What is back pain?
The backbone or spinal cord is the main part of our body around which the alignment of the entire body depends. If your spine is working rightly, it means your bones and joints are correctly aligned. However, several people, especially older people, are more likely to be sufferers of backache, making their back muscles unable to function properly. The chances to have back pain increase when your back muscles and ligaments are in stress or tension.
What are the symptoms of back pain?
The most common symptom is twinges and pain at any spot in your spine. Moreover, pain shooting down towards your buttocks and legs is a significant sign of having back pain.
Generally, people recover from back pain without any specific treatment, but the pain intensifies and gets prolonged in some cases. In such a condition, you must seek a medical checkup immediately. Some prevalent symptoms of your spinal pain are below;
- Swelling or inflammation in your back
- A feeling of pins and needles
- Pain growing worse
- Pain reaching down into your hips and legs
- The shooting of pain down below your knees
- Gradual weight loss
- Consistent backache whether you sit, stand or lay down
- Any injury or a sudden blow to the back
- Unusual urination
- Numbness around your spine, genitals, anus, or thighs
- Losing control over your bowel movements
If any of these symptoms continue to worsen, see your doctor. Few cases in which you should go for a checkup are;
- Pain that remains constant for a longer period
- Back pain that does not even gets better after having rest
- Pain that occurs after an accident or any injury
- If you feel weakness along with numbness in your body
What causes back pain?
The human back comprises a complex network of muscles, ligaments, discs, tendons, and bones that work together to support your entire body enabling human beings to move quickly.
Thus, any problem, deformity, or abnormality in any of your back components can lead to severe back pain. Back pain is generally common in aged people as it can result from poor posture, muscle strain, displaced vertebrae discs, muscle stiffness, or any injury.
Common conditions that cause back pain are explained below;
- Muscle Strain or muscle tension: Such a situation can occur if you had a sudden unusual movement of your back or lift heavy objects daily, with a wrong posture. This can ultimately result in the displacement of your back muscles, discs, and ligaments. Furthermore, muscle spasms are likely to occur after constant muscle strains.
- Osteoporosis: This is a condition in which your bones and joints of the body weaken down. It can cause the worst back pain if the bones of your back become porous and brittle. Fractures can also be a cause of pain.
- Arthritis: Arthritis is a disease that results in pain and inflammation in your joints. Thus, arthritis can be one of the biggest causes of back pain, where the space around your spinal cord is narrowed down.
- Ruptured or fractured disks: The vertebrae/ bones of the human back consist of cushion-like small disks. The cracking or bloating may occur inside the disks, eventually causing your back to ache severely.
How to treat back pain?
The question which is quite significant is how you relieve your back pain. It is possible to resolve minor pain at home by using home remedies, but major pain must be resolved, through medications, after having a proper and detailed medical checkup.
Medical treatment includes;
- Medications
- Muscle relaxants
- Heating pads
- Pain relievers
- Physical therapy (yoga or exercise)
- Back stretches through traction
- Cortisone injections (to reduce inflammation)