Back pain is pain felt in the back that usually originates from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine.
Even though back pain can affect people of any age, it is significantly more common among adults aged between 35 and 55 years. Back pain is second only to upper respiratory conditions as the stated cause of work loss.
- Mechanical problems:
A mechanical problem is due to the way your spine moves or the way you feel when you move your spine in certain ways. Perhaps the most common mechanical cause of back pain is a condition called intervertebral disc degeneration, which simply means that the discs located between the vertebrae of the spine are breaking down with age. As they deteriorate, they lose their cushioning ability. This problem can lead to pain if the back is stressed. Another cause of back pain is the wearing down of the facet joints, which are the large joints that connect each vertebrae to another. Other mechanical causes of back pain include spasms, muscle tension, and ruptured discs, which are also called herniated discs.
- Injuries:
Spine injuries such as sprains and fractures can cause either short-lived or chronic back pain. Sprains are tears in the ligaments that support the spine, and they can occur from twisting or lifting improperly. Fractured vertebrae are often the result of osteoporosis, a condition that causes weak, porous bones. Less commonly, back pain may be caused by more severe injuries that result from accidents and falls.
- Acquired conditions and diseases:
Many medical problems can cause or contribute to back pain. They include scoliosis, which causes curvature of the spine and does not usually cause pain until mid-life; spondylolisthesis or spondylitis; various forms of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis; and spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. While osteoporosis itself is not painful, it can lead to painful fractures of the vertebrae. Other causes of back pain include pregnancy; kidney stones or infections; endometriosis, which is the buildup of uterine tissue in places outside the uterus; and fibromyalgia, which causes fatigue and widespread muscle pain.
- Infections and tumors:
Although they are not common causes of back pain, infections can cause pain when they involve the vertebrae, a condition called osteomyelitis, or when they involve the discs that cushion the vertebrae, which is called discitis. Tumors, too, are relatively rare causes of back pain. Occasionally, tumors begin in the back, but more often they appear in the back as a result of cancer that has spread from elsewhere in the body.
Risk factors:
Certain risk factors increase your chances of developing back pain. These include:
- Being overweight the extra weight puts pressure on the spine; you can use the BMI healthy weight calculator to find out if you need to lose weight.
- Smoking, this may be due to tissue damage in the back caused by smoking or the fact that smokers tend to have unhealthier lifestyles than non-smokers. Get help quitting;
- Being pregnant, the extra weight of carrying a baby can place additional strain on the back.
- Stress and depression, cause tension in the back muscles which can result in back pain. In long term, they tend to use the vital bio-chemicals of the body including weakening of the immune responses with resultant back pain or backache in the susceptibles.
Diagnosis:
- Unless you are totally immobilized from a back injury, your doctor probably will examine your range of motion and nerve function and touch yourbody to locate the area of discomfort.
- Blood and urine tests may be done to determine if the pain is caused by an infection or other systemic problem.
- X-rays are useful in pinpointing broken bones or other skeletal defects. They can sometimes help locate problems in connective tissue. To analyze soft-tissue or disc damage, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans may be needed. X-rays and imaging studies are generally used to confirm your symptoms and the exam results to identify the source of pain. Scans are also utilized in cases of direct trauma to the back, back pain with fever, or weakness or numbness in the limbs. To determine possible nerve or muscle damage, an electromyogram (EMG) may be ordered.
Homeopathy treatment:
Backache or back pain is a symptom rather than a single entity of the weakening Immune system of the body which otherwise was not able to cope up for the wear and tear of increased demands. Right Homeopathic treatment at Dr Manus Homeopathy accounts the required corrections to revert the immune system back to normalcy which in turn solves the issue of backache. The deranged metabolism is set right by Homeopathic doses supplementing for the required energy provided from natural food and sunlight which is needed for repair. Associated disease complexities are wiped out by regular Homeopathic treatment, conditionally.