Lower back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints around the globe. Almost every adult at some point in his/her life suffers from lower back pain. As research shows it is more frequently occurring in office workers as compared to the general population, and surprisingly, our younger population is also being affected by it due to their sedentary lifestyle.
How do you know if back pain is serious?
Usually, lower back pain is thought to be a sign of simple tiredness or overuse/strain after a hectic workday, but a question comes to mind: how do you know if back pain is serious? The answer for that is, in the normal trauma-free scenario, the majority of back pain usually subsides within a few days to a couple of weeks as the inflammation reduces and the natural healing process of your body is doing its job. However, if your back pain doesn’t subside in a week or two you should see a doctor or your local physical therapist and adopt a specific treatment plan according to your condition.
When should I be worried about lower back pain?
There are more serious symptoms that may occur along with lower back pain which we should not ignore and seek medical advice asap. These are:
Not responsive to any pain relief or position change
Constant back pain
Pain referred to both or one leg with reduction of skin sensation in leg, and pins and needles feeling
Reduced or absent sensation in genitals regions
Inability to control bladder or bowel function
Sudden sexual dysfunctions, sudden muscle weakness in lower limbs.
Now! To calm you down, back pain referred to one of the legs with some numbness and pins and needles is very common due to primary or secondary nerve irritation and the majority of times does resolve with conservative therapy.
Can coronavirus make your lower back hurt?
As we are observing a pandemic nowadays, many people are worried about the effect of this deadly virus on their bodies. One question that frequently arises in the mind is does coronavirus make your lower back hurt?
The correct answer is yes, but it depends on so many factors. First of all, people who got covid generally feel body aches due to the normal inflammatory response of the body against the virus. Same as you may feel when you have the flu. But many other factors are also important to play a role in causing back pain. For example, your core strength, postural habits, your immunity, your diet, your body mass index, mechanical working load on your body, and of course the severity of coronavirus that you got and then the recovery time or duration of hospital stay.
What causes back pain in females?
Women are usually more worried about back pain. If we talk specifically about females, mostly, the same factors are responsible for back pain in females that are for males. But there are some other factors, like their natural physique and extra load on the backbone due to the weight of the breast and additional weight during pregnancy.
Females have more fat deposition in their bodies and less muscle mass as compared to men. These factors make their body structures laxer and more prone to injuries.
If you do have an office job you may wonder Why is my back painful when I am sitting?
The sitting position is often associated with closing the chest which limits your breathing. This is impacting blood supply around the muscles in your body. When sat down your spine is statically loaded for hours and blood flow through the spine and surrounding muscles and other soft tissues is greatly reduced due to lack of movement. That is causing reduction of inflow and outflow of components that nourish the muscles creating among others acidosis and generating chronic pain.
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Also if you suffer from disc-related back pain slouching in a chair for many hours can cause further irritation of the soft tissues and nerve structures around the disc due to an increase of pressure on your spinal column.
How can you improve your back pain?
It all depends on the reason behind the pain. But most of all if it's a non-traumatic event of pain you should try to move little but often throughout the day to promote circulation in affected areas. Don’t push through the pain, but try to gently move within a comfortable range of movements. You may want to try Cold or heat rubs or packs - everyone responds differently to different, some will respond better to ice as its numbing painful area others will feel their pain is intensifying as muscles are contracting too much in response to cold and they will prefer heat which will help to relax and will increase blood flow in superficial tissues.
What position should you sleep with back pain?
Again in a position where you feel most comfortable yet usually sleeping on a non-painful side with a pillow between knees is helpful or sleeping on your back with a pillow under your knees. Also if you sleep on a soft old mattress you may need to consider investing in a new harder one to prevent your lower back pain in the future.
Does diet matter with lower back pain?
Yes it does, obviously higher body weight will impact the amount of mechanical strain our body is put through but also the type of food we eat does impact how prone we are to develop inflammation. Processed food, rich in unhealthy fats, fried food, high red meat, and dairy products can cause increased inflammatory markers in our body. A healthy diet can help our bodies to heal faster from the inside.
Should I avoid movement if I get lower back pain? Back pain exercises.
Frequently I get asked, “ Should I avoid movement if I get lower back pain?” The biggest part of therapy in our Worcester physio clinic is movement education. Our bodies have been designed to be active not to sit the biggest part of our day! So if you do have a sedentary job, try from time to time ideally every hour or more often get up, move, scratch, or do breathing exercises.
Find an excuse to get up for a coffee or run up and down the stairs, a few times, do a few squats and you are on the phone with the client…Or maybe even consider investing in a standing-up desk? If you have physical work or you run after kids all day and this that's enough exercise…you may be wrong. Doing physical work where we repeat the same movements over and over again doesn't mean that our muscles' strength and tension in the body is well balanced. Frequently some muscles and joints are overused and overloaded where others are weak and at some point, your body will have to compensate for that imbalance and sooner or later it can develop lower back pain as well. Therefore exercising 3 x a week doing any type of activity, walking, running, cycling, swimming, yoga, cross-fit, whatever makes you happy can prevent Lower back pain in the first place but also can help to improve it if you would develop it.
When should I be worried about lower back pain?
All you need is to observe the pattern of your pain that when it starts when it subsides, which activity aggravates or relieves your pain. And most importantly, note the time duration of your lower back pain, you can ignore it for a few days but if it is affecting your life for more than two weeks, you should consult this with a physiotherapist or your GP. There is no need to worry at all, our Worcester Physio Therapy clinic provides the best health care facilities for the people suffering from lower back pain in Worcester city. We provide state-of-the-art physical and manual therapies and rehabilitation services for our clients.
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