Why does my back hurt?
This may be due to diseases of the internal organs, trauma to the spine (including a fracture), neurological pain usually indicates osteochondrosis, and sometimes it is a symptom of the pathology of the gastrointestinal tract, kidney stones, etc.
In addition, the back is somewhat prone to injury and pain. The spine performs at least 4 functions: supporting, protective, cushioning and motor. Therefore, if pain occurs, it may be due to poor posture, a strong one-time load, a sudden movement or turn.
What to do with back pain?
See a doctor, get tested. Based on the diagnosis, it will become clear how to cure back pain, depending on its root cause.
Causes of back pain
Finding out why your back hurts is not easy. The fact is that the spine is at the same time a support, protection, depreciation of the body. If there is chronic back pain, it is a violation of any of these functions.
If pain is felt in the back between the shoulder blades, it may be associated with bronchitis and coughing. If your back muscles hurt, the discomfort may be due to overexertion due to heavy lifting the day before. Back pain on the right or left can be caused by a sudden rotation of the body.
There are more serious causes of periodic sharp pains. For example, inflammation of the internal organs, kidney stones, bruised spine. If the diagnosis of the back did not show degenerative changes, it is worth examining the internal organs. So, discomfort in the lumbar region can be a symptom of nephrosis.
In this or that case, the treatment is different, so first of all you need to establish the cause.
Varieties of diseases according to the nature of back pain
Possible causes of aching pain:
- Myositis.
- Lumbago.
- Intervertebral hernia.
It is exacerbated by lifting weights, physical work, hypothermia, a long stay in one position.
Causes of shooting pain in limbs:
- Intervertebral hernia.
- Radiculitis.
- Osteochondrosis.
Discomfort is aggravated by walking, bending over, coughing and sneezing. There is weakness in the legs and arms.
Causes of throbbing pain:
- intervertebral hernia.
- Osteochondrosis.
- Lumbago.
- Spondylosis.
Discomfort does not go away even after taking an analgesic.
Possible causes of arching and pressing pain:
- In the chest area – pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction.
- On any part of the spine – spondylarthrosis.
- In the lumbar region – intestinal obstruction.
- In the neck – atherosclerosis.
The nature of the pain | Diseases that cause it |
Aching back pain (acute and chronic) | Lumbago (shooting in the lower back). The reason is hard physical labor. It usually goes away on its own after a few days. |
Myositis, muscle strain, heavy lifting, hypothermia, long-term maintaining an uncomfortable posture, for example, during work. | |
Displacement of the intervertebral discs. The most common cause is osteochondrosis, but displacement can also occur with sudden heavy lifting and constant high physical exertion. | |
Acute, radiating to limbs | Osteochondrosis. Causes pulling pains in the back, which radiate to the leg, become stronger when sneezing, coughing, exerting. |
Radiculitis. Constant sharp (stabbing) or dull pain. Usually localized on one side, can give to the thigh, buttock, leg, lower leg, sometimes causes numbness, itching. The pain is also burning, aggravated by movement. | |
Intervertebral hernia. With this pathology, pain occurs when bending over, lifting weights, aggravated by sneezing, coughing, moving, accompanied by weakness in the leg. | |
Throbbing pain, severe, may not improve after taking an analgesic | Osteochondrosis, fissures in the vertebrae, lumbago, intervertebral hernia, spondylosis. |
Bursting | In the upper back and in the middle of the sternum – can talk about angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism. In the lower back – intestinal obstruction, spondyloarthrosis. |
Pressing | Angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, problems with the gallbladder (pain occurs after eating), atherosclerosis, hypertensive crisis. |
Why does my back hurt after sleeping?
After waking up in the morning, one feels stiffness, discomfort, and pain below the shoulder blades, in the right or left side, in the lumbar region. These sensations can be associated not only with the wrong position during sleep or rest on the wrong mattress. After sleep, the back hurts for the following reasons:
- During the day, physical work was performed with a sharp lifting of weights.
- Back muscles are weakened.
- Diagnosed intervertebral hernia or osteochondrosis.
- Hypothermia happened.
- The spine is curved, due to which the muscles contract unevenly.
- Obesity, due to which the load on the spine is unevenly distributed.
- Pregnancy.
- Stress.
Diseases associated with the joints and spine
Back pain in the spine can be due to the development of such pathologies of the musculoskeletal system as:
- Ankylosing spondylitis. The paravertebral muscles spasm, therefore, to relieve discomfort, the patient deviates the body forward. Over time, the vertebrae become stiff, inflamed, and grow together, so the flexibility and mobility of the spine is impaired.
- Spondylolisthesis and spondylolysis. Because of these diseases, pain is mainly localized in the lumbar region. The vertebrae move forward or backward and compress the nerve endings.
- Osteochondrosis. Depreciation of the spine worsens. The discs between the vertebrae crack, the fibrous ring ruptures, and through the resulting cracks, the core of the disc comes out and is infringed.
- Rheumatoid arthritis. It develops in the knees, shoulders, hip joint and passes to the cervical spine. In the morning, stiffness and shootings are felt due to excessive pressure on the nerves by the affected vertebrae.
- Osteomyelitis. Infection of the bone tissue of the spine causes inflammation and acute muscle pain.
- Reiter’s disease resulting from inflammation of the small supporting muscles of the back.
- Intervertebral hernia due to the fact that during movement, the protrusion between the vertebrae is compressed and infringed.
Diseases associated with muscles
When determining the causes of back pain, seals and spasms of the muscle corset that supports the spine are often found. Mobility is impaired as a result of:
- Fibromyalgia. The back hurts from the neck to the waist. Neurological symptoms are traced – sensitivity increases when you press certain points of the back.
- Polymyositis. Back muscles become inflamed due to hypothermia, overstrain. It hurts to turn the body, muscle weakness is felt.
- Dermatomyositis. The skin becomes inflamed near the striated and smooth muscles of the back.
- Charcot’s disease. The peripheral nerves that run along the spine become inflamed. Sensitivity worsens, muscle weakness increases, gait changes.
- Rheumatic polymyalgia. It is difficult to raise your arms and stand on your feet without the help of an outsider. Noticeable back asymmetry.
Back pain due to psychosomatics
Increasingly, back discomfort is not associated with physical illness. After passing the examination, no pathology is detected, which means that pain in the back and joints is caused by psychological factors. Unpleasant sensations can be provoked by depression, chronic stress, nervous strain, sexual dissatisfaction. On a nervous basis, the gait changes, backaches become more acute, and sensitive disturbances appear.
Causes of lower back pain
Basically, the lumbosacral region is prone to osteochondrosis and spondylarthrosis, but less often the lower back and tailbone hurt due to displacement of the intervertebral discs, scoliosis, pregnancy, endometritis, vulvitis, cervicitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis.
Symptoms that accompany back pain
The clinical picture of spinal pain depends on the localization:
cervical spine | Thoracic spine | Lumbar spine |
Headaches and dizziness | Burning in the chest | Change in the number of urination |
Numbness and weakness of the hands down to the fingertips | Difficulty inhaling/exhaling | Numbness and weakness of the lower extremities, including the buttocks and toes |
Jumps in blood pressure | Feeling of tightness in the chest | Low sensitivity during bowel movements |
Flies and flashes in the eyes | Pain between and under the shoulder blades | Erectile dysfunction and decreased libido |
Situations in which you need to see a doctor as soon as possible
The pain usually subsides within a few days. If the discomfort only increases, the pain is intense, then medical attention is needed.
It is worth calling a team of doctors or going to the clinic on your own in the following cases:
- A recent spinal injury or back injury.
- It is not possible to find a comfortable position of the body, in which it becomes better.
- At night the condition worsens.
- The patient is less than 20 years old or older than 55 years.
- The patient has a fever.
- Neurological symptoms increase – the limbs go numb, tingle, weaken.
- Gait has changed.
- Shootings in the shin are felt.
- Corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not relieve pain.
- Limbs become numb, tingle, weaken.
Back pain treatment
Most often, patients do not know which doctor to contact. A neurologist deals with complex treatment of back pain. It is to him that you need to contact with problems with the spine. However, before the arrival of a specialist or a visit to him, you need to provide first aid for back pain.
1. How to relieve or relieve pain at home?
The most important thing is to relax. To do this, lie on your stomach on a hard and flat surface. Best of all – on the floor. After a few minutes, you need to gently roll over onto your back and raise your legs, fixing them so that your hips are at an angle of 90 degrees. This will take the load off your spine.
You can use anti-inflammatory drugs in the form of ointments and creams. After removing the pain syndrome, you must carefully rise and fix the painful area, for example, by bandaging it with a scarf or towel.
2. How to relieve pain if there are no painkillers?
You can relieve severe pain with such a simple remedy as a cold compress. He will not give complete deliverance but will alleviate the condition. It can be a product from the freezer, an ice pack, etc. You can also help with pain by applying a heating compress or heating pad. It is only important not to overheat the sore spot.
3. What else helps?
Light physical activity aimed at kneading the muscles and increasing blood circulation will help relieve discomfort. It can be a leisurely walk, muscle stretching. Get Instant Backpain Relief Today