Causes and Treatments of Back Pain

Back Pain

Back pain is a common complaint. Four out of five people in the United States will experience low back pain at least once during their lives. It's one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor or miss work. On the bright side, you can prevent most back pain. If prevention fails, simple home treatment and proper body mechanics will often heal your back within a few weeks and keep it functional for the long haul. Surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain.

Causes Of Back Pain

Lumbar Muscle Strain

Muscle strains are the most common cause of low back pain. Patients may or may not remember the initial event that triggered their muscle spasm.

Low Back Pain

Many things can cause low back injuries--muscle strain or spasm, sprains of ligaments (which attach bone to bone), joint problems or a "slipped disk." The most common cause is using your back muscles in activities you're not used to, like lifting heavy furniture or doing yard work.

Stress factors

The symptoms of simple back pain often occur suddenly and can be triggered by a particular movement, but the causes may have been building for some time.

Ruptured Disc

A ruptured intervertebral disc, also called a herniated disc, is another common cause of back pain. How to treat the back pain from a herniated disc depends on the particular individual and situation.

Discogenic Back Pain

Discogenic back pain is thought to be a common cause of low back pain. Discogenic back pain cis the result of damage to the intervertabral disc, but without disc herniation. Diagnosis of discogenic back pain may require the use of a discogram.

What structures make up the back?

The back is an intricate structure of bones, muscles, and other tissues that form the posterior part of the body’s trunk, from the neck to the pelvis. The centerpiece is the spinal column, which not only supports the upper body’s weight but houses and protects the spinal cord — the delicate nervous system structure that carries signals that control the body’s movements and convey its sensations.

Treatments of Back Pain

Home Remedies

Applying ice immediately during the 48 hours after straining a muscle can reduce pain. Ice slows inflammation and swelling, numbs soft tissue, and slows nerve impulses in the injured area.

Medication

Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are most commonly recommended for pain relief. Package directions or the advice of a physician should be followed.

chiropractic care

Spinal manipulation (like that used by chiropractors in chiropractic medicine) is not a new or recent concept. Records show that manipulation of the spinecan be traced back to the time of Hippocrates Since the inception of chiropractic medicine in 1895, chiropractors have held as a primary tenet that biomechanical and structural derangement of the spine can affect the nervous system.

Massage treatment for back pain

If massage is effective, how does it work? The mechanical action of the hands on cutaneous and subcutaneous structures is believed to enhance circulation of blood and lymph resulting in increased supply of oxygen and removal of waste products or mediators of pain. Certain massage techniques have been shown to increase the threshold for pain and reduce muscular tone. Most importantly perhaps, a massage can relax the mind and reduce anxiety, which may affect the perception of pain positively. None of these mechanisms is well studied at present.