How to Prevent Lumbar Back Pain?

Causes of Pain in the Lumbar Spine

Once in a blue moon, your back pain will bother you. You may think that it's just a back pain that is just one of the consequences of daily stresses and strain on the body but this isn’t true. Your back pain can be an early indicator of some of the most serious deadly disorders that you can barely think of.

Most particularly lumbar back pain is one of the major issues that thousands of individuals face in their daily lives and are still ignorant about the possible causes as well as the consequences. There may be a plethora of reasons for why your lower back is aching now and then but the most common one is ageing and degenerative disorders that couple up with ageing.

Precisely saying women are more likely to experience lumbar back pain than men, the reasons are obvious, but still, people tend to be ignorant about them. Yes, you can correct your back pain by taking rest or just by sound sleep, but that doesn't work every time. Better go and get diagnosed by a highly skilled doctor if your back pain has been persisting for more than a week.[1]

Causes of Lower Back Pain

Different reasons are likely to affect different structures in the back. It can be the irritation to the nerve roots entering the spine, it may be the discs themselves, or it may even be the sue to the bones and muscles that cause extreme pain. There can be a multitude of causes for a lumbar backache amongst which some are described below:

Degenerated discs

If you don't really know what the intervertebral discs are then you should be very clear that they are those spongy pads that perform the function of shock absorbers between the Lumbar spine vertebrae. Disc degeneration can create extreme pain in the disc space due to the friction between the joints. This would gradually lead to degeneration of the bones as the bones by rubbing against each other tear and wear. Better consult a doctor at the initial stage so that the situation doesn't turn more complicated and the pain doesn't range to extreme.

Lumbar Disc Herniation

There can be many causes for a herniated disc, but one of the major cause is due to injury or heavy lifting and can even be the result of slow and gradual wear and tear of the spine. Spine is responsible for bearing the entire strain on your back and when the spine wears down your posture also gets kind of distorted. One of the other reasons for lumbar spine pain causes is consistent bad posture so think before you do anything and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Muscular problems

The most common reason for lumbar spine pain is a muscular strain that mainly occurs due to heavy lifting, bending or other repetitive strenuous processes. Muscle strains aren’t painful for a long time and generally heal within a very short tenure. Persistent strain can even tear the ligaments and tendons in your back or legs and lead to chronic pain. If you ever think that you are an experiencing muscle strain in your lower back pain then better rush to a doctor.

Spondylolisthesis 

This disorder occurs when on vertebrae slips forward over the one below it. Most of the time the slipped vertebrae compresses the nerve root at that level that it can result in leg pain and possibly foot pain. Though the back pain is radiating to the thighs is a common symptom of Sciatica, but Spondylolisthesis can also be the reason behind this. Spondylolisthesis is not simple as it sounds.

The pain can refrain you from performing the basic daily activities that are necessary for the daily routine. Physiotherapy is necessary and you may frequently apply heat or ice over the place that is aching. But if you don't take the pain too seriously, then surgery will be the only option that will be left.[2]

Osteoporosis

This can be precisely defined as the low bone density disorder and occurs when the bone production process cannot keep in pace with the bone loss making bones weak and brittle. Women are more likely to get osteoporosis than men and osteoporosis is an old age disorder that elementarily effects people who are in the age group of 40-60. Maintaining a proper diet and taking calcium supplements though can help but therapy is necessary for persons who are suffering from the ills of osteoporosis.

Osteoarthritis

This disorder is a degenerative disease that typically affects the fingers, ankles, hands, knees, and spine. Osteoarthritis makes it challenging and painful to perform everyday tasks particularly those that need flexibility, fine motor dexterity or significant movement.

The various symptoms for joint arthritis range from discomfort, tenderness, aching and swelling as well as stiffness at the lower back to a limited range of motion in the joint, loss of strength in the pelvic joint and bony-looking enlarged joint at the back known as bone spurs.

Injury

There are several types of injuries that can be responsible for lumbar back pain. There are wrist and hand injuries and there are fractures like sprains or other possible causes that can lead to lower backache. Trauma or injury can cause swelling such as sprain or fracture to the back. The symptoms can range from swelling, tenderness and bruising to weakened ability to move the back. You should consult a doctor immediately after an injury to prevent the worse after-effects.

Dislocations

Dislocations usually occur due to a sudden fall or injury in which the blow knocks out the bones out of the joint. During dislocations, the bones that make up the joint shift from their original positions and the individual experiences an immediate pain, which can only decrease after a physician helps to put the joint back in the position where the bones were meant to be. Dislocations cause extreme pain and need immediate attention for correction so make sure that after an injury or a fall you go to a doctor immediately for diagnosis if you are experiencing sharp pain in the lower back.

Fractures

This is one of the most serious problems that elderly people face. The bone mineral density decreases as people tend to grow older. This more drastically happens in women who have had their menopause. Postmenopausal women face decreased bone mineral levels that make their bones weaker and more brittle.

To the aid, elderly people are more likely to have a more unsteady balance and poor eyesight that increases the risk for fractures. Fractures in the lower back can be a serious issue to deal with. Fractures though can be corrected easily within a short tenure, but that depends on whether it is a wedge fracture that is a compression fracture, crush fracture or burst fracture. Better be on the safer side and consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Preventive Measures for Lumbar Pain

There are a lot of preventive measures that you can take to correct back pain. The simplest one is getting rest and getting a sound sleep. Your body needs rest after a tiring day and your back, or more precisely your spine is the fulcrum for load bearing in your entire body, so it needs rest. Maintain a balanced diet and don't rely a lot on junk foods as well as sugery items that may lead to obesity.

Obesity can also cause back pain because the amount of load on your spine increases a lot due to the increased weight. The next thing to do is to refrain yourself from using smartphones over the day and limit your phone hours to a maximum time of 2-3 hours in which you can reply to messages and check notifications as well.

You can also use a compression brace for preventing your back pain but using brace too much like while you are sleeping or something can make your body entirely dependent on the brace which isn't a really good thing. Apart from that you need to work out daily and maintain a healthier way of living.

Practice yoga and exercise on a daily basis And if you are already suffering from back pain and fear that the exercises will cause the pain to increase more then there are simple ones like partial crunches, hamster stretches and leg raises as well that will help to control your back pain and prevent you from getting obese.

Sitting idle won’t help in any way. Also, make sure that you have a therapist in touch to help you with the exercises. You can also consult a dietician for advising you about what to eat and what not to eat. All you need is dedication towards a more natural lifestyle that doesn't demand a lot from you. The essence of living within a healthier sphere of life will prevent back pain as well as other orthopaedic issues.

References

1..https://www.nmortho.com/how-can-i-tell-if-back-pain-is-serious/

2..https://www.carewellurgentcare.com/2017/04/04/worry-lower-back-pain/

3..https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-to-worry-about-lower-back-pain/