Lower back pain can be a prevalent
affliction, with millions each year going to physicians for relief. Not merely
will they seek relief, they'll want a diagnosis.
It is not often
effortless to diagnose lower back pain. Lots of physique structures can cause
it. There are muscles, ligaments, and tendons; spinal column bones; joints,
discs and nerves. Also to these structures, there may very well be underlying
health-related situations your doctor desires to evaluate.
No matter
whether you initially diagnose lower back pain your self, or leave that to your
physician, the diagnosis will will need to consider each the place and symptoms
of the discomfort. 
Step 1 - Location
The first step is always
to make a decision the place. "Where does it hurt?"
1. Axial lower back
pain: This lower back pain hurts only in the low back. Discomfort will not
travel into any other area.
2. Radicular lower back pain: This lower
back pain hurts within the low back, and also radiates down the backs on the
thighs into one or both legs.
three. Lower back pain with referred pain:
Diagnose lower back pain with referred pain if it hurts within the low back
region, and tends to radiate into the groin, buttocks, and upper thighs. The
discomfort will rarely radiate under the knee, but may appear to move about.
Step 2 - Symptoms
As soon as you diagnose lower back pain as to
location, you will look at symptoms. "How does it really feel?"
1.
Worsens with particular activities: Should you play football, for instance, the
discomfort is worse.
2. Worsens in certain positions: Probably it gets
worse if you stand for also extended. Or it truly is much more painful right
after you sit inside a vehicle.
three. Feels much better just after
rest: Resting in the activity or position generally reduces the lower back pain.
4. Deep and steady: Not a sharp muscle catch, this discomfort is
continuous and deep inside the affected places.
5. Serious: The
discomfort is excruciating, possibly a lot more so inside the calf than the
lower back.
six. Numbness and tingling: There might be "pins and
needles" inside the region.
7. Fleeting discomfort: Pain may possibly
look to come and go, leaving you unsure at instances just how it feels.
8. Achy and dull: Just like the flu, this discomfort is sore and dull,
even though from time to time intensifying.
9. Migratory: It hurts in a
single spot, then another.
Diagnosis
AXIAL: If location is ideal
described by number 1 above, and symptoms are a combination of 1, 2, and 3, you
may in all probability diagnose lower back pain as getting axial - essentially
the most typical variety.
This really is also referred to as "mechanical" lower back
pain. Various back structures can cause axial lower back pain, and it really is
hard to identify that is the lead to. Axial discomfort gets much better on its
own, and about 90% of patients recover inside six weeks.
RADICULAR: If
place is very best described by quantity 2 above, and symptoms are a mixture of
4, five, and 6, you could probably diagnose lower back pain as becoming
radicular - usually called sciatica.
This lower back pain is brought on
by compression of a lower spinal nerve, commonly the sciatica nerve that runs
from the spinal column, down the back of your thighs for the feet. Physicians
generally advocate conservative treatment for example physical therapy
exercises, medications, and possibly spinal injections, for six to eight weeks.
REFERRED: If place is ideal described by quantity three above, and
symptoms are a combination of 7, 8, and 9, you are able to likely diagnose your
pain as becoming lower back pain with referred discomfort - the least frequent
sort. This lower back pain is treated precisely the same as axial back pain and
often goes away because the difficulty resolves on its personal.
Get to
understand much more about back pain