Back Pain

Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the United States. The only ailment that is more common is a headache.

The nice part about lower back pain is that it will usually disappear in a few days.  After you have a minor fall or some other injury that can cause you to have a muscle pull or a ligament strain, it is very common to have some lower back pain.

Sometimes you can find pain relief with the use of antiinflammatory medicines like, ibuprofen.  The next best thing to do for the pain is rest and ice.  This should improve the pain and give relief over the next 5 to 7 days.  Believe it or not, back pain just doesn't happen to adults.  There are studies that have shown that 10 to 40% of middle and high school students do experience some form of lower back pain.

Muscle fatique and low back pain can often be very debilitating, insidious with its gradual onset or even arbitrary when a sudden occurrence happens and there is no obvious precipitating event.  The back is a very complex anatomical structure so it is difficult to diagnose.  The back is made up of bone, ligaments, muscle, tendons and a major network of neurological components.

Back pain is ubiquitous in developed countries.  With all the knowledge that we have today, and with all the medical advances, the truth is that we are uncertain as to what causes lower back pain.  You have to remember that muscle fatigue and low back pain is not a diagnosis.  What you have is a symptom of a serious underlying condition.  You can feel pain in the back even when it is from other organs.  This is one of the main causes of disability for people under age 45.  It is amazing that 80% of all Americans will suffer from back pain at one time or another in their lives.

So as you can see this is very common.  What we know is that back pain can be classified into 3 categories that are based on duration of the symptoms:

Acute back pain - this is a pain that will last anywhere from present to 6 weeks or less.
Subacute back pain - is defined as pain for 6 to 12 weeks in duration.
Chronic back pain - last longer than 12 weeks.

Some of the commom causes are:

Nerve impingement problems (pinched nerve)
herniated disc problems (slipped disc or ruptured disc)
spinal degeneration
osteoarthritis
muscular problems
sciatic back pain

MRI scans are particularly useful to assess certain conditions by providing detail of the disc (such as for degenerative disc disease, isthmic spondylolisthesis) and nerve roots (such as for herniated discs, spinal stenosis). MRI scans are also useful to rule out tumors or spinal infections. MRI scans are painless and don't require needles or dye. The MRI scan has become the most common test to look at the lumbar spine after X-rays have been taken. MRI is the preferred imaging modality in this situation.

When you are having spasms of the back, medication such as muscle relaxants are sometimes prescribed for relief and treatment.  This type of medication should not be taken for a long duration and it does have a tendency to cloud the mind.  The benefits are controversial and they have some serious side effects, such as sedation and potential dependency on the drug.

Some other applications such as heat, tens unit, back pain therapy, some gentle stretching and of course massage can help to relax the spasmodic muscles and backache.  Sometimes muscle strains (pulled muscle) are identified as a cause of chronic back pain and also muscle imbalances.  The pain from such an injury can remain as long as this muscle imbalance continues.

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Back Pain WIKI has so much information on all of the various problems associated with back pain.  Use the navigation to the left to find the topic of interest you like, then click the like to be taken to that information.  This site has most of the information you need to learn how to find out if you have back pain and also the treatment necessary to help you relieve the pain the comes with this ailment.  So, take your time and visit all the different pages that we have for you.

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