Lower Back Pain - Learning to Understand It

Lower Back Pain – How to Manage It.

Have you ever woken up to sudden back pain, or made a twist and turn that leaves you practically immobile for hours?

Back pain is one of the most common issues that will damper all your activities.

Many people will lose hours of work, and their lifestyle will change. However, there are solutions to diminish lower back pain.

How Pain Affects Your Life

If you’ve ever felt the terrible sting of lower back pain, then you probably know how essential that part of your body can be to daily tasks.

Your lower back and its health will impact your mobility in ways that you’ll never think of until you experience it.

This is because that part of your back supports a large portion of your weight, and it’s full of complex organs and tissues.

A sensitive part of your nervous system also resides in your back. Your spine is like a fibrous highway that is constantly sending information up and down the line.

Any damages to that area can be life-changing. Being able to properly bend and twist is extremely important, therefore you must learn to be careful in these situations.

1. Symptoms

Although some things about back pain tend to be self-explanatory, it’s always a good idea to think about further specifics to help narrow down the amount of things that could be causing the pain.

The following are specific symptoms to consider.

You have muscle soreness
Sudden shooting pains
Pain that spreads to your legs
It gets worse when you’re doing any kind of activity
You have pain that goes away when you lean back

If you are experiencing any or all of these symptoms, then the following information most likely applies to you.

2. Causes

Back pain is caused by a variety of things, but the most common factors will be discussed here. In most cases a doctor will have the ability to find out the site of the injury.

A few of the causes might be:

A pulled a muscle or ligament.-If you make sudden movements that aren’t balanced, or you are repeating certain movements, you could be exposing yourself to the possibility of injury.

Damaged vertebrae.- As people get older, the soft tissues often referred to as disks can become damaged. When this happens, the weight of you upper body can press down onto the bones and cause them to grind into each other. Obviously, that’s something that would be extremely painful, so it’s important to get that looked at immediately.

Arthritis.- Arthritis is one of the most common causes of back pain. Only a specialized physician will offer solutions to arthritis related pain.

Skeletal malformations.- There are various types of growth issues that can affect your spine. Hence, a curvature to your spine, can easily cause pain that disrupts your life.

Osteoporosis.- This will cause your spine to develop tiny breaks and painful hairline fractures.

3. Diagnosis

Whether or not you have figured out exactly where your back pain is coming from, it is important to get proper diagnosis from a doctor. Additionally, This will help to rule out other potential causes, and start working on managing the pain.

A few of them are:

X-rays.- This method has always been a good one for these types of injuries because it can allow the doctor to see your skeletal structure and if there is damage that has taken place recently. This can also find issues that you might not have been aware of yet.

MRI Scans.- An MRI can help to create an image of what’s going on inside your body and are more detailed than x-rays. They can also look at nerve endings and blood vessels to see if the issues are related to those tiny parts of your body.

Electromyography.- EMG measures the electrical signals created by your nerves and keeps track of how your muscles are affected. Also is extremely useful in pinpointing problem areas.

4. Treatments

Just because you are experiencing pain doesn’t mean that you have to live with it. There are a number of ways that you can get some relief, and in some cases it might be completely necessary for healing. You doctor can make determinations about what will be the most useful for you, but here are a few of the things that they might suggest:

Medication

Narcotics.– Drugs that are relatively powerful might be useful for a short time. Opioids, must be administered by a medical professional due to the addictive nature of the medication.

Over-the-counter pain relief.- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like as ibuprofen are some of the most common ways that people use to deal with pain of this type. Although it has less danger associated with it than narcotics, taking too many of them can seriously affect your health. Be sure to keep the doses to their approved amounts.

Topical pain relievers.- Creams that limit pain are the second most popular method of reducing back pain. Therefore, rub the area with pain for quick relief.

Natural Remedies

Improve Your Posture.- Poor posture is one of the leading causes of back pain as well. Sitting incorrectly for long periods of time will strain muscles around the spine.

Sit upright when you’re reading or doing any kind of focused activity.

Core Exercises. – Core muscles wrap and protect organs. Additionally, they keep your organs and tissues in place. Strengthening your core is a must.

Massages.- Massage is an ancient art that helps to improve your muscle and circulatory health. Studies have shown that even one massage per week can greatly reduce pain in your body.

Specially trained therapists will correct spinal malformations through manipulation. Many patients have reported increased mobility after spinal manipulation sessions.

Get Better Sleep.- Sleep is an important part of your back health as well. It takes time to find a proper sleep position that will work for you. Lying on your side is the best way. Hence, be aware of where the pressure is located when you get in bed, and correct what is causing it.