Back Pain

Back pain is a common health problem that affects many people irrespective of gender, age and caste. However, the good news is that in most cases, it is not a very serious problem. There are some preventive measures that can be taken to relieve most of the symptoms. Surgery is needed only in rare cases.

What are the common symptoms of Back Pain?

Common symptoms of back pain are stabbing sensation, burning in the back, shooting pain or an aching in the muscles. The pain may also get radiated down to the leg that may worsen with twists, bends, walking or lifts. In most of the cases, back pain issue gets resolved with some home case and self treatment. However, you should contact a doctor if the pain:

• Persist for more than a few weeks
• Is very severe with no improvement
• Extends down to one or both the legs
• Starts causing tingling, weakness, or numbness
• Causes unexplained weight gain
• Starts causing bladder or bowel problems
• Is often accompanied by fever
• Is due to an injury or a fall

What are the common causes of back pain?

A person can develop back pain without any cause too. However, in certain extreme cases, doctors use tests to study the underlying cause of the pain that can include:

• Ligament or Muscle Strain: Spinal ligaments and back muscles can get strained due to sudden awkward movements or repeated heavy lifts. This happens when you are in poor health and constantly straining your back.
• Ruptured or bulging discs: A disk is a cushion between the spinal bones. These disks contain a soft material that can bulge or rupture, thus pressing on some nerve. However, this is a rare cause that is often diagnosed when spinal X-rays and MRI are done.
• Degenerative: In many a cases, degenerative changes affects the back of a person. If the changes affects the spine, the space around the spinal cord gets narrowed leading to spinal stenosis.
• Osteoporosis: This happens when the spinal vertebrae develops painful fractures caused by brittle and porous bones usually due to old age.

What are the risk factors associated with back pain?

Back pain can be developed by anyone. Some of the common factors that can put you at risk of developing the same are:

• Age: Increasing age makes back pain more common
• Lack of exercise: Unused and weak back muscles are more prone to back pain
• Obesity or excess weight
• Diseases like arthritis and cancer
• Improper lifts with your back instead of legs
• Psychological conditions like anxiety and depression
• Smoking

How to prevent back Pain?

Back pain can be avoided by better health profile and learning proper body mechanics. You can keep your back healthy and strong by:

• Quitting smoking: Smokers experience increased risk of lower back pain. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of having back pain.
• Maintain healthy body weight: Obesity wreaks havoc on the back. A healthy body weight keeps the back pain at bay
• Building flexibility and muscle strength: Right exercises help in strengthening the core thus building a natural and flexible corset for your back.
• Regular exercise: A regular aerobic exercise regimen helps in increasing the strength and back endurance, thus helping your muscles to function better.

Back pain is a common occurrence that can be easily avoided in most of the cases by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and taking care of the body.