Most people either resort to wrong exercises or take painkillers without finding the correct reason for their problem. This may aggravate the condition. Consult a specialist who will diagnose and treat accordingly, writes Dr Shankar Acharya
A majority of back pain cases fail to get our undivided attention until we bend down to pick something up or stretch our arms upward to catch a thing. Don’t worry this happens to most of us. Yes, you got it right. Troublesome back pain keeps you home from work and interferes with your daily routine activities, recreation, and exercise.
A study suggests that low back pain should be treated at an early stage because most of the severe cases are a result of the slow progression of acute pain. Due to lack of awareness about low back pain among the general population, many people do not even visit doctors, rather they try to treat the condition either via traditional measures or they self-medicate using OTC medication.
Depending on the symptoms and severity of low back pain, it is divided into three types:
Acute low back pain: Pain lasts less than six weeks.
Sub-chronic low back pain: Pain lasts for six to 12 weeks.
Chronic low back pain: Pain lasts more than 12 weeks.
Since the causes can be as many as structures involved in its arrangement, accurate diagnosis is important. low back pain is not a specific disease but caused by many underlying problems of varying levels of seriousness. The majority of low back pain cases do not have a clear cause. But it is believed to be the result of non-serious muscle or skeletal issues, such as sprains or strains. low back pain affects around 80 per cent of people worldwide.
Usually, the pain develops after movements that involve lifting, twisting or forward-bending. The alarming symptoms of low back pain may start soon after the movements or appear when you wake up the following morning. The severity of symptoms may fall anywhere on a scale of mild to extreme. But we happen to take it for granted for a very long period and within this period it escalates into a full-scale severe pain.
low back pain has become a common disability among a large part of the population. It can be managed in the best possible way by having a clear understanding of three main points: Why it occurs, how it occurs and when it occurs. If you have answers to these three questions, it becomes much easier to start with the treatment of the unmanageable pain.
Why it occurs can have two reasons: Specific and non-specific. Specific causes account for less than 20 per cent of the cases of back pain, hence the probability that a particular case of low back pain has a specific cause is as low as 0.2 per cent. A minority of cases result from physical causes. Trauma to the back caused by a vehicular crash among young people or osteoporosis with fractures among older people etc. Non-specific causes account for a much greater percentage of low back pain cases.
How it occurs depends on the specificity and non-specificity of the cause. When it occurs, points straight towards the bunch of risk factors listed below that drive you closer to getting low back pain.
MANIFESTATIONS
RISK FACTORS
WHAT CAUSES THEMIJ
WHY THE NEED TO TREATIJ
Many people try to look for symptoms and treatment on the internet and this may further complicate the issue. They then either resort to some wrong exercises or take some painkillers without finding the correct reason for their problem. This may aggravate the condition. Even if it gives relief for some time, it becomes worse in the time to come. As the cause can be varied, one should consult a doctor who will diagnose it and treat it accordingly. Persistent and disabling low back pain indicates the need for a good diagnosis. Hence, don’t wait for too long.
MANAGING THE PAIN
You should make no delay in visiting your doctor if symptoms don’t get easy on you. Persistent pain makes one cranky, causes anxiety and one may even lose working days. So, consult a pain specialist for relief from pain; do not self-medicate and suffer silently.
The writer is an Orthopedic and Spine Surgeon, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi