Low Back Pain
Have you ever experienced a stabbing sensation when you have picked up something heavy? Does your back ache when you’ve sat too long at your desk? Do you feel stiff after gardening or remodeling? If so, you are not alone. It is estimated that about 80% of us will experience back pain at some point in our lives. It is the most common cause of discomfort and disability for people under 45. Back pain also is the main reason people miss work, second only to the common cold. If you have ever experienced any back pain, you know how debilitating it can be.
Maintaining a healthy back is vital to your overall health. As your own ‘information super highway’ runs through your spinal cord—sending messages that affect every aspect of your health—you want to do everything possible to facilitate its proper function.
In this issue of my newsletter, I am going to focus more on lower back pain. In future articles, I will address neck and shoulder pain, and hip and leg pain.
What is low back pain?
When I talk about low back pain, I am addressing the areas from below the ribs to above your legs. This area is the connection between the upper and lower body and it bears the majority of your body’s weight.
Types of low back pain
There are 3 types of low back pain.
- Acute—most back pain is acute and goes away in 4 to 6 weeks. However, if it lasts more than 3 months, then it becomes chronic.
- Recurrent—this is what happens if your acute symptoms come back. Mostly everyone that has had acute back pain will experience a least one episode of recurrent back pain.
- Chronic—this pain last longer than 3 months and bothers you the majority of the time.
What causes low back pain?
Most back pain is caused by overuse, strain or injury. Most people have hurt their backs playing sports, working in the yard, lifting something heavy or an automobile accident. Aging also plays a part in lower back pain. As you age, your bones and muscles lose their strength which increases the risk of injury.
Improper sleeping positions, pregnancy and a sedentary lifestyle (sitting for too long at your desk or on the couch) can also be contributing factors to low back pain.
Other causes of back pain are: arthritis, broken vertebrae, illness or spine problems (scoliosis). Since I am not a medical doctor, chiropractor nor osteopath, my main focus for this article will be in regards to overuse, strain and injury.
I think I would be remiss if I did not include two other components that can lead to lower back pain. They are stress and emotions. Research has shown that people who experience anxiety and depression can have significantly increased low back pain. Simply feeling stressed or emotionally overwrought can heighten your sensitivity to pain. Discomfort that may be merely an annoyance to one person can seriously affect the daily life of another person who is stressed.
What are some of the symptoms?
Depending on the episode, back pain can cause a variety of symptoms:
- Dull, burning or sharp
- Can be felt at a single point or over a larger area
- Starts gradually or suddenly
- Muscles spasms and/or stiffness
Treatment
Regardless of the symptom and if you have not experienced any back pain before, I recommend that you see your doctor to rule out a herniated disc or something serious.
However, most back pain will improve with the following:
- Ice—for the first 2-3 days. Use an ice pack, 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, for 2-3 hours. After a couple of days, switch to heat. Use a heating pad (moist heat is the best), 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, for 2-3 hours.
- Take an over the counter pain medicine like Tylenol or ibuprofen.
- For the first day or two, rest.
- As soon as possible, get back to your normal activities. Staying in bed too long can actually weaken your muscles and make your problem worse. Do be mindful of your activities and limit them to your pain tolerance. If it hurts when you do something, stop the activity.
- Gentle exercise—walking is the simplest and probably the best exercise for the lower back. Start with easy walks of 5 to 10 minutes then increase your time as needed. Stretching is also good. Again if it causes you pain then don’t do it.
- Massage is well known for kneading away tension and relieving the pain in the muscles that are injured. It also relieves any areas that are tightening up or “guarding” in response to the pain you are feeling. Massage improves your circulation and increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. Using stretching and relaxing strokes, massage can be quite effective for restoring the normal range of motion and for easing muscle spasms.