Back Pain - Medtick

Back Pain

There are two types of back pain:

Lumbago

  • This type of pain affects the back muscles i.e. cold environment or of sudden movement.

 

Sciatica

  • The spine has 24 separate bones called the vertebrae and sit on top of each other.
  • The spinal cord passes in the middle of the vertebrae and contains a lot of nerves that connects from parts of the body to your brain.
  • Between each vertebrae there are a protective pads called discs which contain a fluid like substance, they help to cushion the vertebrae when one moves around.
  • It is when one of the discs gets moved or splits and the fluid inside the disc leaks and bulge out, it can then puts pressure on a nerve causing pain.
  • The pain can develop in the damaged area and also depending what nerve is affected to those parts of the body.
  • One can have numbness and tingling from the neck, along the arms to fingers or it can also press on the sciatic nerve (a nerve which runs down the back of your body to your feet) one can get sciatic pain called sciatica.
  • It is common between the ages of 30-50 year olds with men twice as likely to get this condition compared to women.
  • It can take from four to six weeks to recover for a slipped disc (sciatica up to 12 weeks), most of the time the body will shrink back the disc hence not pressing on the nerve and easing the pain, but for this too occur one must be actively moving after a few days rest initially.

Symptoms

Does one have:

  • Pain radiating from buttocks groin/thigh?
  • Back stiffness?
  • Muscle spasm?
  • Tilt their back to one side?
  • Bad posture due to worn out shoe heals one leg shorter than the other?
  • Been standing or bending a long time?
  • Been sitting and/or driving a long time?
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