Constant Aching Dull Pain In The Lower Back

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Constant aching dull pain in the lower back

Content:

• Pain due to diseases of the spine
• Diagnostics
• Causes of secondary pain
• Pain treatment

Constant pulling back pain is a symptom of many diseases, both of the spine and joints, and of internal organs. The human spine carries a large load, the bulk of which falls on the lower back. This part of the spinal column is forced to cope with body weight, therefore, it is most often affected. In addition, the intervertebral discs must spring with each step; they can easily be damaged when lifting weights and bending the body forward.

Types of dull back pain:

• Primary low back pain indicates a disease of the spine: changes in the joints, intervertebral discs, ligaments or muscles.
• Secondary pain is associated with spinal injuries, tumors, scoliosis, infection, or diseases of the internal organs.

Pain due to diseases of the spine

Back pain affects many people who lead a sedentary lifestyle and spend a long time in a sitting position. Low back pain is most often associated with damage to the vertebrae, intervertebral disc, pinched nerve, or inflammation of the back muscles.

One should not think that the occurrence of discomfort in the lumbar region is a consequence of hypothermia or an uncomfortable position of the body during sleep. Pain syndrome is just the tip of the iceberg. It is necessary to look for the existing pathology of the spine and treat the disease. Otherwise, you run the risk of starting the disease, then aching lower back pain will return again.

The causes of primary aching pain can be the following diseases:

• Osteochondrosis is the most common pathology. The disease is characterized by degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs, which eventually lose moisture and flatten. This provokes close contact of the vertebral bodies with each other, which can be deformed.
• Herniated disc - protrusion of cartilage tissue outside the spinal column. With this pathology, pain can gradually increase, give to the leg or back of the thigh.
• Spondylolisthesis - displacement of the vertebral bodies relative to each other;
• Spondylosis is the formation of spiny growths along the edges of the vertebrae that limit their mobility. Over time, due to these overlays, the spinal canal narrows and the nerve bundles are squeezed, which is accompanied by muscle weakness, numbness of the limbs.

In addition to constant aching pain in the lower back, other symptoms may indicate osteochondrosis of the spine:

• Numbness of the limbs;
• dizziness;
• feeling of "goose bumps" on the skin;
• noise in ears;
• loss of skin sensitivity;
• irradiation of pain to the thigh, buttocks, back of the leg or groin;
• decreased potency in men;
• stiffness and muscle tension in the lumbar region.

Diagnostics

A visit to a competent specialist vertebrologist helps to identify the existing pathology and distinguish osteochondrosis from other diseases. Already at the first stage, by visual examination and palpation, the doctor is able to establish the deformation of the spine, the oblique position of the pelvis and increased tension of the spinal muscles, as well as get an idea of the mobility of the spine.

With hernias, injuries, the presence or absence of sensitivity, weakness or muscle atrophy is determined. Reflexes are checked, which may decrease in some pathologies.

Sometimes additional research methods are required - tomography, X-ray or MRI. In order not to miss the pathology of internal organs, blood and urine tests are prescribed, and in some cases a biopsy may be required.

Causes of secondary pain

Among women

Women more often than men suffer from pain in the lower back, and this is due to childbirth. During pregnancy, a woman's spine is under serious stress due to the increased body weight, displacement of the center of gravity, relaxation of muscles and ligaments resulting from hormonal changes. Increasing back pain can be a harbinger of an imminent birth.

Many women complain that "pulls the lower back" in the first days of menstruation, most often the reason is a change in hormonal levels, the accumulation of fluid in the tissues, muscle contractions of the uterus. If there is a physiological deviation of the uterus back, a woman often suffers from a pulling back pain during menstruation.

Diseases of the female genital area can be manifested by dull aching pain in the lower back. If pain syndrome is constantly present, it is necessary to exclude adnexitis, fibroids, endometriosis, genital infections, ectopic pregnancy.

Be sure to see your doctor in the following cases:

• Vaginal bleeding is profuse or continues for a long time;
• there was discomfort in the genital area - itching, discharge of an unusual color and odor;
• increased body temperature, chills, aching joints;
• lower back pain gradually gets worse and does not go away.

In men

Men are less likely to suffer from persistent lumbar pain than women or the elderly. But if she does appear, men experience severe stress. The pain radiates to the groin, genitals, lower abdomen or leg.

The reason is often prostatitis or prostatic hyperplasia, a urologist will help to make the correct diagnosis. Most often, other symptoms appear: difficulty urinating, urine flow occurs in a weak intermittent stream, and sexual weakness develops.

However, aching pain can be a sign of malignant diseases, so you should not delay visiting a doctor.

After injury

Any falls, bruises, blows to the back can have long-term consequences. Sometimes the result of a blow (dull aching pain in the lumbar region) appears after some time - after a few months or even after a few years, when the person has already forgotten about the injury. A common type of injury in which the lower back is injured is a jump or fall from a height with landing on his feet. This area is affected not only by body weight, but also by the force of the impact.

The consequences of trauma are contusion, dislocation or fracture of the spine. In addition to back pain, neurological disorders associated with nerve entrapment are observed - a disorder of sensitivity, a decrease in muscle strength and reflexes. A prolonged spasm of the paravertebral muscles may occur, which shorten over time, their fibers are replaced by connective tissue.

The sooner the trauma treatment is started, the more chances for full restoration of vertebral functions.

Spinal pain in the morning

In some people, more often middle and elderly people, a dull aching back pain appears in the morning hours. And it is connected not with an overload of the spine, but, on the contrary, with a long stay in bed. The intervertebral discs absorb fluid and slightly increase in volume. After an overnight recovery, they again experience their body weight, flatten and press on the nerve endings, which is manifested by mild pain in the lumbar region in the morning.

After intense physical activity

People who work out intensively in the gym often complain of pain in the lumbar region, which are not sharp. Soreness worsens after turning the body, bending and other movements. Most often, their appearance was preceded by a microtrauma of the spine, which is the result of severe physical overload. Excessive zeal in the gym can result in sprains or sprains in the lumbar region, but this pain subsides rather quickly.

Inflammation of the kidneys and urinary tract

Sometimes diseases of the urinary organs are manifested only by a pulling mild pain in the lumbar region, and without some tests it is quite difficult to make a diagnosis. Pyelonephritis or cystitis is indicated by temperature jumps, chills, general intoxication. Pain in the lumbar region is often one-sided, it intensifies after tapping on the back.

It is possible to suspect diseases of the urinary organs by the appearance of frequent or painful urination, false desires, increased nocturnal urine output, the release of turbid urine with flakes and an unpleasant odor. In the analyzes, a large number of leukocytes, bacteria, protein or erythrocytes are found.

Urolithiasis disease

The disease begins, as a rule, with an attack of renal colic - a sharp pain on the right or left of the spine. There is a blockage of the urinary tract with a stone, the passage of urine is disturbed, as a result of which it accumulates in the kidneys.

Sometimes a person is unaware of the presence of urolithiasis, and only after jogging, traveling in transport, lifting weights and other physical activity, an acute attack of the disease develops. After the separation of calculi with urine, relief comes.

Digestive system diseases

Inflammatory pathology of internal organs - the pancreas, intestines, gallbladder can be felt by prolonged dull pain in the lower back. As a rule, other symptoms are also manifested - abdominal pain, bloating and heaviness after eating, stool disturbances, belching, heartburn. The accumulation of gas in the intestines is characterized by diffuse soreness in the abdomen, as well as in the lower back.

Tumor processes

The cause of pain can be metastases that have penetrated into bone tissue from other organs - lungs, thyroid gland, prostate, mammary glands. There are also primary tumor processes that initially develop in the tissues of the spinal column - the spinal cord, its membranes or outgoing nerve bundles.

Pain in cancer pathology grows gradually, starting with a slight soreness, it progresses and becomes quite intense. Pain sensations can be localized along the length of the entire spine or only on a segment of the lumbosacral region, given to the leg and hip, accompanied by impaired sensitivity and muscle weakness. If we add to this the depression, weakness, weight loss of patients, then one should resort to X-ray examination or MRI.

Another malignant lesion of the spine and other bones is myeloma. This is a disease that can proceed for a long time without severe symptoms. A tumor clone of cells settles in the bone marrow, and further destruction of the bones and tissues of the vertebrae occurs with the occurrence of pathological fractures.

Bechterew's disease

Another name is ankylosing spondylitis. This is a chronic inflammatory lesion of the joints and spine with a tendency to limit movement. The first symptoms may be nocturnal lower back pain that subside in the morning, when a person's physical activity begins. Unfortunately, the disease cannot always be detected at an early stage. When the diagnosis is made, the disease is already difficult to treat.

The disease manifests itself as mild pains in the lumbar or lumbosacral region, so a person turns to a neurologist and is treated for sciatica for a long time. The inflammatory process continues to spread and ends with immobility of the spine and such a pronounced stoop that a person can only move in a bent state.

Which doctor should i contact for persistent pain?

The following specialists will be able to establish the cause of the pain syndrome:

• Neurologist;
• Orthopedist;
• Gynecologist;
• Urologist;
• Gastroenterologist;
• Vertebrologist;
• Rheumatologist;
• Infectionist.

In case of falls and bruises of the spine, of course, you should contact the trauma center.

Pain treatment

In the arsenal of neurologists and orthopedists there are numerous methods to cope with pain in osteochondrosis. Manual therapy can bring great relief, as well as massage, reflexology, leech therapy, and physiotherapy methods. In parallel, the doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs used in tablets or in the form of injections.

As the patient's condition improves, physiotherapy exercises are started, which helps to slow down the further development of degenerative processes in the spine.

The treatment of diseases of other organs should be dealt with by an appropriate specialist.

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".