Identifying Back Pain and Its Causes
The causes of limitation of motion are numerically legion. Statistically, mechanical factors account for approximately 90% primarily and is an accompanying secondary factor in many of the remaining cases. The physiology of ligamentous contracture is briefed in the preceding chapter. Sufficeth to say, strains and sprains may rent fascial tissues, but contrary to popular belief, this is seldom due to heavy lifting. Usually the patient does not know exactly when the injury occurred; it gradually became apparent over a period of time and frequently after a period of rest.
Pain supercedes movement; immobility causes more shortening and more spasm, thence more pain and a vicious cycle is initiated.
Differential Diagnosis
Remarks — It is not within the scope of this passage to detail each possible entity which could cause back pain. For the sake of brevity, general categories will be outlined and specific diseases will be listed without discussion.
Glandular deficiencies — hypoadrenalism and hypothyroidism (these cause change in muscular consistency); hypoestrinism and hypoadrenalism (results in tightening of ligaments); hypo-pituitarism; hyperparathyroidism and osteoporosis.
Systemic and infectious diseases — Arthridities, gout, malaria, syphilis, poliomyelitis, meningitis, encephalitis, tetanus, herpes-zoster, upper respiratory infection, influenza, anemias, chronic alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arteriosclerosis.
Emotional disorders — Deep seated vexations causing nervous or emotional maladjustments, conversion hysteria, compensationi-tis.
New growth — Tumors of spinal cord, meninges, vertebrae, metastatic implants, tumors of pelvic area, fat nodules, cancer of prostate, and visceral carcinomata (cancer of abdominal organs).
Visceral referred — The nephridities, cystitis, ureteritis, prostatis, pelvic inflammatory disease, broad and round ligamentous stretching, ovarian dyscrasias, pancreatitis, anal disease and infrequently referred from remainder of gastro-intestinal tract and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Mechanical (90%) — Congenital defects as, spina bifida, spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, facet or apophyseal joint abnormalities, lumbarization, sacralization or blocked (fused) vertebrae. Sciatic neuritis, bursitis, tendonitis, myofasciitis, fibrositis, coc-cydynia, traumatic sprain and strain with fascial tears and muscle spasm, osteomyelitis, pyriformis, muscle syndrome, knee pathology, foot pathology and herniated, or slipped interverte-bral disc. It is interesting to note the discrepancies of statistics in herniated disc diagnosis. Howbeit, 90% of proven disc cases respond to conservative treatment. Sacro-iliac strain as a cause of back pain is highly exaggerated; simple anatomy will discount any suggestion to the contrary.
Temperature change and moisture — Contraction of ligamentous structures results from sudden temperature changes, particularly chilling, or after sudden air drying of wet skin.
Postural defects — Instructions toward proper posture and postural habits should begin in the home and school; adolescence is particularly and important time for vigilance against poor posture habits. The body has a proper initial alignment, but also must shift to maintain erect position. If one area cannot relax normally or tighten coordinately, then its opposite acting muscle will have to guard balance movements constantly. This brings on undue fatigue of muscles and strain of connective and supportive ligaments. A few faulty posture conditions which contribute to low back pains are: over-curvature of lumbar spine (sway back), obesity with sagging abdomen, flat chest with protruding chin (stoop posture), shortened Achilles tendon and proated feet.
Therapist In This Field
Orthopedists and other M.D.s are not the only practitioners interested in low back and fascio-myositic cases. Osteopaths manipulate the spine and muscles to some good effect; furthermore, their educational background teaches them to realize their limitations. Chiropractors practice on the theory of vertebral displacement causing pain on the nerve root as it exits from the intervertebral spaces; their inherent basic medical backgrounds assures a certain amount of danger due to sins of omission and it is hard to conceive of their cure to a backache of anymore than primary muscle spasm or of psycho-genie origin.
Masseurs, naturopaths and various other cults thrive on the inadequacies of treatments by organized medicine. However, organized medicine is beginning to realize the value of physical medicine; physical therapists and even physiatrists are accepted members of medical societies and ancillary professional associations.
Jimmy Cox
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/identifying-back-pain-and-its-causes-110777.html
What else can I do to get rid of chronic back pain?
I’m more or less at my wits end. Every doctor I go to tells me that the xrays and MRI are showing nothing wrong with me and that I need to exercise.
I’m 22 years old, I shouldn’t be having chronic back pain that has no apparent cause. And at very least if it were a muscle strain I’d figure that 8 months would have been plenty of time for it to heal. I’m not in that bad of shape, I walk 2 or 3 miles a day.
I have more or less written off medication as a simple mask of the problem. The problem to me isn’t the pain, it’s whatever is causing the pain. In a way I’d rather deal with the pain until the real problem is identified and gotten rid of so it can serve as a reminder. I’m not sure my exercising is helping any and for some reason my doctors seem to think I’m making it up or they just want to perscribe me more pain killers.
Is there anything else I can do on my own to combat back pain?
Go see a reputable chiropractor
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My mother has had chronic back pain for years. It all began while she was helping my brother-in-law set up his pool with their family dog beside my mother. A man was jogging by with his dog, his dog saw the family dog and knocked my mother to the ground. Well, she had the same testing with it all being negative. She was very frustrated. However, after all these years she finally found a physical therapist who was able to remove a muscle that was trapped under her bone in her back pinching her. She has now been pain free for months with just some simple, weird looking, exercises that she completes everyday. Just a thought and I wish you luck.
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I don’t know. I’m 25 and have also been struggling with chronic back pain for a year. Your story could have been written about me. Have you tried using a TENS unit? If you discover any really good ways to combat back pain, let me know. I wish we both had answers.
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You can get rid of pain by establishing ground rules. Make a rule, no more pain. Then stick to it. Find a 12 step program like, Pain-Away.
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See a chiropractor. I am a chiropractor and I deal with these types of situations all the time. I am happy you have realized the medications are only masking the pain/problem and you need a real solution. I would recommend a chiropractor who incorporates physical therapy exercises in the treatment regimine. I would also recommend acupuncture. It is great for treating all kinds of disorders. Another suggestion is Yoga. Find a therapeutic yoga class (if you have one by you) or buy the Yoga for back care/pain video. All of these remedies are realtively safe and will help to correct the problem rather than mask it and cause future damage. Good luck!
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I’m a chiroprator/acupunctuist and I do yoga.
Exercise. Not walking, but go to the gym and lift weights. I had chronic back pain for years and now at almost 50 years old I feel better than I did at 40. I hit the gym 4 times a week about 1 1/2 hours at a time, Its fun, and chicks will dig ya
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Find a good physical therapist.
I had a similar history. I’m not sure which was more exhausting: the pain or having the doctor consider me a liar. My problem turned out to be two up-slipped hip joints and twisted pelvic bones that caused pain to show up in my back.
I spent years in pain and trying to get help from doctors. It was a physical therapist specializing in sports medicine that finally figured out what was wrong with me and fixed it.
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I had the same problem in my early 20′s. What I found that helped the most was when I stopeed letting doctors poke and prod to figure out what was wrong. Here are some tips that I picked up along the way.
If at all possible try to not sit or stand for more than 30 minutes straight. If you have to sit for extended periods of time make sure that the chair has good support in the lower back region, no chairs with the bottom part open. If you have to stand for long periods make sure that the floor is not too hard. If it is tile or cement or even cement under thin carpet consider getting a mat to put under your feet. Another option while standing is to have something in front of you that is a few inches off of the ground for you to put one foot on. It takes some of the pressure off of your back. I found that my back was really bothered when I was cooking of doing dishes, the doc told me to open a cabinet door and put one foot in the cabinet, it really helped.
Some exercises that helped were ones utelizing an exercise ball. Lay on your stomach on the ball with your toes touching the ground. Alternate raising opposite arm and leg slowly and holding it for 15 seconds ie: right arm w/ left leg and vice versa. Be sure that you raise and lower slowly to avoid pulling anything.
Last but not least if you have the means purchase a specialty bed. My husband and I both had back pain in our 20′s so we bought a sleep number bed. The first night we slept in it was the first time we woke up and were able to stand up straight instantly in years. I hope that I have helped at least a little.
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You’re correct in that you need, with your doctors, to find the reason for your problems. But I need to caution you that finding the cause isn’t;’t the same as finding a way to get rid of the problem. Some problems simply can’t be gotten rid of, but you still need to know what it is.
If you haven’t yet seen the following doctors, insist that your gp do the referrals:
rheumatologist
orthopaedic surgeon
pain doctor
You could only see a pain specialist if your pain were chronic, which means a minimum of 6 months. You qualify.
At 22, you’re not too young to have a chronic health problem of any type. The textbooks may say otherwise, but no illness reads the textbooks. Don’t allow you relative youth to get in the way of a diagnosis and don’t allow your doctors to ignore it because of your age.
Something that you have to get used to at this point is that your problem may not be curable but it could be manageable. That will mean, however, that you will always have some level of pain. But without a diagnosis, as complete diagnosis, you and your health care team can’t begin to work on finding the optimal, for you and for now, combination of management techniques. These techniques could well include pain meds, with the intention of allowing you to continue to function on a routine basis, most of the time.
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Chiropractor or medical massage therapist. I’ve tried both and have seen results.
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http://painmedsonline.net/ . No more long waits or big bills at the Dr.s office! they have a US licensed Dr. write you a free prescription and a US licensed Pharmacy ships them to you overnight via FedEx… good luck and FIGHT BACK!
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