In some cases, patients can be difficult to stand up straight while standing. Acute back pain can last from several days to several weeks.
Causes of acute lower back pain
Most people at least once in their life has experienced back pain. Even if the pain or discomfort can occur at any level, most often it affects the lumbar region. This is due to the fact that the lower back is forced to bear the weight of the entire body and head.
Back pain is the second most common reason for seeking medical attention, second only to colds and flu.
Typically, the first acute lower back pain occurs when lifting heavy objects, sudden movements, injury, or long sitting in one position.
Acute back pain is often the result of sudden trauma to the muscles and ligaments of the back, herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Pain, in such cases, it may be due to muscle spasm, sprain or torn muscles and ligaments.
Causes a sharp pain in the back are:
- spine compression fractures due to trauma or osteoporosis;
- muscle cramps (excessive muscle tension);
- hernia;
- sciatica;
- stenosis (narrowing) of the spinal canal);
- curvature of the spine (eg. scoliosis or kyphosis), including disease Chairman Mau;
- stretching/tearing of muscles and ligaments of the back;
- spondylosis;
- spondylolisthesis;
- infection of the spine (discit, abscess.
Acute back pain can also cause systemic diseases:
- diffuse disease of connective tissue;
- Bechterew's disease;
- a malignant tumor of the spine;
- rheumatoid arthritis.
Causing sharp pains not related to problems with the spine or tissues of the back:
- abdominal aortic aneurysm;
- diseases of the digestive system: pancreatitis, peptic ulcer, cholecystitis;
- herpes zoster;
- disease of the pelvic organs: endometriosis, prostatitis, pelvic inflammatory disease;
- diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract and in the retroperitoneal space: renal colic, pyelonephritis;
- pregnancy.
Symptoms
Symptoms of acute lower back pain vary greatly depending on its cause. You may feel numbness, tingling type of pain may be different, as well as the severity of pain mild discomfort, pain, that you can barely tolerate. In addition, lower back pain is often combined with pain in the foot, hip and legs. In some cases, it may be weakness in the leg.
Here are a few examples of symptoms characteristic of various diseases and conditions:
- if the intervertebral hernia: lower back pain, often on foot, and leg pain stronger than back pain and worsen after the session or sleeping. The pain may radiate to the buttock, thigh and down the leg until the legs. Can be tingling, numbness in the feet and toes, in rare cases, muscle weakness in the legs;
- stretching the muscles of the lower back: diffuse lower back pain that does not let the legs or buttocks; add movement and it is attenuated at rest;
- when spinal stenosis: back pain and leg and foot pain stronger than back pain such as spinal stenosis is often accompanied by the development of intervertebral hernias; aggravated standing and walking, is attenuated at rest and when bent back. The pain can be unilateral, bilateral;
- in diffuse connective tissue disease: pain in multiple joints, fever, weight loss, weakness;
- osteomyelitis: persistent pain, often the temperature is normal; blood count normal, blood erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and/or C-reactive protein level.
Diagnosis
Consultation the physician should discuss with the patient, ask questions about the nature and severity of pain and other symptoms, to collect information on medical history and perform a physical examination. Information is based on discussion and examination, the doctor can make a diagnosis, or preliminary diagnosis, which is confirmed and/or clarified with the help of medical tests. Medical tests can be different, starting with blood and ending with studies of nerve conduction. The most popular degrees are:
X-rays
X-ray is done in order to assess the bone status of the patient. The diagnosis, which can be put on the x-rays, osteoporosis, compression fracture and bony growths (osteophytes);
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
The benefits of MRI compared to other studies is that MRI to get a high quality detailed images of not only bone but also soft tissues: muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, nerves, intervertebral discs, spinal cord, etc.
The most common diagnosis is MRI-findings:
- disc herniation;
- narrowing (stenosis) of the spinal canal;
- ankylosing spondylitis.
Other diagnoses, which can be put through the MRI:
- ankylosing spondylitis (type of arthritis);
- infection of the bone;
- cauda equina syndrome;
- compression fractures;
- discit treaty (inflammation of the intervertebral disc);
- abscess of the spinal cord;
- damage to the spinal cord;
- tumor of the spine.
Computed tomography (CT)
Computed tomography also allows the image not only bone but also soft tissues, however, the image quality is inferior to the quality of the images, obtained by MRI, so CT is recommended if MRI for some reason it is difficult or impossible, for example, in the presence of a pacemaker or structures in the body.
Treatment
What you can do at home for acute back pain?
- restriction of physical activity for 1-2 days. This helps to relieve the symptoms and reduce the inflammation in the painful area;
- by applying hot water bottles or a bladder of ice to the painful area;
- receive over-the-counter painkillers. Do not take these medicines in larger amounts than indicated in the instructions, take medications, you will need not more than 3 days. If the pain persists, you need to consult a doctor.
During sleep it is better to take the position of the embryo and put a pillow between your legs. If you Are accustomed to sleeping on your back, place a knee pillow or rolled towel to relieve strain on the back.
If the cause of lower back pain more serious, then the patient requires special care, depending on the disease or condition causing the pain, so it is impossible to do without the help of professionals.
One of the most common causes of acute lower back pain, which needs special care is intervertebral hernia. Treatment of intervertebral hernia is usually conservative, only occasionally doctors have to use surgical methods. There are a large number of conservative methods of treatment of intervertebral hernia. Here are some of them:
- Medication. Drug treatment involves the administration of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Traction of the spine. This extension does not lead to complications compared with the exhaust gas of the table vector of the load or cargo. Traction of the spine can be used to partially restore power and as a result, the condition of the intervertebral discs and reduces the size of the intervertebral hernia;
- Therapeutic massage. A variety of therapeutic massages are different. Usually, this method is aimed at achieving relaxation of the back muscles, relieve the muscle spasms that often accompany lower back pain;
- Physiotherapy. Therapeutic exercises aimed at strengthening the small muscles of the back;
- Hirudotherapy
Leech therapy to reduce inflammation around the hernia to reduce pain. Is an alternative to pain medication. - Surgical treatment. Surgical treatment of intervertebral hernia is recommended only for patients who do not respond to treatment with conservative means, provided that this treatment is carried out regularly and systematically, as well as patients who started treatment already symptoms of severe neurological deficit: weakness in the legs, paresis, paralysis of the leg, numbness in the groin area, impaired control functions of urination and/or defecation. All of the above symptoms are indications for emergency surgery of the spine.