According to medical statistics, acute back pain is the second most common cause of disability. At least 80% of people suffer from them at least once. They can occur sporadically or are observed during the occurrence of spinal diseases. However, acute and chronic back pain requires competent treatment and targeted action at the cause of its occurrence.
Acute back pain: the cause
Acute pain is pain that persists for less than 6 weeks. For most, it will disappear in 2 weeks. Although at first it is impossible to predict how long it will last. Even so, in almost half of the cases, similar or worse attacks recur later and become chronic pain.
Acute pain can vary in intensity, dull, burning, and more. Sometimes it radiates to the arms, legs, back. The aforementioned back pain often occurs after hypothermia, excessive physical activity and as a result of sprains. A few days may pass between the effects of traumatic factors and the direct manifestations of pain syndrome, and it will stand out under the influence of a little physical effort, for example, tendencies.
They can also be the result of a back injury or the first manifestation of spinal disease, including:
- osteochondrosis;
- intervertebral hernia;
- spondyloarthrosis;
- spinal stenosis, etc.
Increases the likelihood of back problems:
- frequent stress;
- frequent increase in physical activity;
- overweight;
- frequent and prolonged stance.
In addition to severe back discomfort, headaches, burning sensations in the legs, and dizziness may arise. All of these symptoms must be reported to the doctor during the appointment.
Regardless of which anatomical structure first breaks down, this requires a whole series of successive changes that increase discomfort. Initially, inflammatory factors form on the lesion, causing swelling and irritation of nerve fibers. In response to this, muscle spasms often occur, which exacerbate the condition and provoke poor circulation in the affected area. This causes a decrease in the amount of nutrients and oxygen entering the lesion focus, as well as the retention of metabolic products in it.
Acute back pain treatment
To reduce 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 its effect, orthopedic pillows can be placed below the knee and under the head, but it is important to avoid sagging in the lower back. With severe pain, short-term use of drugs from the NSAID group is allowed. In the future, be sure to contact a neurologist or spine surgeon to find out the cause of the pain syndrome.
As soon as possible, you should see a doctor if there is no improvement in a week, recurrent attacks or radiating pain in the legs or knees, urinary incontinence and defecation. To diagnose an existing disorder, the patient is shown:
- MRI;
- CT;
- x-rays;
- biochemical blood tests;
- UAC.
Based on the results of research and the characteristics of symptoms, doctors make a diagnosis and develop treatment tactics. If acute pain deprives a person of the ability to work, he or she may be offered to perform a spinal block, which relieves the pain syndrome within minutes.
Once the discomfort subsides, it is important not to linger in bed. Moderate physical activity, coupled with special training in medical gymnastics, is the prevention of recurrent attacks like this in the future.
When you go to the hospital, you will definitely get high quality pain syndrome treatment and its causes. Specialists will be able to develop the most effective treatment tactics and get rid of pain quickly with the help of well-made and affordable restrictions.
Chronic back pain: the cause
People suffer from chronic back pain as usual. They can worsen and turn into an acute pain attack, which completely kills a person from a normal rhythm. Often it is a consequence:
- An inactive lifestyle, which causes muscle corset weakness. This provokes an increase in load on the spinal space and compression of the vertebrae. The result is osteochondrosis, protrusion of the intervertebral disc and herniated intervertebral disc, spondyloarthrosis.
- Posture disorders. Long-term preservation of any body position, in which the natural curvature of the spine is disturbed, provokes its curvature and the development of scoliosis or kifosis. This requires degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc, redistribution of load on muscles and pinching of nerve roots.
- Weakens the abdominal muscles. Because they serve as support for internal organs and partially relax the spine, when they are weak, the load on the lower back increases, which increases lordosis and causes chronic pain. In addition to an inactive lifestyle, abdominal muscle weakness can be the result of pregnancy or obesity.
- Age change. Over the years, the intervertebral disc is slowly dehydrated, resulting in a decrease in its elasticity, strength and size. The fibrous annulus that surrounds the nucleus pulposus is like a jelly that dries and becomes more fragile. The load provokes the formation of cracks in it, which leads to the formation of protrusions and hernias. The resulting protrusion can squeeze nearby blood vessels, nerve roots, spinal cord, which provoke the appearance of pain syndrome.
Chronic back pain includes:
- osteochondrosis;
- spondyloarthrosis;
- osteoporosis;
- intervertebral hernia;
- facet syndrome;
- ankylosing spondylitis;
- spondylolisthesis;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- intercostal neuralgia;
- oncological diseases and others.
The most common cause of chronic pain is facet joint deterioration. The cartilage that is inside it also tends to thin under excessive pressure on the spine. As a result, while moving, they cease to perform shock-absorbing functions, which provoke friction of bone fragments and the development of inflammation.
Back Pain Treatment
Treatment tactics are developed based on what disorders were detected during the diagnostic study. When spinal disease is detected, conservative therapy is initially prescribed, including:
- drug therapy;
- physiotherapy;
- urut;
- exercise therapy.
Conservative therapy
A holistic and distinctive approach is important when treating back pain. Depending on the cause, the patient is given 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 condition of the gastrointestinal tract;
- corticosteroids - drugs with significant anti-inflammatory properties, prescribed in moderate to severe cases;
- muscle relaxant - helps relieve muscle tone and cramps;
- antidepressants - help relieve psychological discomfort, which often reduces the effectiveness of conservative therapy;
- means for topical applications - 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 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 the patient. If there is severe pain, it is recommended to perform a block once or for the entire course, which may include up to 10 procedures.
To increase the effectiveness of drug therapy, patients are given massage sessions and physiotherapy. Proper effect on the back muscles helps to activate blood and lymph flow, improve metabolic processes and relieve muscle spasms. Manual therapy is very effective in spinal deformities, especially 1-2 degree scoliosis. Periodic sessions help restore the normal position of the spine and relieve stress on internal organs.
As part of physiotherapy, patients are given a session:
- UHF;
- magnetic therapy;
- Bernard current;
- 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, the patient can seek surgical treatment of the existing disease.
Surgical Treatment
Modern surgical intervention methods are distinguished by their 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 hospital stay. But most minimally invasive and micro surgical methods can be applied only when the patient is referred to a spine surgeon in the early stages of the disease.
The instructions for surgical treatment are:
- progressive herniated intervertebral disc;
- spinal stenosis;
- isolated hernia;
- broken spine;
- scoliosis grade 3-4;
- severe form of spondyloarthrosis;
- compression of the spinal cord or its nerve root;
- vertebral body hemangioma;
- instability of individual spinal segments;
- 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, varying in degree of invasion, effectiveness, duration of recovery and cost.
Recently, minimally invasive surgical treatment methods have become very popular. With their help, treatment of intervertebral discs, herniated intervertebral discs, hemangiomas and a number of other diseases is carried out. Minimal invasive surgery takes no more than an hour, and upon completion, the patient can immediately walk and leave the clinic the same day or the next day.
The advantages of this method are its good cosmetic effect (in most cases, all the necessary surgical instruments are inserted through a soft tissue puncture), ease of recovery and reasonable price. In the case of intervertebral hernias, only plasma nucleoplasty or cold hydroplasty (hydrodiscectomy) can be considered a more promising method.
In situations where micro surgical techniques cannot be applied, the surgeon performs an open operation. In the process, it is possible to remove pathologically altered formations, even out severe spinal deformities, replace irreversible structures with implants and achieve normal spinal function by installing metal titanium structures.
Modern spinal surgery can address almost all back problems. All the latest methods of surgical treatment of spinal diseases are available in many institutions. A team of doctors with different profiles will help you get rid of acute or unusual chronic back pain as soon as possible.
Back pain prevention
Once the seizures are over and the pain is dull, it is recommended to avoid the second episode:
- do not lift objects that are too heavy;
- do not bend;
- runs more;
- release heavy physical energy;
- while sitting, rest for a while to warm up.