Lower Back Pain Information

Youre Not Alone!

If you have lower back pain, you are not alone. This is one of the most common types of back problems. But, how do you know if you are in need of a visit to a doctor, a chiropractor, or some other medical professional, or if you can just treat it yourself at home? The treatments for back pain can be as simple as an over the counter medication or as complex as surgery. In order to decide how to treat your lower back pain, you should consider the cause of the pain and also the severity and duration of the pain.

How Much Pain Do You Have?

If you have injured your back from twisting, falling, or lifting, you should make a visit to your doctor to determine the severity of your injury. But remember that the amount of pain that you have does not necessarily indicate how serious your injury is. Lower back pain from a spasm can be much worse than a herniated disk, which may cause little or no pain. For constant severe pain in your lower back of any kind that lasts longer than a day or two you should visit a doctor-but until you see them, you can take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or use heat or cold packs.

Common Causes

A herniated or bulging disk can cause some lower back pain but the more telling symptoms are a sudden loss of bladder control and/or numbness or weakness in the legs. This is an occasion where you should visit your doctor immediately.

If you are experiencing limited movement of your lower spine when you try to twist along with severe lower back pain you may have a collapsed vertebra. It is not usually too serious, but you should be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. This is more common in individuals over 60 or people with arthritis.

Kidney infections and kidney stones can cause severe lower back pain. If you are experiencing blood in your urine or the pain in your back is mostly limited to one side this is a possible cause. Make a visit to your doctor as soon as possible.

Shingles is a form of the chicken pox bacteria, usually limited to adults. It can also cause lower back pain in addition to fever and a rash.

Prevent Back Pain

In order to help prevent injury and pain in your lower back, make sure that you exercise, maintain a healthy weight and possibly supplement with Vitamin B12 and Calcium. This will give you a better prospect of preventing lower back pain in the future.

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Back Pain Facts?

There are several causes of back pain: mechanical causes, eg lumbar disc disorders; degenerative conditions, eg degenerative disc disease; inflammatory conditions, eg ankylosing spondylitis; infective causes, eg osteomyelitis; neoplastic causes, eg primary benign or malignant tumours; metabolic bone disease, eg osteoporosis; referred pain, eg from duodenal ulcer; psychogenic pain - originating in the mind rather than the body.

Back pain is one of humanity's most frequent complaints and does not usually reflect any underlying disease. However, anyone with back pain that does not improve after a few days should first consult a Physician, as back pain can sometimes indicate significant and serious conditions which might not otherwise be diagnosed. Back pain is very rarely a sign of a serious medical problem. It is however important that the treatable medical causes are identified early on.

Back pain affects 50 to 80 percent of people in the U.S. at some point in their lives. In any given year, 10 percent of adults experience back pain or other symptoms, such as limited mobility or stiffness. Each year, Americans spend an estimated $24 billion on treatments for back pain - not including missed time from work nor the emotional costs of enduring pain and not being able to participate in daily activities. Imagine what it would be like to have problems working, golfing or enjoying playtime with children!

Back pain can be mildly uncomfortable, excruciating or anywhere in between. It can start slowly, sometimes a result of poor posture, or come on suddenly because of injury. If your question is not answered here, please contact one of our information specialists. Back pain can last for a few short days or can linger for weeks, months and even years. Arthritis is a common form of back pain. The earlier arthritis is diagnosed, the more steps can be taken to reduce disability in the future. Other factors that aggravate back pain include suffering from stress, not getting enough sleep, being overweight, having poor posture or not being physically fit.

Back pain should not be considered a normal part of aging; it is a chronic condition that calls for similar lifestyle changes as diseases like arthritis and diabetes do.