According to medical statistics, acute back pain is the second most common cause of disability. At least 80% of people have suffered from them at least once. They can occur sporadically or be observed during exacerbations of diseases of the spine. But in any case, acute and chronic back pain requires competent treatment and targeted action on the causes of their occurrence.
Acute back pain: causes
Acute pain is one that persists for less than 6 weeks. For most, it goes away within 2 weeks. Although initially it is impossible to predict how long it will last. Nevertheless, in almost half of cases, similar or more severe attacks are repeated later and become chronic pain.
Acute pain can be of different intensity, dull, burning, etc. Sometimes it radiates to the arms, legs, buttocks. The so-called backache often occurs after hypothermia, excessive physical exertion and as a result of sprains. Several days may pass between the impact of the traumatic factor and the direct manifestation of the pain syndrome, and it will manifest itself under the influence of a slight physical effort, for example, bending.
They can also be the result of a back injury or the first manifestation of spinal diseases, including:
- osteochondrosis;
- intervertebral hernia;
- spondyloarthrosis;
- spinal stenosis, etc.
Increase the likelihood of back problems:
- frequent stress;
- regular increased physical activity;
- overweight;
- frequent and prolonged standing.
In addition to severe back discomfort, there may be headaches, a burning sensation in the legs, and dizziness. All these symptoms must be reported to the doctor at the appointment.
Regardless of which anatomical structure was damaged first, this entails a whole chain of successive changes that increase the discomfort. Initially, inflammation factors are formed in the lesion, causing swelling and irritating nerve fibers. In response to this, muscle spasm often occurs, which further aggravates the situation and provokes circulatory disorders in the affected area. This leads to a decrease in the amount of nutrients and oxygen entering the lesion focus, as well as the retention of metabolic products in it.
Treatment of acute back pain
To ease the pain, lie on your back on a hard surface. This will allow your back muscles to relax and relieve stress 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 in the lower back. With severe pain, a short-term intake of drugs of the NSAID group is allowed. In the future, you must definitely contact a neurologist or spinal surgeon to determine the cause of the pain syndrome.
As soon as possible, you need to visit a doctor if there is no improvement within a week, a recurrence of an attack or irradiation of pain in the feet or knees, a violation of urination and defecation. In order to diagnose existing disorders, patients are shown:
- MRI;
- CT;
- x-ray;
- biochemical blood test;
- UAC.
Based on the results of the research and the characteristics of the symptoms, the doctor makes a diagnosis and develops treatment tactics. In case of acute pain that deprives a person of working capacity, he may be offered to perform a spinal blockade, which relieves pain in a few minutes.
After the discomfort subsides, it is important not to linger in bed. Moderate physical activity, supplemented by special exercises in medical gymnastics, is the best prevention of recurrence of such attacks in the future.
When you go to the hospital, you will definitely receive high-quality treatment of pain syndrome and its causes. Specialists will be able to develop the most effective treatment tactics and quickly relieve pain with the help of a well-made, affordable blockade.
Chronic back pain: causes
People suffer from pulling chronic back pain just as often. They can aggravate and turn into an attack of acute pain, which completely turns off a person from the usual rhythm. Most often they are a consequence of:
- Sedentary lifestyle, which leads to a weakening of the muscular corset. This provokes an increase in the load on the spinal column and compression of the vertebrae. The result is osteochondrosis, protrusion of intervertebral discs and herniated intervertebral discs, spondyloarthrosis.
- Posture disorders. Long-term preservation of any position of the body, in which the natural curves of the spine are disrupted, provokes its curvature and the development of scoliosis or kyphosis. This entails degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs, redistribution of the load on the muscles and pinching of the nerve roots.
- Weakening of the abdominal muscles. Since they act as a support for the internal organs and partially relieve the spine, when they are weak, the load on the lower back increases, which increases lordosis and provokes chronic pain. In addition to a sedentary lifestyle, weakening of the abdominal muscles can be a consequence of pregnancy or obesity.
- Age changes. Over the years, the intervertebral discs are gradually dehydrated, which causes a decrease in their elasticity, strength and size. The annulus fibrosus surrounding the jelly-like nucleus pulposus dries out and becomes more fragile. Loads provoke the formation of cracks in it, which leads to the formation of protrusions and hernias. The resulting protrusion can squeeze close-lying blood vessels, nerve roots, spinal cord, which provokes the appearance of pain syndrome.
Chronic back pain diseases include:
- osteochondrosis;
- spondyloarthrosis;
- osteoporosis;
- intervertebral hernia;
- facet syndrome;
- ankylosing spondylitis;
- spondylolisthesis;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- intercostal neuralgia;
- oncological diseases and others.
A common cause of chronic pain is deterioration of the facet joints. Cartilage located in them is also prone to thinning under excessive stress on the spine. As a result, when moving, they cease to perform a shock-absorbing function, which provokes friction of bone fragments and the development of inflammation.
Back Pain Treatment
Treatment tactics are developed on the basis of what disorders were found during diagnostic studies. When spinal diseases are detected, conservative therapy is initially prescribed, including:
- drug therapy;
- physiotherapy;
- massage;
- exercise therapy.
Conservative therapy
When treating back pain, a comprehensive, individualized approach is important. Depending on the cause of their occurrence, patients are prescribed a number of medications, in particular:
- NSAIDs - drugs in this group have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, but with prolonged use they negatively affect the state of the digestive tract;
- corticosteroids - drugs with pronounced anti-inflammatory properties, prescribed in moderate to severe cases;
- muscle relaxants - help to eliminate increased muscle tone and spasms;
- antidepressants - help to eliminate psychological discomfort, which often reduces the effectiveness of conservative therapy;
- topical agents - ointments or gels containing anti-inflammatory, warming or cooling components can help reduce the severity of pain and practically do not cause side effects;
- chondroprotectors - preparations containing glucosamine and chondroitin have a beneficial effect on the condition of the cartilage tissue, increase its elasticity and help restore normal thickness.
In mild cases, oral medication is sufficient. But in more complex situations, intra-articular injections may be prescribed to patients. In case of severe pain, it is recommended to do blockades once or as a whole course, which may include up to 10 procedures.
To improve the effectiveness of drug therapy, patients are prescribed massage sessions and physiotherapy. The correct effect on the back muscles helps to activate blood and lymph flow, improve metabolic processes and eliminate muscle spasms. Manual therapy is very effective for deformities of the spinal column, especially scoliosis of 1-2 degrees. Regular sessions help restore the normal position of the spine and relieve pressure on the internal organs.
As part of physiotherapy, patients are assigned sessions:
- UHF;
- magnetic therapy;
- Bernard currents;
- laser therapy;
- electrophoresis;
- UFO;
- balneological treatment.
If within six months it is not possible to improve the condition or there is a risk of complications, patients may be offered surgical treatment of existing diseases.
Surgical Treatment
Modern methods of surgical intervention are distinguished by a high level of efficiency and safety. They allow you to quickly eliminate the pathological cause of the development of pain syndrome and often do not require a hospital stay. But most of the minimally invasive and microsurgical methods can be applied only when patients refer to spinal surgeons in the early stages of the development of the disease.
The indications for surgical treatment are:
- progressive herniated intervertebral discs;
- spinal stenosis;
- sequestered hernia;
- spinal fractures;
- grade 3-4 scoliosis;
- severe forms of spondyloarthrosis;
- compression of the spinal cord or its nerve roots;
- hemangiomas of the vertebral bodies;
- instability of individual segments of the spine;
- cauda equina syndrome.
The surgeon determines the type of operation based on the severity of the patient's condition. With the same diagnosis, surgical treatment can be performed in different ways, differing in the degree of invasiveness, effectiveness, duration of rehabilitation and cost.
Recently, minimally invasive methods of surgical treatment have been very popular. With their help, the treatment of intervertebral protrusions, hernias of intervertebral discs, hemangiomas and a number of other diseases is carried out. Minimally invasive surgery takes no more than an hour, and after its completion, the patient can almost immediately walk and leave the clinic on the same or the next day.
The great advantages of the method are a good cosmetic effect (in most cases, all the necessary surgical instruments are introduced through puncture punctures of soft tissues), ease of rehabilitation and an affordable price. In the case of intervertebral hernias, only cold plasma nucleoplasty or hydroplasty (hydrodiscectomy) can be considered a more promising method.
In situations where microsurgical techniques cannot be applied, surgeons perform open operations. During them, it is possible to completely remove pathologically altered formations, level out severe deformities of the spine, replace unrecoverable structures with implants, and achieve normal functioning of the spine by mounting metal titanium structures.
Modern spinal surgery can deal with almost any back problem. All the latest methods of surgical treatment of diseases of the spine are available in many institutions. A team of doctors of different profiles will help get rid of acute or excruciating chronic back pain as soon as possible.
Prevention of back pain
After the seizure is over and the pain is dull, it is recommended to avoid a second episode:
- do not lift too heavy objects;
- don't bend over;
- walk more;
- give up heavy physical labor;
- when seated, take regular breaks to warm up.