| Low back pain is one of the most common reasons | | | | notice the affected leg is weak and have foot drop |
| for visiting a primary care physician. People may | | | | or the inability to extend the great toe. Although pain |
| experience back pain after lifting heavy objects, | | | | caused by a pinched sciatic nerve (sciatica) can be |
| twisting and turning their backs during exercise or | | | | very painful and debilitating, there is no risk of |
| household chores, or after a period of inactivity. This | | | | permanent nerve damage or paralysis. Sciatica is |
| article discusses the possible causes and treatments | | | | treated with physical therapy, massage, |
| for many sources of lower back pain. Low back pain | | | | anti-inflammatories and manipulative treatments. |
| is one of the most common reasons for visiting a | | | | A herniated disk or narrowed spinal column (spinal |
| primary care physician. People may experience back | | | | stenosis) can also cause low back pain. The pain is |
| pain after lifting heavy objects, twisting and turning | | | | achy or sharp and can worsen suddenly if nerves are |
| their backs during exercise or household chores, or | | | | compressed, leading to the symptoms discussed |
| after a period of inactivity. Acute low back pain is | | | | above. A primary difference between these |
| often caused by muscle inflammation and spasm and | | | | conditions is that the pain from a bulging disk is made |
| may start suddenly or increase gradually over time. It | | | | worse from bending forward and decreased by |
| may occur in the center of the low back or next to | | | | leaning backward. The opposite is true for spinal |
| the spine on either side. The pain from muscle strain | | | | stenosis pain. The pain from both of these conditions |
| and spasm is often achy and crampy with periods of | | | | gets better with laying down. Thee pain caused from |
| sharpness that occur because of "stressing" the | | | | sciatica is usually is not relieved by laying down (it |
| involved muscle. Laying down usually relieves the pain. | | | | may even get worse). The development of sudden |
| The pain is often accompanied by stiffness when | | | | leg weakness, lack of sensation in the pelvic area and |
| moving the lower back and very tender muscles. It | | | | involuntary leakage of urine or stool are signs of |
| will usually get better with regular use of rest, heat, | | | | cauda equina syndrome. The cauda equina is a "tail" |
| massage and/or anti-inflammatories and/or muscle | | | | of nerves at the end of the spinal cord. If these |
| relaxants for two to four weeks. Moist heat applied | | | | nerves are pinched, it produces the cauda equina |
| for 20 minutes three to four times daily and taking | | | | syndrome. In addition to the conservative treatments |
| 200 to 800 mg per day of ibuprofen helps relieve the | | | | for a pinched nerve, surgery may be an option to |
| contracted and inflamed muscles. People can hasten | | | | reduce the impingement by removing the disk or |
| recovery by continuing to be as active as tolerated | | | | fusing the vertebrae to widen the spinal column. |
| and not to lift heavy objects or move in ways that | | | | Other non-muscular and non-neurologic causes of |
| aggravate the pain. | | | | back pain are infection and cancer. Warning signs that |
| Low back pain which lasts more than 6 weeks and | | | | these conditions may be a cause of acute or chronic |
| or begins to change in character needs to be | | | | low back are fever, chills, lack of improvement with |
| evaluated by a physician. If the pain becomes sharp | | | | regular use of anti-inflammatories and exercise, and |
| and begins to radiate into the buttocks or down the | | | | pain that worsens with laying on the back. It is |
| legs, a nerve may be pinched. The most common | | | | important to inform a physician about these |
| nerve affected by muscular spasm, spinal stenosis or | | | | symptoms so that blood tests and imaging studies |
| a herniated disk is the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve | | | | can be ordered to diagnose and treat these |
| is a combination of nerve roots which come from the | | | | conditions before complications arise. |
| lower spinal cord (L4-S3) and form the largest nerve | | | | The injury associated with low back pain can be |
| in the body. When a combination of the nerve roots | | | | prevented by regular exercise (such as walking and |
| or the whole nerve is pinched, one experiences pain, | | | | low back exercises), maintenance of a healthy body |
| tingling or numbness in the buttock or the backside | | | | weight and using correct body mechanics when lifting |
| of the leg past the knee to the foot. One may | | | | heavy objects. |