Presentation
This was the data presented at the 2nd Symposium on Pain of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, held on February 21 in Huelva. [sciencedaily.com]
This article discusses the presentation and diagnostic strategies of these serious causes of back pain. [mdedge.com]
There are numerous other causes of lower back pain, some of which present suddenly due to a specific incident, others which develop gradually over time. [physioadvisor.com.au]
Watch: Lumbar Spine Anatomy Video To help understand this complicated topic, this article presents a model for understanding symptoms, physical findings, imaging studies and injection techniques to come to a precise diagnosis. [spine-health.com]
Often, however, there is no recognisable risk factor present. Types of disc problems Common disc-related problems include degenerative disc disease, ruptured (or ‘slipped’) disc and sciatica (nerve pain). [betterhealth.vic.gov.au]
Entire Body System
-
Pain
Pain related behaviour The data is significant: only 35% of young people questioned did not have any type of pain in the last month. In other words, 65% of adolescents acknowledged that they have had pain recently. [sciencedaily.com]
because tight muscles can increase pain. — Watch your posture. [mercurynews.com]
Lower Back Pain Symptoms – America spends approximately 50 billion a year on low back pain. [drsnooze.com]
because tight muscles can increase pain. • Watch your posture. [kansas.com]
Nonspecific low back pain (NLBP) is the diagnosis for 85% of low back pain sufferers with no underlying medical cause (e.g., herniated disc, spinal stenosis) that requires physician care. [clinicaltrials.gov]
-
Disability
As your back gets older, occasional aches can turn into chronic, perhaps disabling, pain. [mercurynews.com]
Prevalence of disabilities and associated health conditions among adults—United States, 1999. JAMA. 2001; 285(12):1571-1572. Ref 3. Katz V, et al. Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques 1996 Ref 4. Steven G. Yeomans, D. (2010, November 02). [zyga.com]
As the researchers wrote, "We found that [acetaminophen] is ineffective on both pain and disability outcomes for low back pain in the immediate and short term and is not clinically superior to placebo on both pain and disability outcomes for osteoarthritis [vox.com]
Low-back problems are one of the most common reasons for visits to doctors’ offices and the most common cause of disability among persons under the age of forty five. [sciencebasedmedicine.org]
-
Difficulty Walking
Other symptoms that require immediate medical attention include back pain with fever, numbness or tingling, shooting pains in the extremities or groin, progressive weakness, difficulty walking, or loss of bowel or bladder control. [everydayhealth.com]
-
Limb Pain
Pain that is worse at night, after standing or sitting, or with certain movements. [spacecitypain.com]
Musculoskeletal
-
Back Pain
What's more, experts insist that low back pain in an adolescent is related to psychosocial factors. [sciencedaily.com]
Lower Back Pain Symptoms – America spends approximately 50 billion a year on low back pain. [drsnooze.com]
Nonspecific low back pain (NLBP) is the diagnosis for 85% of low back pain sufferers with no underlying medical cause (e.g., herniated disc, spinal stenosis) that requires physician care. [clinicaltrials.gov]
Their roles in DD and back pain remain unclear. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
-
Muscle Weakness
Cutting back on activity because of temporary pain can lead to muscle weakness, which can make things worse. — Keep up a regular program of “core” exercises because those middle-of-the-body muscles are the ones that support your lower spine. — Stay limber [mercurynews.com]
Cutting back on activity because of temporary pain can lead to muscle weakness, which can make things worse. • Keep up a regular program of “core” exercises because those middle-of-the-body muscles are the ones that support your lower spine. • Stay limber [kansas.com]
Back pain complicated by neurological symptoms, such as loss of reflexes, localized muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, and other signs of progressive nerve damage, may be an indication of massive herniation of an intervertebral disk. [sciencebasedmedicine.org]
New annular tears can cause severe pain, lower back muscle weakness from pain inhibition and the inability to stand upright. Interestingly, many individuals will develop these tears and have no lower back pain while some patients are incapacitated. [neckandback.com]
EMG assesses the electrical activity in a muscle and can detect if muscle weakness results from a problem with the nerves that control the muscles. [ninds.nih.gov]
-
Knee Pain
She underwent an aggressive 6-month training program with some friends. 2 months before the race, she experienced low back pain, knee pain and occasional numbness in the right foot. [backpain-help.com]
Other studies, like this well-designed randomized control trial of people with knee pain, have similar conclusions: Acetaminophen doesn't perform as well as ibuprofen, and it's linked to higher rates of liver problems. [vox.com]
Any imbalances from these muscles lead to disc bulge, nerve impingement, back spasms, guarding, muscle strain, muscle fatigue, excessive pelvic tilt, hip & knee pain and more. [lowbackpainprogram.com]
Sciatica can also cause knee pain, hip pain, and foot pain. Often there is muscle spasm in the low back or leg, as well. Sciatica pain is usually worse with both prolonged sitting and standing. [emedicinehealth.com]
-
Musculoskeletal Pain
Musculoskeletal pain is an extremely frequent symptom. In fact, the EPIDOR study showed that pain is undoubtedly the biggest symptom in rheumatology consultations. [sciencedaily.com]
pain; growth and physical; lifestyle and social; backpack; postural; psychological; and environmental factors. [en.wikipedia.org]
The influence of socioeconomic status on the reporting of regional and widespread musculoskeletal pain: results from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study. Ann Rheum Dis 2009;68:1591–5. [42]. Maggi S, Irwin LJ, Siddiqi A, Hertzman C. [journals.lww.com]
-
Mid Back Pain
Mid-back pain can have several causes. (Image: Jay_Zynism/iStock/Getty Images) Many reasons exist for mid-back pain, ranging from mild to severe. [livestrong.com]
Psychiatrical
-
Suggestibility
In the March issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, Zachariah Isaac, a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, offers suggestions aimed at making sure that doesn’t happen. His list: — Don’t baby your aching back. [mercurynews.com]
I found a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggests that for those people without serious back issues and only occasional pain, that sleeping on the floor helped with aches and pains. [drsnooze.com]
In the March issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, Zachariah Isaac, a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, offers suggestions aimed at making sure that doesn’t happen. His list: • Don’t baby your aching back. [kansas.com]
A study led by Catalan researchers suggests that 40% of adolescents have low back pain at least once a month. However, the real effect of this pain is minimal in 90% of cases. [sciencedaily.com]
If nothing else works – and the passing of time has the most evidence going for it – the ACP suggests non-steroidal anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen. [theguardian.com]
-
Distractibility
The exercises are clearly illustrated, and there are countless charts (including a list of 148 distractions to keep you from thinking about food). As with any such program, the key is sticking with it. [kansas.com]
First, I can foil its plots by refusing to fall for its distraction-by-pain strategy. [pgbovine.net]
Returning to work often helps to relieve pain by getting back to a normal pattern of activity and providing a distraction from the pain. [patient.info]
Neurologic
-
Neck Stiffness
Unlike the dull ache of sitting too long at a computer or the gradual neck stiffness from too much driving, the cause of a sudden sharp pain in your back (also known as acute back pain) is not always obvious. [everydayhealth.com]
Workup
At this point, a medical workup may be considered, and is advisable if the pain is severe and limits one’s ability to participate in activities of daily living, sleeping, and working. Chronic back pain. [spine-health.com]
However, it is also important to recognize atypical presentations of neoplasia, such as a painless neurologic deficit, which should prompt an urgent workup. [mdedge.com]
X-Ray
-
Schmorl's Nodes
Endplate erosion lesions were more strongly associated with adjacent DD than Schmorl's nodes. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Treatment
Treatment, however, is impractical for many physicians to implement during office visits, and there are relatively few providers for NLBP treatment that follow national pain control guidelines. [clinicaltrials.gov]
Pain treatment in Spain Almost all patients who visit a rheumatologist have some type of pain. This was the data presented at the 2nd Symposium on Pain of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, held on February 21 in Huelva. [sciencedaily.com]
What the ACP stresses is that most people with back pain get better, regardless of treatment. Doctors should therefore avoid any tests and treatments that could cause harm. [theguardian.com]
Typical treatments prescribed for acute and chronic pain include pain killers, muscle relaxers and physical therapy; but while these treatments may temporarily alleviate symptoms, they don’t treat the underlying cause of the pain. [ahnclinic.org]
The result could be any of the following treatments, all of which are proven to provide at least some relief: Physical therapy Stronger drug treatment Spinal manipulation Injections of cortisone or a local anesthetic There are new treatments designed [secondopinion-tv.org]
Prognosis
OBJECTIVES: To study the influence of healthy lifestyle behaviour on the prognosis of occasional low back pain among men and women in a general population. DESIGN: Cohort study with a 4-year follow-up. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
The aim of this study was to explore the influence of HLB on the prognosis of occasional LBP among men and women in a general population, hypothesising that HLB can improve the prognosis. [bmjopen.bmj.com]
“Many studies provide good evidence for the prognosis of acute low back pain,” the authors explain. “Relatively few provide good evidence for the prognosis of chronic low back pain.” [painscience.com]
The prognosis for complete recovery is excellent. Most people with acute mechanical back pain respond very rapidly to treatment; 90 percent of people with acute low back pain are symptom-free in one to two weeks. [my.clevelandclinic.org]
What Is the Prognosis of Sciatica? While sciatica can be very painful, most of the time, the pain associated with sciatica goes away in days to weeks. Chronic pain may affect a small number of people, leading to some disability. [emedicinehealth.com]
Epidemiology
Epidemiology of low back pain in children and adolescents. Arch Dis Child 2005;90:312–16. [28]. Jones GT, Watson KD, Silman AJ, Symmons DPM, Macfarlane GJ. [journals.lww.com]
Prevention
Generally, it is recommended to stick to an exercise program, including strength training and stretching for all muscle groups as effective prevention against back pain. [elastoplast.com.au]
Understanding why we develop back pain is the key to managing this pain and preventing recurrences. [sandymountphysiotherapy.com]
So if you need treatment more than two or three times a week, consider preventive medications. Migraine prevention. Some people can prevent migraines simply by avoiding triggers. Others do well with prompt therapy for occasional attacks. [health.harvard.edu]
Dynamic sitting, i.e. moving frequently during work, is the right approach to prevent lower back pain. Also, read our article on Office comfort. Be pro-active about your back! [int.hansaplast.com]
The best way to prevent back pain is to know if you are at risk. [onhealth.com]