Uncovering the Offenders of Back Pain
The majority of back pain complaints originates in the low back, and added to that fact is there are plentiful of sophisticated origins and symptoms which can cause a person to suffer low back pain. The source of pain can also start in other areas of the body; it then travels throughout the body until eventually assaulting the muscles or other structures located within the lower back. The nerves or nervous system is another original point of low back pain. Additional original points are circulatory disorders, degenerative disorders, infections, trauma, inflammatory diseases, plus a host of other factors.
Since there are numerous original points of low back pain, it is rather hard for physicians to identify specifically what causes a patient to experience low back pain. The task is made even harder due to the human’s spine highly intricate structure, which comprises of bone, ligaments, discs, tendons, muscles along with an assortment of tissues. With such elaborate construction, a specific factor that induces back pain can be concealed with ease.
Back strain occurring due to muscle, ligament, or tendon injury is one of the most common factors of back pain. It’s not uncommon for ordinary incidences - such as a sneeze or a cough or bending to pick up an object on the ground - to cause strain, or strain can be caused by lifting an object that’s heavier than your muscles or ligaments are actually able to handle.
Whatever the case, back tissues that sustain the damage will alert all the muscles by delivering a signal via the nervous system. As a result, the injured muscle receives protection by an alert in the form of a muscle spasm, a tightening effect that tightens every muscle located within the complex spinal structure. Yes, EVERY muscle within the structure, despite the fact that only one was actually involved in an injury (it’s sort of like a charley horse in the back)!
Sometimes spasms can be pretty severe. The pain can be overwhelming and even cause immobility. Because the spasms naturally occur for the purpose of slowing motion and reduce irritation to the injured muscle, the best approach to relieve the spasm is to keep on moving. Slow movement will enable the muscle to continuously test how far it is able to stretch and as the irritation is gradually relieved, the muscle will go back to its normal tension. Simple inversion table stretching exercises will go a long way to release back strain, and you can supplement with a heating pad and some aspirin if the pain is too overwhelming.
Back strain occurring due to muscle, ligament, or tendon injury is one of the most common factors of back pain. It’s not uncommon for ordinary incidences - such as a sneeze or a cough or bending to pick up an object on the ground - to cause strain, or strain can be caused by lifting an object that’s heavier than your muscles or ligaments are actually able to handle.
Whatever the case, back tissues that sustain the damage will alert all the muscles by delivering a signal via the nervous system. As a result, the injured muscle receives protection by an alert in the form of a muscle spasm, a tightening effect that tightens every muscle located within the complex spinal structure. Yes, EVERY muscle within the structure, despite the fact that only one was actually involved in an injury (it’s sort of like a charley horse in the back)!
Sometimes spasms can be pretty severe. The pain can be overwhelming and even cause immobility. Because the spasms naturally occur for the purpose of slowing motion and reduce irritation to the injured muscle, the best approach to relieve the spasm is to keep on moving. Slow movement will enable the muscle to continuously test how far it is able to stretch and as the irritation is gradually relieved, the muscle will go back to its normal tension. Simple inversion table stretching exercises will go a long way to release back strain, and you can supplement with a heating pad and some aspirin if the pain is too overwhelming.
Coping with Vertebrae Discs
By the time you reach the age of thirty, back discs, which are supposed to be spongy cushions, begin to look like pancakes. These changes to the discs can cause severe back pain, which varies with each individual. Exercise is the primary remedy for disc degeneration (think inversion table therapy!).
Always take into consideration that if you begin to limit the movement in your spine, stiffness and fatigue will most certainly set in. If your disc is herniated or "slipped” (that’s when the gel-like center protrudes through the front, back or sides), it can irritate the spinal nerves in the spinal canal.
The body identifies the protrusion as foreign matter and inflammation sets in. Over time, activated enzymes will gradually dissolve the herniated portion but the nerve situated in close proximity may get affected as well. Inflamed nerve will result in the formation of sciatica in the leg.
Beware of Sciatica!
Pain that originates in the buttock as well as hip and proceeds down to the leg is known as sciatica – a disorder typically followed by low back pain. The low back pain that it brings about can be less or even more distressing compared to the leg pain. Sciatica that develops due to herniated disc typically leads to leg pain that exacerbates when sitting and improves while standing or lying flat.
Before the disc actually herniates, there may be instances of low back pain since the outer "tire” of the disc is being stretched, thereby causing tension. When the disc eventually herniates, pain in the low back will be taken over with pain that shoots through the leg and foot.
Sciatica is a phrase specifying the sciatic nerve, which moves from the lower back and then goes right through to the patient’s buttocks and finally, into the leg, is the pain trigger. For your info, the incidence of a sciatic nerve root being compressed by a herniated lumbar disc can be regarded as a genuine sciatica disorder.
The good news is this sort of low back pain is uncommon compared to other disorders that are known to bring forth pain in the back. Take for example back and leg pain which can occur due to factors such as performing heavy labor and being involved in recreational or sporting pursuits. This type of pain often gets diagnosed wrongly as sciatica.
Pain felt in the back of the thigh, lower leg or foot is the most widespread symptom of genuine or true sciatica. In fact, this symptom is very often results in much more discomfort than the lower back pain. It is also worth noting that true sciatica will produce radiating pain that extends beyond the knee.
There are numerous cases where a person will have a history of lower back pain happening several days or weeks before the leg pain actually comes around, and then level of pain in the leg increases becoming that much more painful compared to the back pain. And don’t be surprised if the back pain totally dissipates!
Read the second part: More Offenders of Back Pain That You Should Know About