It is difficult to find an adult who has not felt low back pain at least once, and some of these painful sensations do not leave day or night, disrupting the quality of life and forcing them to swallow whole tails of pain pills. It is unfortunate, but most of those who suffer from chronic lower back pain do nothing to treat it, believing that it is impossible to cure such pathology and it is not necessary.
How wrong they are! After all, there is an effective treatment for back pain. And for this you do not need to look for famous doctors and modern clinics. It will be enough just to be patient, set a goal and start daily therapeutic procedures. Of course, this is not a quick process, but the result in the form of no severe back pain will certainly make you happy.
So, let's look at the main causes of lumbar pain and methods to deal with them.
Why does your lower back hurt?
There is a whole carriage and a small cart that causes pain in the lumbar region. They can be divided into two parts - primary and secondary pain syndrome.
Primary back pain
In the syndrome of primary pain in the lower back, the pathological changes develop mainly in the tissues of the spine - these are degenerative-dystrophic diseases that begin in the intervertebral discs, gradually affecting the vertebrae and surrounding soft tissues. Probably everyone knows such diseases as osteochondrosis, spondyloarthritis and spondylosis. These pathologies develop gradually, accompanied by chronic pain syndrome and with the development of complications (compression of nerve roots, protrusion or hernia of the intervertebral disc, spinal cord compression) develops an attack of acute pain that requires urgent medical attention. .
Degenerative-dystrophic changes in the spine and their consequences are the cause of low back pain in more than 90% of cases.
Secondary back pain
Secondary back pain can be caused not only by diseases of the musculoskeletal system, but also by pathology of internal organs:
- congenital or acquired pathology of the musculoskeletal system - pathological curves of the spine, flat feet, etc. ;
- rheumatological and systemic diseases (ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, deforming osteoarthritis, reactive arthritis, systemic scleroderma, vasculitis, lupus erythematosus, etc. );
- metabolic pathology and endocrinological diseases in which the normal structure of bone tissue is disturbed - osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism, osteomalacia;
- malignant and benign neoplastic lesions of the vertebrae and surrounding tissues (myeloma, lymphomas, osteosarcomas, metastatic tumors);
- traumatic damage to the tissues of the spine (stretching of muscles, ligaments, compression and other vertebral fractures);
- inflammatory lesions of the muscles of the lower back - myositis;
- gynecological diseases;
- urinary tract pathology (pyelonephritis, urolithiasis, etc. );
- diseases of the abdominal organs (acute appendicitis, pancreatitis, intestinal lesions).
This article deals with the treatment of primary back pain, which occurs in most cases. But before embarking on therapeutic measures, it is mandatory to visit a doctor to rule out more serious causes of lower back pain.
Basic principles for lumbar pain management
If you are looking for an answer to the question of how to treat low back pain, then the first answer is that the treatment should be comprehensive, only injections and pills probably will not be able to help you. In general, drugs are used to exacerbate the disease and after the pain stops, more active actions begin, such as therapeutic gymnastics, physiotherapy, massage, manual therapy, traditional medicine and others.
Conservative therapy
Medication treatment
If your lower back hurts a lot, then you can't do without medication. Several groups of drugs are used to treat back pain. The main ones are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which also have a powerful analgesic effect. These drugs are used both internally (injections, tablets) and topically (patches, ointments, creams, gels). It is necessary to clarify that the drugs from the group of NSAIDs, although they completely eliminate the symptoms of the disease, do not affect its course, it is impossible to treat osteochondrosis only with anti-inflammatory drugs.
Painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs work well to relieve pain, but will not address the root cause.
Muscle relaxants should be included in the complex of drug therapy. These drugs eliminate the pathological spasm of the skeletal muscles of the lumbar region (pathogenetic treatment of lower back pain), which significantly relieves pain.
A good helper in the treatment of back pain caused by pinching or inflammation of the roots of the spinal nerves are B vitamins, which strengthen and help to repair damaged areas of nerve tissue.
Antiplatelet agents, nicotinic acid, are used to determine nutrition and metabolic processes in the affected tissues of the spine.
If the pain is very severe, then local anesthetics are used for regional blockades, which allows you to temporarily relieve the pain while measures are taken to eliminate its cause.
Physiotherapy
Medical therapy is prescribed only after the pain subsides, with exacerbation is contraindicated. The key to success is regular training. Exercises to strengthen the muscles of the back should be done every day. Ideally, if such a complex is chosen for you by a certified physiotherapist and will teach you all the intricacies of performing the exercises.
As a last resort, you can learn it yourself (you can find a large number of videos with specific examples of movements). The main thing to be guided by when doing gymnastics is the lack of pain. If your movement causes low back pain, reduce its amplitude or abandon it altogether. Doing this at home can help you gradually strengthen your back muscles and relieve pain.
Massage
The health benefits of back massage can hardly be overestimated. The main thing is that it is done correctly and competently. And for that, first of all, you need to find a good, experienced and certified masseur.
Massage activates the processes of blood circulation in the damaged tissues, contributes to their nutrition and elimination of toxic substances. Massage, as well as therapeutic exercise, are performed only outside the exacerbation of the disease.
Physiotherapeutic procedures
The treatment and prevention of low back pain includes a wide variety of physiotherapy treatments. All of them are aimed at preventing degenerative processes in the spine and rebuilding damaged structures.
Most often used in the treatment of low back pain:
- magnetic therapy;
- laser treatment;
- ultrasound therapy;
- electrophoresis;
- thermal procedures;
- balneotherapy;
- mud covers;
- applications with paraffin and ozokerite.
Surgery
Surgery for osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine is performed only in extreme cases, as such manipulations are very high risk. Operate only patients with intervertebral hernias that cause constant pain or patients with signs of spinal cord compression.
There are many methods for such operations - from open neurosurgical surgery to remove a diseased disc to endoscopic and robotic interventions to replace a damaged disc with artificial or bioengineered prostheses.
Unconventional treatments
Acupuncture
Needle piercing treatment has been used since ancient times to fight various diseases. Modern acupuncture is an effective alternative treatment for back pain. In addition, conventional acupuncture today is complemented by the introduction of various biologically active substances at the puncture site, through the action of a magnet or laser, which further increases the efficiency of the technique.
Manual therapy
It is widely used in the treatment of osteochondrosis and its consequences. The conclusion is a manual action on the spine, placing the displaced vertebrae, releasing the nerves from compression and, as a result, eliminating the pain. But it should be noted that these are quite dangerous methods of treatment and only a certified chiropractor should perform such techniques.
Folk recipes
Perhaps the treatment of lower back pain with folk remedies is very popular among the population because of its simplicity, naturalness and availability of ingredients for recipes, extensive experience in their use and effectiveness. There are many recipes for alternative treatments, consider the most popular.
Horse chestnut ointment is prepared as follows. Grind the herb from chestnut powder and add to the fat and camphor oil in equal proportions. You can apply or apply a compress with this ointment 2 times a day until the pain subsides.
Mix grated radish or horseradish with sour cream or heavy cream and apply in the form of a compress on the affected lower back. Wrap yourself in a woolen scarf and go to bed. Repeat this procedure until the pain subsides.
For the next recipe you will need dried burdock leaves. Soak them in boiling water and put them on your back, wrap them in a warm towel. Keep the compress for at least 1 hour.
Rubbing can help with back pain. To do this, you need to make the following mixture. You need to mix cologne, such as triple, a bottle of iodine solution, valerian tincture and dried red pepper. Then you need to rub the sore spot well with the mixture and wrap it with a warm towel overnight.
Folk recipes relieve back pain well, but their use is allowed only with the approval of a doctor.
There are more than a dozen, and perhaps more than a hundred recipes for traditional medicine. But in any case, before using them, you should consult a doctor - if this particular recipe is contraindicated for you.
If you have low back pain and do not know where to start treating it, then first visit a doctor who will determine the true cause of the pain. Only then with joint efforts (yours and your specialist's) you will be able to overcome the disease and pain.