What is low back pain in young people?

  In modern urban life, some young white-collar workers often suffer from back pain because they face the computer for a long time. A significant number of young people do not take this discomfort seriously. However, some of these may not be simple “occupational disease” “lumbar strain”, but caused by rheumatic diseases.  Ankylosing spondylitis occurs in young and middle-aged men. The main clinical manifestation is usually low back pain and stiffness. Because of its insidious onset and relatively slow progression, it is easily overlooked by patients, resulting in delayed treatment and eventual fusion of the vertebrae, leading to disability. The incidence of ankylosing spondylitis is not low. In China, the incidence of this disease is about 0.26%. And familiar film and television stars such as Jay Chou and Zhang Jiayi are all patients with ankylosing spondylitis.  So, what is the performance of ankylosing spondylitis, and is there a treatment for it?  In the early stages of ankylosing spondylitis, patients usually have pain and stiffness in the lower back and hips, some have pain in the heel, and joint pain is evident at night, and they feel stiffness in the lower back when they wake up in the morning. This pain is the opposite of “lumbar strain” which is relieved after rest. If you have low back pain that “gets worse with rest” and “relieves after activity”, you need to be highly sedated for the occurrence of this disease.  If you suspect that you have ankylosing spondylitis, you can go to the hospital for HLA-B27 and imaging of the sacroiliac joint to clarify the diagnosis. Modern medicine continues to develop, and although ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic disease that cannot be cured, there are many ways to control the progression of the disease.  First, non-pharmacological treatment: 1. Education of patients and their families about the disease is an integral part of the overall treatment plan and helps patients to participate actively in treatment and cooperate with their physicians. The long-term plan should also include the patient’s psychosocial and rehabilitation needs.  2. Advising patients to engage in careful and uninterrupted physical exercise to obtain and maintain the best position of the spinal joints, strengthen the paravertebral muscles and increase lung capacity is no less important than pharmacotherapy.  3, standing should try to maintain a posture with chest up, abdomen tucked in and eyes flat in front. Sitting position should also keep the chest upright. Should sleep on a hard bed, more supine position, avoid positions that promote flexion deformity. The pillow should be short, and once the upper thoracic or cervical spine is involved, the pillow should be stopped.  4. Reduce or avoid physical activities that cause persistent pain. Measure height regularly. Keeping height records is a good measure to prevent early spinal curvature that is not easily detected.  5.Select the necessary physical therapy for painful or inflamed joints or other soft tissues.  In addition to non-pharmacological treatment, patients need to receive medication to relieve joint destruction, proliferation and fusion.  1, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (referred to as anti-inflammatory drugs): this class of drugs can quickly improve the patient’s low back pain and stiffness, reduce joint swelling and pain and increase the range of motion, whether early or late AS patients are preferred for symptomatic treatment.  2, traditional anti-rheumatic drugs: such as sulfadiazine pyridine, such drugs through anti-inflammatory, anti-immune mechanisms to alleviate the effect of the disease, the disadvantage is the slow onset of action, the lack of efficacy of axial spondylolisthesis.  3, biological agents: anti-tumor necrosis factor antagonists for the treatment of active or ineffective anti-inflammatory drug treatment of AS. after treatment of patients with peripheral arthritis, tendonitis and spinal symptoms, as well as C-reactive protein can be significantly improved. It is the current kingpin in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. However, before using biological agents, they should be screened by doctors in regular hospitals (mainly for hepatitis, tuberculosis, and tumors) before use.  In conclusion, ankylosing spondylitis is not far from young people, and if left untreated, it can cause irreversible disability. However, with the development of medicine, there are various means to effectively control the disease and return the patient to normal work and life.