Understand The Reasons Behind Lower Back Pain and Get Rid Of It
When you wake up in the morning with lower back pain, do you absolutely have to skip work because you can’t bear it? Are you unable to do everyday life activities and household chores? And no matter what you do, does it not seem to go away? The answer to all these questions will describe the severity of your lower back pain.
Our lower back carries the weight of the upper region of the body. It allows us to perform some common body movements while sitting or walking. Moreover, the lower back serves as a support to the spinal column and protects it from injury. However, it is likely to face injury when you try lifting a heavy object, playing a sport, or exercising. The pain might even be due to an underlying disease.
Many people are fortunate enough to receive treatment at the right time. But, some end up worsening it by delaying the treatment or using painkillers only. To seek the proper treatment, however, you should know why you’re suffering from such pain.
So here are some common reasons you might be facing terrible lower back pain, followed by some treatment options you can try.
Lower Back Pain Causes
Lower back pain has 60-70% of lifetime prevalence in industrialised countries. So it’s obviously not rare. Some causes for it might be:
Muscular or Ligament Strain
Repetitive movements and sudden strain on the lower back muscles and ligaments occur due to tearing and overstretching. This will happen when you carry a heavy object or twist the spine. Besides, strain in the lumbar region happens because of stressful tasks, putting pressure on it, and following poor posture during sitting. Fortunately, the chances of these leading to chronic pain are less, but the pain can be intense.
Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis arises in the condition of central or foraminal narrowing of the spinal canal. It mainly occurs because of degeneration in the middle of vertebrae. The pain due to spinal stenosis is intense and can often extend to other parts of the body. It gets worse with time if left untreated. So you should attend to it ASAP.
Joint Dysfunction
Facet joint dysfunction or sacroiliac joint dysfunction are two of the primary reasons for lower back pain. The former can feel painful suddenly. However, sacroiliac joint dysfunction results in lower back pain in inflammation and unusual motion.
Trauma and Fractures
Minor fractures in the cylindrical vertebrae, spinal dislocation, or a traumatic experience like an accident are leading causes of lower back pain.
Structural Issues
Damaged or Bulged Disc: Spinal vertebrae are supported disks, and any damage to them can be painful. The damage can occur because of pressure.
Osteoarthritis: Osteoarthritis is too common in old people. And this happens as the discs and facet joints wear and tear. The issue progresses gradually and often turns untreatable without surgery.
Apart from all the above causes, lower back pain can be the consequence of infection, spinal tumor, autoimmune disease, sleep disorders, and much more. But most kinds of lower back pain are manageable through non-surgical ways.
Treatment
Depending on the cause and symptoms of your lower back pain, plenty of treatment options are available to you. First, the doctor will examine your condition and suggest tests to find the cause. He will use palpation, neurological exam, or certain motion tests during the examination. Also, your doctor takes an X-ray, MRI, or CT Scan. This helps him in diving deeper into your lower back pain problem. And then, he will start the most suitable treatment process.
Intervention Procedure
The interventional procedure contains a broad range of treatment options like steroid injection, diagnostic discography, cancer-related pain, etc. Any back pain doctor in NYC can perform this procedure if you want to seek relief in a short time.
Trigger Point Therapy & Myofascial Release
Trigger point therapy is the same-day ambulance or office-based surgery, primarily an outpatient procedure, that eliminates the pain from trigger points.
Trigger points refer to the knots developed on the muscles of the fascia. This treatment process takes some minutes to treat your lower back pain. Your physician tries to find the trigger point by pinching the skin. After identifying the trigger point, he inserts a needle containing an anesthetic mixture. This process quickly eliminates your pain.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is a non-invasive way to treat certain painful spots and injuries on your body. It helps in healing the affected region, enhancing mobility, and strengthening muscles and bones.
Moreover, it alleviates pain and swelling. Your doctor can perform joint fluid replacement therapy, cold laser, therapy, electromyography, and several other physical methods for treating pain on the injured or damaged part of your body.
Non-surgical Blocks
To avoid surgery, doctors use non-surgical blocks that prohibit the transmission of nerve impulses to the central nervous system. The source from where the pain is coming can feel numb.
Muscle Energy Techniques
Muscle energy techniques are suitable for treating somatic dysfunction. It consists of a wide range of manual therapy techniques for boosting musculoskeletal function or joint function.
Home Exercise Program
Include daily exercise in your routine that can range from various stretching to strengthening exercises. This promotes the healing of the spinal injury. Your therapists will recommend the most appropriate home exercise program for healing the pain.
Conclusion
Now that you are aware of the various types of back pain and some treatment options, do not deny yourself the comfort of a pain-free life anymore. Head to a back pain management specialist today to get your lower back pain appropriately diagnosed and treated.