What are the causes of low back pain?
Low back pain is a symptom, not an independent disease. There are many causes of low back pain, the majority of which are known, but there are still a few causes that have not yet been clarified. The common causes can be summarized into four main categories.
1. caused by disorders of the spinal bones and joints and the surrounding soft tissues. Such as contusions, sprains caused by local injury, bleeding, edema, adhesions and muscle spasm.
2, caused by spinal cord and spinal nerve disorders. Such as back pain caused by spinal cord tumor, myelitis, etc.
3. Caused by internal organ disorders. For example, infection and tumor of the uterus and its adnexa can cause lumbosacral pain, and such patients are often accompanied by corresponding gynecological symptoms.
4. Caused by mental factors. If a patient with hysteria may also complain of lumbar disease, but there are no objective signs, or the objective examination and subjective narrative cannot be explained by knowledge of physiological anatomy and pathology, this kind of lumbar pain is often a manifestation of hysteria.
Can patients with low back pain wear high heels?
In daily life, many people like to wear high heels, especially young women. The height of high heels is generally about 4 to 6 cm, or even higher. After wearing high heels, the height of the heel raises the body’s center of gravity accordingly. In order to stabilize the original balance lost by the change of the body’s center of gravity, the body’s muscle tone, especially the lumbar back muscle tone, will be readjusted to create a new state of balance.
People wearing high heels, because of the pelvic tilt enhanced, the line of gravity through the back of the pelvis, so that the waist to support the weight and increased burden, and then after the extension enhanced, long-term sustained, will be due to excessive contraction of the lumbar back muscles and lumbago. For every 1 cm increase in heel height, the lumbar back extension and contraction of the lumbar back muscles will increase exponentially, and the chance of low back pain will become greater and greater.
This shows that it is not appropriate for patients with low back pain to wear high heels, and in order to prevent low back pain, it is also best for the general public not to wear high heels often. So is it better for people with low back pain to wear flat shoes? In fact, flat shoes are not necessarily absolutely beneficial, choose a heel height of about 3 cm more appropriate. Therefore, patients with low back pain may wish to change a pair of appropriate shoes, may make low back pain will be alleviated.
Can “walking back” treat chronic low back pain?
”Walking backwards” is walking continuously backwards, in the morning exercise crowd, we often see some people in “walking backwards”. Chronic low back pain is often caused by insufficient lumbar muscle strength and ligament strength, and poor lumbar spine stability. “Walking back” exercise can enhance the strength of the lumbar back muscle groups, strengthen the stability and flexibility of the lumbar spine. When walking back, the lumbar muscles rhythmically contract and relax, so that the lumbar blood circulation can be better improved, improve the metabolism of the lumbar tissue, play a certain therapeutic role.
”Walking back” action is simple and easy to learn, the elderly can according to personal circumstances, master the amount of activity, the following two specific methods, for your reference.
(1) forked waist style: preparatory posture: upright, chest up, hands forked waist, thumbs in the back, the remaining four fingers in front. Thumbs point to press the waist bilateral “kidney” points. (The point is under the spinous process of the second lumbar vertebra, next to the 1.5 inch). Actions: When walking backwards, start with the left leg, lift the left leg backwards as far as possible, exit backwards and shift the body weight backwards. First the left forefoot on the ground, followed by the full foot on the ground, the center of gravity moved to the left leg and then the right leg, left and right legs alternately retreat walking. Each step back, use both thumbs to rub the “Kidney Yu” point once.
(2) arm swing: preparatory posture: upright, chest up, eyes level, arms hanging naturally. Action: the legs move with the forked-waist style, backing away with the arms with the movement of the legs to swing back and forth.
”Retreating to walk” exercise can be carried out every morning and evening once a day, 20 minutes each time, generally after each exercise, a little rest, fatigue that gradually disappears as appropriate. The site to choose a flat, unobstructed place, exercise as far as possible to lift the chest, as far as possible after lifting the thighs.
Is cold weather related to back pain?
Some people will have low back pain or increased low back pain due to weather changes, and some patients’ low back pain symptoms will be as accurate as the weather forecast, the cold is a cause and trigger of low back pain. Cold mainly causes patients to have low back pain through changes in blood circulation such as vasoconstriction, ischemia, bruising, and edema in the low back. Patients mostly develop low back pain due to prolonged stay in cold areas, or sleeping on cold ground or windy places. Cold can lead to muscle contraction, which affects body movements to a certain extent. In addition, in order to keep out the cold, clothes are worn more and actions are inflexible, which can easily cause lumbar injury if drastic lumbar movements are performed.
Can playing mahjong cause lumbago?
For a long time, playing mahjong, the waist and back straight, intervertebral discs and interspinous ligaments for a long time in a state of tension and stiffness, day after day, it is easy to make the waist and back pain stiff, can not lie down and turn. And sedentary will make the pelvis and sacroiliac joints for a long time weight, the lack of activity in the waist, blood and Qi easy in the waist stagnation and blood stasis, affecting the blood circulation in the lower limbs, and numbness in the legs, which in time can lead to muscle atrophy. In this case, muscle stiffness, a little activity may sprain or cause other injuries, and lead to low back pain.
Is there a relationship between smoking and low back pain?
Many smokers are prone to low back pain for reasons that are not clear. It may be that smoking causes chronic bronchitis, and coughing causes an increase in intradiscal pressure and intravertebral canal pressure, which injects animals with nicotine, which can reduce the blood volume of the vertebral body, thus affecting the nutrition of the intervertebral disc and making the disc prone to degeneration. This may be the reason why smokers are prone to low back pain. In addition, smokers are prone to lung cancer, which often metastasizes to the vertebral body, and because of the tumor on the vertebral body, low back pain inevitably occurs, and gradually worsens to the point where it is untreatable. It can be seen that smoking and low back pain are related, smoking is a hundred harm but not a benefit.
Must lower back pain be lumbar disc herniation?
The lower back mainly refers to the lumbar spine, sacral spine, bilateral sacroiliac joints and their adjacent tissues, which can involve muscles, ligaments, fascia, posterior joints, lumbosacral joints or sacral skeletal joints. Every person has a history of lower back pain to a greater or lesser extent, mildly or severely. Often people say they have a lumbar disc herniation when they have lower back pain, but in fact not all lower back pain symptoms are caused by a lumbar disc herniation.
There are many causes of lower back pain, which can be roughly divided into the following categories.
1, congenital or developmental abnormalities of the lumbar spine: including congenital lumbar fusion, hemivertebral malformation, occult spina bifida, lumbar sacralization, sacral lumbarization, spinal isthmus discontinuity or slippage, scoliosis, hypertrophy of the third lumbar transverse process, free spinous process, spinous process too large or too small, hooked spinous process, congenital lumbar spinal stenosis, etc.
2, lumbar degenerative changes: including lumbar hypertrophic spondylitis, senile osteoporosis, lumbar disc herniation, secondary lumbar spinal stenosis, pseudolumbar spondylolisthesis, senile hunchback, lumbar degenerative osteoarthropathy, lower lumbar instability, etc.
3, lower back inflammation: including lumbar back fascial fibrositis, lumbar spine tuberculosis, sacroiliac arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, septic spondylitis, lumbar 3 transverse synovial bursitis, lumbar intervertebral discitis, etc.
4, lower back injury: including acute lumbar sprain, lumbar strain, lumbar ligament injury, lumbar fracture, dislocation, sacrococcygeal injury, sacroiliac joint sprain, etc.
5.Tumor of lower back: including primary and secondary tumor
①Primary benign tumors: such as osteoid osteoma, bone cyst, osteoblastoma, osteochondroma, osteochondroma, osteochondrodysplasia, etc.
②Primary tumors with malignant tendency: such as chordoma, giant cell tumor of bone, osteoblastoma, etc.
③ primary malignant tumors: such as malignant lymphoma, osteoblastoma, lumbosacral sarcoma, etc.
④Breast cancer, prostate cancer, uterine cancer and other malignant tumors metastasized to the lumbosacral region can produce lower back pain symptoms.
6.Disorders of adjacent tissues: such as sciatica, pear-shaped muscle syndrome, etc.; stones, pyelonephritis, perinephric abscess, etc. in the urinary system; peptic ulcer, chronic pancreatitis, etc. in the digestive system; uterine corporitis, adnexitis, uterine prolapse, pelvic tumor, etc. in obstetrics and gynecology; retroperitoneal tumor eroding the spine can also produce lower back pain.
7.Functional defects: such as poor body potential, pregnancy, flat feet, unequal lower limbs, insufficient lumbar and hip muscle strength, etc.
8, other: toxic diseases, such as fluorosis; nutritional diseases, such as osteochondrosis; neurological diseases, such as hysteria, etc.
What is the difference between low back pain caused by osteoporosis and low back pain caused by lumbar disc herniation?
Osteoporosis is a clinical syndrome in which there is a generalized decrease in bone quantity, an increase in the trabecular space, a decrease in bone matrix and weight, and a decrease in the mechanical strength of bone resulting in non-traumatic fractures or fractures in certain areas that can occur with minor external forces, caused by various reasons.
The etiology and pathogenesis of osteoporosis are not yet fully understood. Currently, there are several recognized causes of osteoporosis, including the following.
1, endocrine disorders: it is well known that this disease is mostly seen in the elderly, especially in female patients after menopause. This suggests that: sex hormones have a direct relationship to the metabolism of bone. When hyperadrenocorticism can cause osteoporosis, which is not only the main feature of Cushing’s syndrome, but also the long-term use of adrenocorticotropic hormones to patients in clinical treatment can also cause this consequence. This suggests that adrenocorticotropic hormones can accelerate the process of osteoporosis. Sex hormones inhibit anterior pituitary hormone, which indirectly inhibits adrenocorticotropic hormone. Therefore, the elderly have less sex hormone secretion, especially women after menopause, are more likely to have osteoporosis.
2, calcium metabolism disorder: there is no doubt that calcium deficiency is one of the causes of osteoporosis in adults. Normal daily intake of calcium is about 10mg/kg body weight, of which a small amount is used by the body and most is excreted in urine and stool to maintain the balance of calcium metabolism. If the intake of calcium decreases, or the intestinal absorption dysfunction, or the excretion from urine and stool increases, it will easily cause osteoporosis caused by calcium deficiency. At this time, if coupled with the influence of endocrine disruption factors, it is more likely to cause osteoporosis.
3, disuse factors: under normal circumstances, due to muscle diastolic contraction and various should, pressure and stimulate the skeletal tissue to maintain a normal balance of calcium metabolism. But when the limbs or the whole body once lost physiological activities and physical labor or exercise, it is easy to cause a series of changes in the bone tissue and cause decalcification and increased urinary calcium excretion, resulting in osteoporosis. Long-term bed-ridden patients show systemic osteoporosis, while limb plaster splinting or neuropathic disuse shows local osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is mostly seen in the elderly, especially in women over 60 years old. Patients mostly complain of general fatigue, preferring to lie in bed or sit on their backs rather than move around; generalized pain, especially in the lumbar region, may spread from the waist to the hips and lower limbs, or from the back to the ribs and abdomen. In addition to the degeneration of the intervertebral discs, it is also related to the compression fracture caused by the osteoporosis of the vertebral body. The hunchback deformity can be aggravated by the same reason.
X-Ray: osteoporosis of the spine, reduction of bone trabeculae, depression of the vertebral body in the middle, fishtail shape.
The degree of pain caused by osteoporosis is much less severe than that of lumbar disc herniation, and the X-ray manifestations are very different. The application of sex hormones, high protein and high calcium treatment can reduce the symptoms of low back pain.
What is meant by involvement low back pain? What internal diseases can cause low back pain?
Involvement low back pain is a clinical symptom of low back pain that is not due to the cause of the lumbar spine, but rather due to a disease of an internal organ. Since the cause of low back pain is not the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments and other tissues of the spine itself, it is also called non-spinal origin low back pain. Specifically, the visceral disorders that can cause low back pain symptoms are.
(1) Urinary system disorders: such as acute and chronic pyelonephritis, renal tumor, kidney stone, ureteral stone, renal tuberculosis, renal prolapse, perinephric abscess, prostatitis, prostate adenoma, etc.
(2) Digestive system disorders: such as peptic ulcer, chronic cholecystitis, gallstones, pancreatic cancer, rectal cancer, etc.
(3) Gynecological disorders: such as adnexitis, uterine body inflammation, posterior uterine tilt, pelvic tumor, uterine prolapse, pelvic congestion, menstrual tension, etc.
(4) In addition, such as subdiaphragmatic abscess and retroperitoneal tumor can also cause low back pain. Just like headache, the cause of headache does not necessarily lie within the head. Some low back pain is just a symptom of a certain organ or systemic disease. The causes of low back pain caused by visceral diseases are mainly the following two: (1) lesions involving the lumbar region or its adjacent tissues: when the lesions of visceral diseases involve the tissues around the spine and the retroperitoneum, the lumbar region can feel pain and is accompanied by spasm of the lumbar back muscles. For example, low back pain caused by retroperitoneal tumor, perirenal abscess, etc. (2) Reflexively causing lumbar pain through nerve fiber conduction: As lesions of certain organs stimulate sensory nerve fibers, they are transmitted to the posterior roots or a certain stage of the spinal cord, and the stimulation is transferred and spread to the skin, fascia and other tissues of the lumbar region innervated by this segment of the spinal cord and nerve roots, producing lumbar pain.
For the treatment of involved low back pain, i.e., non-spinal origin of low back pain disease, symptomatic treatment should be given according to the cause of its development. To be precise, the original cause must be identified first, and on the basis of treating the original cause, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, physiotherapy, massage and other methods can be appropriately selected to cooperate with the treatment, and functional exercises of the lumbar back muscles can be carried out, and all these methods can be effective.
What are the characteristics of lower back pain caused by gynecological disorders?
Women have some female-specific diseases due to anatomical and physiological characteristics, such as uterine inflammation, adnexitis, retroversion of the uterus, uterine prolapse, pelvic tumors, etc. Women with these diseases often suffer from them. Women suffering from these diseases often have lower back pain symptoms. In addition, lower back pain can be caused during menstruation, pelvic congestion, menstrual tension, and pregnancy. However, lower back pain caused by gynecological disorders is not similar to lower back pain caused by other causes, and it has the following characteristics.
(1) The pain caused by gynecological disorders is more limited, usually located in the lumbosacral region, and rarely has lower limb symptoms.
(2) The nature of pain caused by gynecological disorders is usually distension, dull pain, soreness or hidden pain, without obvious radiating pain.
(3) The symptoms of lower back pain are closely related to the menstrual period or the primary gynecological disorder. For example, women with posterior uterine tilt have symptoms of lower back pain at the onset of menstruation.
(4) In addition to the symptoms of lower back pain, they mainly manifest as gynecological symptoms, such as: distension and pain in the lower abdomen, cramping, increase of leucorrhea, dysmenorrhea, irregular menstruation, etc.
(5) There are no positive signs found in the orthopedic examination of lumbosacral region, pressure pain is not obvious, pressure pain points are not limited, straight leg raising test is negative, percussion pain is not obvious, there is a comfortable feeling after percussion; gynecological examination may have positive signs found such as posterior uterine tilt and uterine prolapse.
(6) Ultrasound examination of the pelvic area, uterus and adnexa may have imaging changes, while auxiliary examinations such as lumbosacral x-ray have no positive signs.
The reason why gynecological disorders can cause lower back pain is that the nerves of the uterus and adnexa come from the sympathetic plexus of the lower abdomen and ovaries and the intrapelvic nerves of the parasympathetic nerves, which originate from the 2nd to 4th sacral nerves, and when lesions involve these nerves, they can reflexively cause lower back pain symptoms.
What is the difference between low back pain caused by visceral diseases and other low back pain?
Although lower back pain caused by diseases of the abdominal and pelvic organs and low back pain caused by diseases of the lumbar spine itself are generally speaking low back pain, there are still certain differences, which are as follows.
(1) The nature of low back pain caused by visceral diseases is mostly involving pain: the lesion of this kind of low back pain is not in the spine, so the activity of the spine is not affected. On physical examination, the patient was found to have good mobility of the lumbar region. What percentage of all patients with low back pain have involved low back pain? There are no statistics on this, but there are many patients suffering from this kind of low back pain.
(2) Most low back pain due to visceral disease is secondary: it manifests mainly in the front of the trunk, is usually secondary, and is much less severe than the pain in the abdomen. Although in rare cases, certain visceral disorders first cause low back pain, this is followed by severe abdominal pain of a more severe degree.
(3) Low back pain due to visceral diseases is usually not the only symptom: in addition to symptoms of low back pain, there are usually other clinical manifestations of visceral diseases. For example, patients with renal tuberculosis may have low fever, night sweats and wasting; patients with pancreatic adenoma may have cachexia such as loss of appetite and weight loss; episodes of low back pain in peptic ulcers are mostly related to diet, etc.
(4) There are no positive signs in the orthopedic examination of the lower back, such as unfocused pressure points, inconspicuous pressure pain, negative straight leg raising test, etc. The lesion organ itself may have positive signs.
(5) Imaging examination of the lumbar spine may have no obvious changes. For low back pain caused by visceral diseases, the organ itself may have positive results, such as ureteral stones, stone shadow visible on X-ray plain film or imaging film, pancreatic cancer CT or MRI may show tumor size, etc.
What are the different types of lower back pain in different people?
The incidence of lower back pain is very high and there are many diseases that cause lower back pain, but the types of diseases that cause lower back pain are different for different people.
(1) Different ages lead to different types of lower back pain diseases.
The common causes of lower back pain in children or adolescents are congenital malformations, such as occult spina bifida and migrating spine; postural diseases, such as lumbar scoliosis; and inflammatory diseases, such as lumbar spinal tuberculosis.
The common causes of lower back pain in young adults are mainly injury-related diseases, such as lumbar muscle strain, lumbar sprain, lumbar disc herniation, lumbar compression fracture, etc. In addition, diseases of the immune system, such as ankylosing spondylitis, are also more common causes of lower back pain in young adults.
The common causes of lower back pain in middle and old age are mainly degenerative changes, such as lumbar hyperplastic spondylitis, lumbar spinal stenosis, osteoporosis, etc., followed by possibly various tumors of the lumbosacral region.
(2) Different genders lead to different kinds of lower back pain diseases.
Men generally have more lumbar activities in daily life and work, when the load is too heavy, improper posture, lack of protection and other reasons, it may cause damage to soft tissues and bones and joints in the lumbosacral region, therefore, injury factors are the main factors of lower back pain in men.
In women, anatomical and physiological characteristics produce some female-specific diseases, such as uterine body inflammation, adnexitis, posterior uterine tilt, uterine prolapse, pelvic tumor, etc. These diseases can cause lower back pain. All these diseases can cause lower back pain. In addition, menstruation can cause lower back pain; pregnancy can lead to lower back pain due to increased load on the lumbar spine; postpartum can also lead to lower back pain due to endocrine changes, resulting in joint capsule and ligament relaxation.
(3) Different occupations lead to different kinds of lower back pain diseases.
Physical workers, especially heavy physical workers, athletes and other causes of lower back pain, mainly injury-related diseases; long-term workers in air conditioning, humidity, cold environment, prone to lumbar back fasciitis; brain workers due to lack of exercise, lumbar back muscle strength is weak, very easy to occur lumbar muscle strain and lumbar sprain.