Chronic back pain

Chronic back pain disturbs many people. Most often, this is why people turn to the doctor for help. Pain disrupts the habitual life of a person: prevents him from performing daily duties, interferes with his work. In addition, if the pain is constant, it negatively affects the nervous system - a person becomes irritable and nervous.

The spine plays an important role for our body, so if there are pains in the back, you should immediately consult a doctor. Pain can occur for various reasons: due to sprain of the ligaments or muscles, due to damage to the nerve fibers, due to various injuries, and also due to certain diseases. In this article, we will tell you why there is chronic back pain, what to do when it appears, and how to eliminate pain.

Back pain that arises from muscle problems

Often the cause of chronic back pain is a muscle problem. The pain can arise because the vertebral column and its site are too much compressed, as a result of this the vertebrae are squeezed to the bottom, while approaching each other. In this case, the intervertebral discs contract and lose their elasticity, small articular surfaces are too closely closed, and the edges of the vertebrae wear out or they appear bony growths, which doctors call osteophytes. Violations in the performance of muscles leads to squeezing the spine. Most often, the performance of muscles is disrupted because of a sedentary lifestyle, muscle imbalance, weakness of the peritoneum muscles and incorrect posture. Below we will discuss each of these factors in more detail.

Sedentary lifestyle

If you move little and spend a lot of time in a sitting position, this can lead to chronic back pain. If the muscles do not receive constant loads, they will lose their ability to contract and weaken. This means that the muscles will no longer be able to provide sufficient tension and will not be able to perform their functions - create a support for the spine and keep it in the right position along with other tissues. In order to keep the muscles in good shape, regular exercises should be performed regularly.

Incorrect posture

Posture is very important for our health. Any posture in which the natural bends of the spine are distorted, causes changes in the muscles, such changes become irreversible with time. During distortion of natural bends of the spine, intervertebral discs are compressed, which in the future leads to a loss of their elasticity and thinning. Muscles always work in pairs, so they change - if one muscle group relaxes, the other contract. For example, if for a long time you are stooping, the muscles of the upper back relax, while the muscles of the chest contract and remain in this state. As a result, after a while, the muscles of the chest become stronger, and the muscles of the upper back, on the contrary, weaken. There is an imbalance and the spinal column is broken - the back is rounded, and the pressure on the spine is distributed unevenly, chronic back pain occurs.

Muscular imbalance

Few of us have two hands equally well. Therefore, muscles on one side of the body are much better developed than on the other. In some cases, for example, for athletes, because of the additional efforts that are created by the more developed side of the body, the spine's structure is broken so much that when viewed from the side a clear line in the shape of the letter "C" or "S" is visible. However, even a small difference in the development of the parties has a painful effect on the condition of the spine, as well as on the state of the thoracic department. The spine may seem straight, but the pressure on the intervertebral discs and vertebrae will be uneven. After a while, the discs on the more developed side will become flattened, the small articular surfaces begin to close, and the vertebrae wear out.

Strong abdominal press is a corset that helps to keep the abdominal organs in the right position, close to the spine. In a normal state, such a corset takes on some of our weight, thereby unloading the hips and spine. But if the abdominal muscles are weakened, this results in increased load on the lumbar spine. The abdominal muscles may be weakened for various reasons: because of pregnancy, because of excessive body weight, because of a sedentary lifestyle and the like. As a result, a person may have excessive deflection in this part of the spine, the so-called lordosis, which eventually causes chronic back pain.

Back pain in various diseases

Chronic back pain can indicate the presence of any disease. Therefore, if you are concerned about persistent back pain, be sure to see a doctor to identify a possible disease. Chronic pain can occur due to: cancer, gynecological diseases, kidney infection, ankylosing spondylitis, osteomalacia, gall bladder or stomach diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, spondylolisthesis and other diseases.

Back pain that occurs due to problems with the skeleton

If chronic pain occurs due to abnormalities in the skeleton, joint and bone damage is usually caused by degenerative processes that are associated with aging or disease. The cause may be wear and tear: excessive load on the spine can also damage the joints and cause pain.

Compression of intervertebral discs

Intervertebral discs allow our spine to bend and turn in different directions. With age, the amount of liquid in the discs decreases, as a result of which the dehydrated disc loses its elasticity, as well as springiness. Loss of fluid is accelerated by several factors: prolonged stress, irregular rest, unnatural movements of the spine, uneven continuous pressure on the discs and the like.

Once the amount of moisture in the disc is reduced, the surrounding connective tissue ring becomes very brittle and eventually crackles. Through the cracks that arise, the internal gelatinous liquid begins to leak outward. Sometimes this process is painless, but most often the fluid presses on the ligament, the spinal nerve and the dura mater, which leads to the appearance of chronic pain.

What to do for chronic back pain

First of all, if you have back pain, you should consult a doctor. He will give you the right treatment: medication, massages, exercises and the like. It is also not recommended to lift weights and perform heavy physical exercises, it is not recommended to do homework, do not sit for a long time in one pose.

In order to quickly get rid of pain, watch your posture, carry out a special set of exercises, including a set of exercises to increase the flexibility of the spine, make every day walks, if you sit for long, do not forget to make frequent breaks. With severe pain, you need to try to relax. The more you relax, the less tension your spine will receive, and hence the pain will decrease.