How to relieve aching back pain. Causes and accompanying symptoms of pain syndrome
Today we will talk about:
General information about the lumbar spine
The spine consists of three sections: cervical, thoracic and lumbar.
The lumbar spine experiences much greater stress in the course of our life than the other two departments. Therefore, people have problems with it more often.
Agree that a lot of people complain about a "sore lower back", but few people talk about, for example, a "sore chest" :)
The fact is that in order to support the lumbar spine in its physiological, natural position, not only the back muscles are included in the work, but also the press, lateral abdominal muscles, gluteal muscles and thigh muscles.
Therefore, in order to restore the lumbar and make it stronger and healthier, you will need to include more muscles in your work than for the chest and. To do this, there are many different physical exercises.
But before moving on to recovery with exercise, you first need to figure out what acute is and what needs to be done to eliminate this pain.
In the people, and in official medicine, there are several synonyms that are called acute back pain:
Aggravation
Radiculitis
nerve injury or
"Punch" in the lower back
What causes back pain
Imagine that the spine is a multi-story building, where the floors are the vertebrae, the floor with the underlying ceiling are the intervertebral discs, the outer walls are the muscles that surround the spine, and the windows are the openings between the vertebrae from where the nerve fibers exit.
When everything works well in this structure, there are no breakdowns and violations. So no back pain.
But imagine the following. If the back muscles are weak, then a colossal and constant load is placed on the spine. What happens then? From such increased pressure, the intervertebral discs are the first to suffer!
They begin to "settle", crack and lose their main function and task - to cushion and protect the vertebrae from impacts. Because of this, the load on the spine increases even more.
Since the intervertebral discs are “crushed”, they begin to go beyond the spinal column, forming protrusions - protrusions of the discs.
Let me draw a clear analogy. Intervertebral discs - like balls of thick fluid, located between two books. When they are constantly pressed, they flatten out and go beyond these books - this is the protrusion of the discs.
Further, if the load continues to act on the disks, then they are so flattened that they begin to break through in the weakest places - in protrusions. Because of this, their contents come out. This is how hernias of the spine are formed.
How is it related to pain and at what stage does it appear
Remember, I said above that there are holes between the vertebrae, where the nerve roots come from? So - when the disks "settle", then these holes also narrow. In addition, protrusions or hernias can get into these holes.
Pain occurs when there is an infringement or irritation of the nerve root or nerve. The reason may be a narrowing of the intervertebral foramen, a protrusion or hernia getting into this hole. This is the first cause of pain.
In addition, muscles are also located around the spine. They also experience certain changes. They strain to somehow maintain in a normal position, but they do not always succeed.
The result is chronic muscle strain. And tight, inelastic muscles can also compress the nerves and prevent the nerve impulse from passing through them.
So, the second cause of pain is spasm, overstrain of the muscles surrounding the spine and their imbalance. Overstressed muscles negatively affect the nerves that run through the muscle fibers to the lower extremities.
How does exacerbation of lumbar osteochondrosis manifest itself?
A typical picture of an exacerbation of lumbar osteochondrosis (aka sciatica or lumbago) looks like this:
- Sharp, severe pain in the lumbar region. It may be local, or it may radiate (radiate) along the pinched nerve to the pelvic region, to the groin, to the thigh, to the buttock The pain may intensify with any movement and in a standing or sitting position
- Limited movement in the back up to complete absence due to severe pain
- Spasm of the muscles surrounding the spine, which reflexively block any movement in this section
There are a lot of variations in the manifestations of lumbar osteochondrosis, since it is the lumbar spine that provides the work of the legs from the pelvis to the tips of the toes.
If the pain is not sharp and shooting, but more moderate, dull and appears / intensifies ONLY when turning or bending to the side, then there is no infringement. Such characteristic pains speak more about muscle imbalance, their chronic overstrain, sprains.
So how do you get rid of lower back pain?
In the course of further lessons that I will be sending you over the next few days, we will deal with this issue, develop a plan for getting rid of pain and gradually restore the lumbar region to normal.
But within the framework of this lesson, we must figure out what to do with a typical exacerbation and how to quickly relieve acute pain in order to further engage in the restoration of the lumbar spine.
How to relieve acute lower back pain
With an exacerbation of osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine, unlike, for example, the cervical spine, exercises CANNOT be performed for anatomical reasons.
If, for example, for the cervical region we can use isometric exercises to relieve pain, then such exercises will not work for the lumbar region.
Therefore, in exacerbation, you need to follow the following plan:
1) Gentle mode
The first thing to do is to observe bed rest for at least one to two days. When you are in a standing or sitting position, the load on the lumbar region increases significantly. From this infringement will make itself felt even more.
In the prone position, there is a complete unloading of the lumbar region. The vertebrae do not put pressure on each other, the intervertebral foramina restore their size, the nerve infringement decreases, the muscles relax as much as possible.
With acute pain, swelling of the nerve and surrounding tissues, muscle spasm, and inflammation appear. These signs further provoke a worsening of the condition. In the supine position, the infringement subsides, which means that inflammation, swelling, and muscle spasm decrease.
2) Proper styling
Another important condition is proper bedding. In order to relax all the muscles and surrounding tissues as much as possible, it is necessary to maintain all the curves of the spine in a physiological position.
By the way, the bed should be hard so that there are no unnecessary kinks in the spine and you can relax your muscles as much as possible.
3) Pain relief
Some people with acute pain take drugs from the group of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), which are actively advertised by pharmacies, TV, newspapers. This makes sense, but there are a few important things to keep in mind.
These drugs should be taken according to strict indications and no more than two days.
Such drugs have a huge list of side effects, ranging from the skin to the nervous system. They adversely affect all systems of our organs, overload the liver, affect the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines, and so on. You can read about this in the instructions for a particular drug.
Yes, if the pain is severe, then anesthesia is still necessary. But I advise you not to take pills, but it is better to give painkillers in intramuscular injections. So the drug will reach its destination faster.
In addition, tablets simply may not be absorbed in the intestines due to many reasons (dysbacteriosis, malabsorption, damage to the intestinal wall, etc.).
The basic rule of such injections is no more than twice a day and preferably only one day.
If there is an opportunity to visit a neurologist, then be sure to do it. He can put a novocaine blockade on you, which is much more effective than NSAIDs.
The blockade is more local and targeted. She has no such side effects. This method will be much better, safer and faster to work than other medicines.
4) Local anesthesia if the pain is chronic
If your pain is not too strong, but rather dull, moderate and tolerable, then it is quite possible to get by with local anesthesia - any warming or anesthetic ointment on the lumbar region + Kuznetsov's applicator.
Lie on your back and lie down for at least 20-30 minutes to relieve spasm and reduce pain.
5) Nervous system support
Since nerve fibers suffer in acute back pain, they definitely need vitamin support. During this period, I recommend taking B vitamins (for example, neuromultivit).
But it is best to put B vitamins intramuscularly (thiamine, milgamma). The reason is the same as with pills. Vitamins may partially not pass through the intestines. In addition, any medicine passes not only through the intestinal barrier, but also through processing in the liver.
Only under the condition that you have a perfectly functioning intestine and a normal liver, the medicine or vitamin will get into the right tissues and organs. To bypass all these steps and get exactly the vitamin support, it is better to put vitamins intramuscularly.
6) Exercise and gentle self-traction
Let's say you have already implemented all of the above tips. Now you are lying on your back, they put painkillers, vitamins.
Now, in order not to lie just like that, let's do some exercises with you. But, as I have repeatedly said before, exercises directly for the lumbar spine and for the back muscles at this stage cannot yet be performed.
But you can and should do general light exercises for the muscles of the feet, hands, arms, and also do breathing exercises. These types of exercises will help relax the muscles and improve the capillary blood supply to all tissues.
In addition, it will be a good prevention of hypodynamia. You lie, do not move, all processes slow down. From this, further recovery will take longer.
You can also do a gentle self-traction of the spine.
I give examples of exercises in the video:
The main condition for performing exercises is smoothness, softness and maximum concentration of attention on the exercise and your own feelings.
Here is a step-by-step plan you need to implement if you have acute back pain, backache, exacerbation. This plan concerns only the first days when there are strong and sharp pains.
What to do next
As soon as the pain subsides, that is, the process will go into a subacute period (usually this happens on the third or fourth day after the exacerbation), be sure to add:
- Therapeutic exercises for the lumbar spine YET ONLY lying on your back with a warm-up and a hitch (according to all the rules of physiotherapy exercises)
- Wearing an orthopedic corset when you need to get up and go somewhere (for example, walk to the nearest store)
That is, when the subacute period sets in, you actively perform therapeutic exercises lying down, and when you walk or sit, put on an orthopedic corset.
Why do you need exercise in the subacute period
How do most people get treated? Their back hurt, they rested, everything seems to have passed, and they continue to continue to lead the same lifestyle that they led before the exacerbation.
But think about this. If your lifestyle has led you to an aggravation, does it mean that it is somehow wrong? If he was correct, the exacerbation would not have happened? Correctly? :)
It's very easy to avoid this! You need to start doing therapeutic exercises already in the subacute period. And when it passes, connect more complex exercises and continue to practice further.
And it is in the subacute period that it is very important for you to start active restoration of the spine, namely:
- Restoring balance between all muscle groups
- Muscle relaxation and restoration of their normal tone
- Removal of edema and restoration of all tissues of the spine
- Formation of your own muscle corset and strong muscular support of the spine
From the subacute period, it becomes the main and main work on restoring the health of the lumbar. It should be built systematically - from simple exercises to complex ones, from the starting position lying on your back to the starting position standing in an incline.
Acute lower back pain very often takes us by surprise. We are lost, if there is an exacerbation of the disease, we try to do something.
Removal of back pain is necessary and not recommended. Any pain exhausts and exhausts the nervous system.
What to do in such cases to alleviate your condition, how to remove unpleasant symptoms, in what ways can this be done?
Have you heard the word "shoot"? So popularly called acute sciatica, which occurs in the lumbar region and back. It is not for nothing that people called this disease backache. The pain actually most often comes on suddenly.
In some cases, severe pain occurs due to some kind of movement, various damage to the joints and muscles. ligaments, disks. Carrying weights, bad postures for work, bending over, lead to loads that we are not ready for. This is especially true for those who spend hours on the Internet.
The result of this is back pain.
A sick person cannot unbend, remains in a state in which he was caught by an unpleasant symptom. Walking and standing is unbearable, and painful sensations can even be given to the hips and buttocks.
Our spine has a complex structure, so in each case it is necessary to find out which tissues can be damaged. Only a specialist can establish an accurate diagnosis.
At this stage, we only need to determine the painful place and relieve painful sensations.
Acute lower back pain can catch at work, in a variety of crowded places.
You are outside the house, and such a position will help relieve discomfort - half-sitting, leaning on slightly apart and straightened arms. It is necessary to rise very carefully, we move carefully. If there is an assistant, take advantage of his participation, or take a cane or stick in your hands.
If the backache caught you at home, try to create maximum comfort for your lower back. The best postures in the acute period are two postures.
One of them is to put a roll of a folded blanket and lie on your side. This posture will help you not for a long time. The other is lying on her back, her legs bent at the knees and a cushion of a blanket under her feet.
Pain medications can help relieve severe back pain. In the acute period, soothing drugs, such as motherwort, valerian, will help.
Local procedures will come to the rescue.
An iodine mesh can be applied to the sore spot. The tincture of capsicum, camphor alcohol, pepper plaster, pharmaceutical ointments that will have to be rubbed will relieve pain.
Anesthetic ointments can cause a local allergic reaction, in such cases the drug is removed with alcohol or vodka.
You can try to make mustard plasters, they are prepared in a completely different way and differ from those sold in a pharmacy.
Honey, sunflower oil, propolis tincture are mixed in equal proportions, a little flour is added in order to make cakes. We apply the healing mixture on sheets of paper (in size, like a sheet of mustard plaster), attach it to the sore spot for several hours. We fix it with a bandage, we warm it with a woolen scarf.
We take 1/4 cup of furatsilina solution, dilute 1 teaspoon of honey in it, put mustard plasters there for a few seconds. We put mustard plasters for 3-10 minutes, depending on who can endure how much. Try to remove the mustard plasters in such a way that the mustard remains on the skin. Sore spots are covered with a film, which is left for 8 hours. This procedure is best performed before going to bed, then the plastic film can be removed in the morning.
For rubbing and relieving pain, radish juice helps. A hole is cut in the cavity of the radish, honey is poured into it. Radish juice will be ready in 4 hours. Apply to relieve pain 1-2 times a day. After that, wrap the affected area warm.
Grind the collected dandelion flowers, place to the top in a dark glass bottle. Pour vodka, remove to infuse for 2 weeks in a dark place. Before going to bed, arrange a therapeutic massage, rubbing sore spots with infused slurry, wrap your back with something warm. Even several sessions can alleviate the condition and relieve the painful syndrome. To relieve pain, along with the use of rubbing, you can drink a cup of dandelion tea, 3 times a day.
To relieve pain, it is recommended to observe bed rest for the first few days. The illness most often lasts from a few days to 3 weeks. In the first days of illness, it is not recommended to take a hot bath, a heating pad. The patient's condition may worsen.
In order not to suffer from lower back pain, you must remember:
The back should remain straight under load. Try to perform all your movements with your arms and legs, and not with the help of extension and flexion of the spine.
When lifting weights, squat down, do not bend over. The back is straight, avoid sudden movements, jerks and turns. Distribute weights evenly, do not carry them in one hand.
Do not try to do everything at once, relax more!
If you need to put on shoes, wash the floor under the bed - do not bend down! Get on one knee, keep your back straight.
In the queues at the store, at a public transport stop, keep your back straight, the leg on which you lean, change periodically.
When working at a computer, get up more often from behind the steel, warm up, do not lean forward.
If the relief of lower back pain does not go away for a long time or is repeated often, then it's time for you to see a doctor! Independent and uncontrolled intake of anti-inflammatory drugs is unsafe.
The use of foods high in calcium, massage, swimming during exacerbations will benefit the spine.
There is an opinion that lower back pain can only occur with diseases of the spine, for example, with osteochondrosis.
In fact, pain can be associated not only with the spine, about 25 diseases can give unpleasant and painful sensations.
The state of the lower back is affected by any physical ill-being, which immediately manifests itself.
And I advise you, pay attention, love and take care of your back!
Do you want to wear an orthopedic corset to get rid of back pain? Probably not.
Just like almost 80% of people with spinal problems, Beverly Hayes suffers from back pain. For some, pain is triggered by strenuous work such as cleaning the garden or lifting weights. Others simply bend down to pick up a pencil and their back immediately makes itself felt.
“It feels like your lower back is being poked with a screwdriver,” Beverly Hayes, a 46-year-old Chicago artist, talks about the pain she suffered after running half an amateur marathon. “She turned my life around. I couldn't bend over or sleep - my back was stiff and I thought I would never feel normal."
How to get rid of back pain?
Mary Ann Wilmarth, a member of the Association for Physical Therapy and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at Harvard University, says people should see a doctor right away with an injury or any kind of back pain. “Early intervention will help prevent the development of chronic pathology and eliminate the need for treatment and surgery,” she says.
Through a combination of constant activity, strengthening exercise, and physical therapy, Hayes says the intensity of her symptoms decreased significantly over the year. Here are 12 ways to help relieve back pain.
1. Limit Bed Rest
Studies show that people with minor back pain who spend a lot of time in bed feel pain longer and have a harder time coping with daily activities than those who remain active.
“Patients should stay in bed for no more than three days,” says Mike Flippin, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in back and spine problems at the San Diego Medical Center. “I encourage my patients to start moving as quickly as possible.”
2. Keep Exercising
Physical activity is often the best cure for back pain. “Simple exercise, like walking, can be very helpful,” says Wilmarth. “During them, the body is in a neutral upright position.”
“But remember to move in moderation,” Flippin reminds. “Avoid strenuous activities, such as gardening, and movements that first provoke pain.”
3. Keep Your Posture
Pain may appear after a long workout, but the tension that caused it most likely accumulated over many years. According to Wilmarth, most people have poor posture when they go about their daily activities. By doing this, they add extra stress to the back.
“Problems come from the little things,” she says. “You can increase the pressure on your spine by 50% just by leaning on the sink incorrectly while brushing your teeth. If you give the back the right curves, the pressure on the nerve roots will disappear, and back pain will decrease.
4. Visit a Specialist
According to D. Scott Davis, Physical Therapist, Sports Medicine Physician, PhD, Orthopedic Physical Therapist and Associate Professor at West Virginia University, developing a personalized exercise plan is important for managing chronic back pain.
“There is no magic pill you can take for lower back pain,” says Davis. – Some patients need to strengthen the muscular frame, although in general people stretch the muscles and improve overall flexibility. Find a physical therapist, exercise therapist, or chiropractor (chiropractor) who specializes in the spine and back in general. They will help you choose the right set of exercises.
5. Strengthen the Muscular Framework
Most people with chronic back pain will benefit from strong abdominal muscles.
“The core is a collection of many muscle groups working together,” says Frank B. White, Ph.D., professor of exercise physiology at Western Missouri State University. - If the abdominal muscles are weak, the other muscles are the same. Strengthening the abdominal muscles can significantly reduce the load on the lower back.
6. Improve Flexibility
Too much tension and tightness of the muscles can cause back pain. “Our goal in developing flexibility is to provide the same load on the entire body from the fingertips all the way to the head,” says Davis. – Here is one of the great exercises for this: sit on the edge of the bed, stretch one leg, and lower the other to the floor. Start stretching your hamstrings by leaning forward while keeping your back straight.”
7. Stop Wearing a Corset
The ability to support the back muscles from the outside looks tempting, but Davis says that the corset should be used with caution. “Corsets are useful for strenuous activities like weightlifting, but they can only be used for 15 minutes,” he says. “If you wear a corset all day, the muscles that it is supposed to provide stability will weaken and no longer support the spine.”
8. Apply Ice and Heat
Heating pads and cold compresses can help alleviate the condition. Most doctors recommend using ice for the first 48 hours after an injury—especially if there is swelling—and then moving on to heat. “But it's hard to say whether ice or heat works better,” says Flippin. “I encourage patients to use whatever relieves them most effectively.”
9. Sleep Properly
Sleep is very important, but just as important is the position in which you sleep. “Sleeping in a bad position or not on a pillow-top mattress can lead to back pain,” says Wilmarth.
Here are some hints:
- If you sleep on your back, you should place a pillow under your knees.
- If you sleep on your side, you should place a pillow between your knees to keep your spine in a neutral position.
- Sleeping on your stomach leads to unnatural curves in your neck and head, which puts extra strain on your back.
10. Quit Smoking
Smoking not only harms the lungs, it can also negatively affect the spine.
“Nicotine causes small blood vessels to constrict, which reduces blood delivery to soft tissues,” says Flippin. “I tell all my patients to stop smoking, it can relieve their back pain.”
11. Try Psychotherapy
According to Alex Moroz, MD, assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at New York University Langon Medical Center, back pain is often associated with issues such as depression and anxiety. “Your emotional state determines how you perceive pain,” says Frost. “Psychotherapy can be a very useful part of rehabilitation.”
12. Use Relaxation Techniques
Research shows that relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, tai chi, yoga, and more can work wonders.
“If you achieve deep relaxation, this will reduce the level of perception of pain,” says Frost.
Osteochondrosis is a degenerative disease of the spine, one of the most common human pathologies. The disease is characterized by a gradual destruction of the cartilaginous tissue of the vertebrae: as the disease progresses, ligaments, muscles, and bone structures are involved in destructive processes.
The most indicative sign of pathology is back pain of a different nature - sharp, aching, acute, periodic and constant. It is useful for all patients with degenerative diseases of the spine to know how to relieve pain in osteochondrosis and eliminate inflammation in the acute stage of the disease.
Pain in degenerative diseases of the spine
Pain is the main, but not the only symptom of osteochondrosis. In itself, the destruction of cartilage tissue is not accompanied by pain, especially at the initial stage of the disease. Pain occurs when pathological transformations affect the nerve endings, muscles and ligaments.
Painful processes lead to a loss of elasticity and mobility of the intervertebral discs. At the progressive stages of osteochondrosis, cracks appear in the discs, and the fibrous ring changes its anatomical position. These processes lead to the occurrence of protrusions and herniated discs: these are the main and most dangerous complications of the disease.
Next to the intervertebral discs are nerve endings, blood vessels and the spinal cord itself. Deformed discs compress the nerve endings and injure them. This process is the primary cause of pain symptoms, inflammation, spasms of muscles and ligaments. Back pain often radiates to other parts of the body, since the nerve endings of the spinal cord are connected to all body systems.
Pain symptoms in lesions of various parts of the spine are extremely diverse. In advanced stages of the disease, in addition to back pain, patients may experience neck pain, headache, neck, shoulder, stomach and intestinal pain. Unpleasant symptoms occur in the legs, feet, gluteal muscles, pelvic organs (often with impaired functionality).
Symptoms are aggravated by:
- physical activity;
- fatigue;
- Prolonged stay in one position;
- stress;
- hypothermia;
- Infectious processes in the body.
With severe compression of the spinal cord and blood vessels, serious pathologies of the internal organs are possible. Compression is especially dangerous in the cervical and lumbar regions. Often, the consequence of pathological processes in advanced osteochondrosis are such dangerous diseases as stroke, erectile dysfunction, infertility, loss of control of the functions of the digestive organs and bladder.
Causes and accompanying symptoms of pain syndrome
The main causes of pain in osteochondrosis:
- Compression of nerve endings during displacement of discs;
- Muscle spasms;
- Compression of blood vessels;
- Inflammatory processes in the soft tissues surrounding the vertebrae.
The most common localization of pain is the lumbar region of the back. This is the most mobile part of the spine: it bears the main load during physical activity, weight lifting. In the sacral zone are the main nerve plexuses and parts of the spinal cord that control the internal organs.
Complications often occur cauda equina syndrome- inflammation of the nerve endings of the lumbar region. This syndrome is accompanied by severe pain in the lower back. They are partly due to reflex muscle tension. In order to reduce pain, the body tries to limit muscle activity, which leads to muscle spasm. Constant tension contributes to the accumulation of lactic acid in muscle tissues, which also increases pain symptoms.
In the cervical region, vertebral artery syndrome is often diagnosed. Violation of the blood supply to the brain causes headaches of various localization (parietal, occipital, temporal). Since the pain is referred in nature, conventional analgesics do not alleviate the condition. Other signs of compression of the vertebral artery are cervicalgia, reflex pain in the neck and arms.
Associated symptoms of pain:
- Tingling in limbs:
- Numbness of certain parts of the body, impaired sensitivity;
- Limitation of the amplitude of movement;
- Muscular atrophy;
- Feeling constantly tired;
- Reduced performance.
Coughing, sudden movements, sneezing, laughter - all these factors increase pain or provoke their occurrence.
How to eliminate pain in osteochondrosis
How to eliminate pain in osteochondrosis? Most people will answer unequivocally - drugs. On the one hand, this is true: analgesics play a role in pain relief. But medications give only a short-term effect. Such treatment is purely symptomatic and does not affect the true causes of the disease.
Constantly drowning out pain with anesthetics is fundamentally the wrong tactic. Qualified doctors use drugs only at the initial stage of treatment. Further therapy depends on the stage of the disease, the current condition of the patient and other related circumstances.
After the elimination of the acute stage of the disease, other methods of treatment are necessarily practiced - physiotherapy, professional massage, therapeutic exercises, reflexology, osteopathy, complex spa therapy. By stimulating blood circulation and metabolism, strengthening the muscular frame and ligaments, we thereby prevent further degenerative processes and prevent the occurrence of new pains.
Non-pharmacological care at home
Even at home, in the absence of drugs, there are ways, if not to completely stop the pain, then at least alleviate the patient's condition. There are special body positions that reduce painful manifestations and provide the affected area with motor rest.
With cervical osteochondrosis, rest on a special orthopedic pillow helps. It is important to ensure complete immobilization of the cervical region, so the pillow must be sufficiently firm and rigid. It is better to lie on your back. It's great if you have an orthopedic collar. Such devices can be purchased at medical equipment stores or made by hand from thick cardboard and soft fabric.
With lumbar localization of pain, there are several options for the correct positioning of the body to relieve pain:
- Lying on your back, bend your knees and hips (you can put a pillow under your knees for comfort);
- Lying on your side, bend your legs and pull them up to your chin (you need to put a small pillow under your head to align the axis of the spine).
With a pain syndrome of a non-inflammatory nature, mild warming of the affected area is allowed. You can use a warm heating pad, you can just cover your back with a woolen scarf or blanket. Complete rest relaxes the muscles and partially relieves spasm.
Medications to relieve pain and inflammation
Inflammatory processes in the nerve roots require the mandatory use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This is a fairly large group of drugs, represented by various dosage forms - ointments, tablets, injection solutions. The most popular drugs are Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, Voltaren ointments, Fastum and others.
Local painkillers are also used - Finalgon, Kapsikam: these ointments, in addition to the analgesic effect, accelerate blood flow and metabolism. There are complex drugs (chondroprotectors) that partially restore cartilage tissue and slow down its destruction.
They try to prescribe perioral drugs as rarely as possible: any drugs, in addition to beneficial effects, have side effects. The most popular and popular tablet preparations are Diclofenac, Nimesulide, Ibuprofen, Ketalong, Movalis.
Such funds are often prescribed in a course of 5-7 days (1 tablet three times a day). In the absence of a therapeutic effect, more radical methods of treatment are required.
Clinical Therapy
In hospitals, advanced cases of osteochondrosis with severe pain are treated with drug injections. The most effective method of such a plan is novocaine blockade. This method of anesthesia is close to local anesthesia. When injected, the medicine penetrates directly into the nerve endings and blocks pain signals entering the brain.
Blockade is an effective, but exclusively symptomatic method of therapy. The injection itself does not cure the disease, but only stops its manifestations. Often, such a procedure is prescribed for diagnostic purposes - doctors need to find out which nerve is inflamed and gives pain symptoms.
Drug blockade as a method of therapy has certain advantages:
- Speed (an analgesic effect occurs in just a few minutes);
- Minimal entry of the drug into the general circulation (reduction of side effects on the entire body);
- Possibility of frequent use (if necessary).
In addition to analgesics, to enhance the healing effect, antispasmodics, decongestants and substances that stimulate trophism (nutrition) and blood supply to the affected area are sometimes introduced into the body. Intramuscular administration of vitamin preparations is allowed.
The most relevant drugs used in blockades: Lidocaine, Novocaine (anesthetics), Hydrocortisone (corticosteroid anti-inflammatory agent), B vitamins, ATP (to nourish cells), Lidaza. Blockades are epidural (made directly into the vertebral structures), paravertebral (an injection is placed into the surrounding tissues).
Other types of clinical therapy for the treatment of pain syndrome: drug electrophoresis or phonophoresis, magnetotherapy, hypothermia (exposure to cold), paraffin, ozocerite applications, kinesio taping (applying therapeutic patches), reflexology - acupuncture.
But for some of us, this nuisance becomes a regular problem. And while you can brush off the occasional pain or just swallow a painkiller, chronic pain can make life hell before you realize you need to do your back globally. Below are a series of questions to help you determine if you are one of these people and if you need to make additional systematic efforts to feel better.
Take the Back Pain Quiz
- Constantly worried about back pain?
- Smearing your back with cooling ointments, applying a heating pad, regularly taking a huge amount of painkillers?
- Do you often tell family and friends that your back hurts?
- Are you already a broken record?
- Worried that the pain will become unmanageable?
- Do you regularly go to the gym and sometimes stretch your back muscles during grueling workouts?
- Have you had a work injury at work and now your back hurts all the time?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you know how depressing back pain can be. When a person experiences suffering, the future seems rather bleak. Until you give up and stop reading this article...
The good news is, if you haven't had a car accident or other serious injury, if you haven't been obese, you don't have to endure back pain!
The good news is that if you have not had a car accident or other serious injury, if you are not obese, and there are no other health problems, there is absolutely no need to endure such back pain. We must tell ourselves that it is time to end the disease and move forward with bright thoughts!
Fortunately, there are many ways to get rid of back pain, including. The methods do not require a prescription from a pharmacy or surgery. There are millions of people in the world who have found a way to alleviate the condition, and they have coped with it on their own. Here are 7 ways to deal with back pain on your own.
1. How to sit properly for back pain
First, if you often have back pain, you need to learn how to sit correctly! You often spend the whole day in a sitting position. Or maybe you are on your feet most of the day, so you sit for a long time in the evening. In fact, most people sit incorrectly. If you pull your shoulders into your head, you need to learn how to sit properly again. You need to sit straight, shoulders slightly back. To do this, mentally draw a straight line from the hips to the shoulders so that they are on the same level.
2. How to stand correctly for back pain
If we work hard at the table, then we are worth little. Doctors recommend that if you have regular back pain, sometimes you should work while standing near the table, if possible. This will help your back relax after sitting for a long time in a chair if you can’t take a break from work. The ideal option is to get up and walk for a few minutes every half hour or at least every hour to keep the body moving. The more you sit motionless at the table, the worse your back pain will be a little later.
3. How to sleep properly when pain bothers
Perhaps you will be surprised that it is time to learn how to sleep properly. But it's true. Exist . In a dream, you most likely lie in one position for several hours. Prolonged muscle tension even in a sleepy state leads to discomfort. But at this time, a person may not realize that you need to change the position of the body. This leads to muscle stiffness and pain in the morning after waking up. The good news is that this situation can be corrected. If you are a side sleeper, use a pillow between your legs. You can use a regular pillow or buy a special one for back pain. If you sleep on your stomach or back, place a pillow under your lower back or under your stomach to balance your body weight. You will probably have to practice for a couple of nights to get used to it. As a reward, in a dream, the muscles will relax.
4. How to maintain posture with back pain
5. How to properly warm up the lower back for pain
If you have frequent, simple, cheap and easy way to solve the problem with the lower back - heat. You can buy an electric heating pad or make a rice paddle at home. Before using a home heating pad, put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. This will immediately relieve the condition in the lumbar region, but not for long. A hot bath also helps relieve back pain. If the symptoms are mild or you only experience them occasionally, these methods are quite effective. But if you suffer from constant back pain, heat will help you for a little while. Better try something else later.
6. How an Epsom Salt Bath Helps with Pain
Baths with the addition of medicinal salt, especially English salt, can be a great way to relieve back pain in the lumbar region. Being in a hot bath, even without salt, is a great remedy for many. And the addition of salt just works wonders. This is because the salts relax tight and tense muscles.
7. The best exercise for back pain
Recently, many people have heard about such a way to relieve back pain as. This exercise is similar to push-ups from the floor. You need to lie down on a flat surface, then rise on your elbows, on bent arms directly under your shoulders. Then you need to tighten the main muscles, as if tearing the body off the ground. Tighten your abdominal muscles and hold this position for at least 1 minute. Only the toes and hands touch the floor. This exercise will strengthen the core muscles and relieve back pain. It's a proven method that exercise therapists use to help their clients manage back pain.
The seven methods listed above are effective in dealing with back pain. If symptoms persist and you don't feel better, see your doctor. He will be able to guide you further. Alternate between work and rest, and your back will thank you for it.
