injuries and problems can only be fixed by surgery.
How often does low back pain happen?
At some point in their lives, four out of five people will have pain in their lower back. This is one of the most common reasons why people go to the doctor.
Some people are more likely to get low back pain than others. Some things that can cause lower back pain are:
- Age: Back pain is more common in people over 30. Over time, the soft, rubbery discs that cushion the bones of the spine wear away. As the discs wear down and become weaker, pain and stiffness can happen.
- Weight: People with back pain are more likely to be overweight, obese, or carry extra weight. Joints and discs feel the pressure of extra weight.
- Overall health: If the abdominal muscles are weak, they can’t support the spine, which can cause strains and sprains in the back. Back pain is more likely in people who smoke, drink too much, or don’t move around much.
- Occupation and lifestyle: Jobs and activities that require heavy lifting or bending can make you more likely to hurt your back.
- Structural problems: Conditions like scoliosis, which change the way the spine is aligned, can cause a lot of back pain.
- People with a family history of osteoarthritis, some types of cancer, or other diseases are more likely to have low back pain.
- Back pain can be caused by mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
What are the signs that your lower back hurts?
The signs of lower back pain can happen all at once or over time. When you do something like bend down to pick up something, you might feel pain.
Sometimes you might not know what hurt you.
When you strain your back while doing something, you may hear a “pop.” Most of the time, pain is worse in some positions (like bending over) and better when you lie down.
Some other signs of lower back pain are:
- Stiffness: Your back may be hard to move or straighten. It might take you a while to get up from a chair, and you might feel like you need to walk or stretch to get your muscles loose. You might find that you can’t move as much as you used to.
- People who have back pain often find it hard to stand up straight. You may stand “crooked” or hunched, with your body angled away from your spine. You may have a flat rather than a sloped lower back.
- Muscle spasms: When muscles in the lower back are strained, they can tighten or spasm on their own. Very severe muscle spasms can make it difficult or impossible to move, stand, or walk.
Why does my lower back hurt?
Low back pain can be caused by many injuries, conditions, and diseases. Among them are:
- Strains and sprains: Back pain is most often caused by strains and sprains. If you lift something that is too heavy or not in the right way, you could hurt your muscles, tendons, or ligaments. Some people hurt their backs when they cough, sneeze, turn, or bend over.
- Fractures: In an accident, like a car crash or a fall, the bones in the spine can break. Fractures are more likely to happen if you have spondylolysis or osteoporosis.
- Problems with discs: Discs protect the vertebrae (small spinal bones). Disks can push on nerves if they move out of place in the spine. Also, they can tear (herniated disk). As discs age, they can flatten out and protect less (degenerative disc disease).
- Structure problems: When the spinal column is too narrow for the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis happens. When something pinches the spinal cord, it can cause a lot of pain in the lower back and along the sciatic nerve. Scoliosis is a curved spine that can cause pain, stiffness, and trouble moving.
- Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis that causes pain in the lower back.
- Ankylosing spondylitis makes the spine stiff, inflamed, which hurts the lower back.
- Back pain can be caused by a number of diseases, such as spinal tumors, infections, and some types of cancer. Back pain can also be caused by other things. Some of these are kidney stones and aortic aneurysms in the abdomen.
- Spondylolisthesis is a condition in which the spine’s vertebrae move out of place. Spondylolisthesis causes pain in the lower back and, often, in the legs as well.
How is the cause of lower back pain found?
Your doctor or nurse will ask you about your symptoms and examine you. Your doctor may order imaging tests to look for broken bones or other damage.
Your doctor can get a clear picture of your vertebrae, discs, muscles, ligaments, and tendons from these tests.
Your provider may order:
- Radiation is used to make pictures of bones on a spine X-ray.
- MRI makes pictures of bones, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues by using a magnet and radio waves.
- X-rays and a computer are used in a CT scan to make 3D pictures of bones and soft tissues.
- Electromyography (EMG) is used to test nerves and muscles and look for nerve damage (neuropathy), which can make your legs feel tingly or numb.
- Depending on the source of the discomfort, your physician may also prescribe blood or urine tests. Some back pain conditions, like ankylosing spondylitis, have signs that can be found in blood tests. Kidney stones, which hurt in the side, are checked for in urine tests (the sides of the low back).
How do you treat back pain in the lower back?
You can use Pain O Soma for lower back pain. You may resume your normal activities after a few days of recuperation.
Being busy brings more blood to the area, which helps you heal. You could also try visiting a Texas Joint Institution.
How else to treat lower back pain depends on what’s causing it. Among them are:
Medication: To help relieve pain, your doctor may prescribe Pain O Soma medication. These drugs help relax the muscles and stop back spasms. Visit Woodstock Family Medicine to learn about other such medications.
Physical therapy (PT): PT can strengthen your muscles so they can support your spine. PT also makes you more flexible and helps you avoid getting hurt again.
Hands-on manipulation: Several “hands-on” treatments can loosen up tight muscles, reduce pain, and improve posture and alignment. Depending on what is causing your pain, you may need osteopathic manipulation or chiropractic adjustments. Massage can also help relieve back pain and get things working again.
Injections: Your doctor or nurse will use a needle to put medicine into the painful area. Steroid shots take away pain and reduce swelling.
Surgery: Some injuries and illnesses need to be fixed with surgery. Low back pain can be treated with different kinds of surgery, many of which are not very invasive.