Symptoms of Low Back Pain
The symptoms of low back pain can vary from a dull ache to sharp, shooting pain. You may find it difficult to sit, move, or stand up straight. If your pain is the result of an accident, injury, or trauma, it’s important to seek immediate medical attention. Other warning signs that require urgent care include fever, nausea, numbness in the legs or groin area, loss of bowel or bladder control, or if the pain disrupts your sleep.
What Causes Low Back Pain?
Lower back pain can be caused by mechanical, organic, or idiopathic factors. Mechanical pain often results from movements that injure the spine’s facet joints, discs, ligaments, muscles, or soft tissues. This can be caused by muscle strains, pinched nerves, spinal stenosis, degenerative discs, or abnormal spinal curvature. Louisiana Pain Specialisst provider Dr. Suneil (Neil) Jolly notes that lumbar facet dysfunction, which is common in older adults, is a frequent cause of low back pain.
Organic pain is linked to conditions like spinal cancer, kidney stones, arthritis, and diseases affecting blood vessels like an aortic aneurysm, as well as infections and fibromyalgia. Idiopathic pain is where the cause remains unknown. Risk factors include being overweight, living a sedentary lifestyle, or frequently lifting heavy objects at work or during physical activities.
How is Low Back Pain Treated?
For muscle strain-related pain, over-the-counter pain relievers combined with heat or cold compresses often help. Staying active, while avoiding movements that trigger pain, has been shown to improve recovery time. In contrast, bed rest can slow recovery and increase pain. Mild back pain often responds well to over-the-counter pain relievers, but if the pain is more severe, your doctor may recommend prescription medication.
In some cases, interventional treatments like epidural steroid injections or lumbar sympathetic nerve blocks may provide short-term relief. For certain conditions, such as vertebral fractures, spinal infections, tumors, or nerve compression, surgery might be necessary.