Despite equality, or rather because of equality, it should not be forgotten that the female organism and physique differs significantly from that of men. Our article on back pain and low back pain in women should serve to point out these differences, precisely because most women today have to “stand their ground” at work.
Relationship of back pain and diseases
Often women’s back pain is misinterpreted and attributed to the lower abdominal organs. It can be extraordinarily difficult for the doctor to determine the cause. How often do you hear in general practitioners’ offices that back pain and low back pain hurt. Many women see a gynecologist (women’s doctor) for this reason alone. The doctor will always appreciate it if they come to him with their complaints before they delay or try to alleviate their suffering themselves with painkillers, rubs, inexpedient baths and the like. First and foremost, it is important to rule out serious disease processes and to determine the causes of the complaints. But gynecologists confirm that only about half of all women who complain of low back pain are abdominal patients. And what about the rest, they will ask. When back pain and low back pain occur, a medical examination must first be carried out in any case and the findings clarified, in accordance with the scientific state of our examination methods, to the extent that a promising treatment can be initiated. No organ can be considered as an entity existing by itself, at least not as far as its functions and the effect of a disease process on the rest of the body are concerned.
Back pain as a symptom
All diseases that take place in the small pelvis cause irritation of the nerves. Depending on the organ that is essentially affected, the first symptom that may appear is back pain or low back pain. This is also true for the diseases of individual intestinal sections or urinary organs, as well as for inflammatory chronically damaging or even destructive effects on the skeletal parts and the tissues of this area connected with them. Often, women misinterpret back pain and assign it to the abdominal organs. It can be extraordinarily difficult for the physician to determine the cause. In young girls who have only recently entered the workforce, back pain is sometimes erroneously attributed to a physical change. In older patients with normal gastrointestinal findings, it is usually interpreted as spondylosis, which is indeed often present without necessarily being the cause of the complaints. In general, the bony skeleton of women is less strong and powerful than that of men. The lumbar spine of the woman west a stronger curvature forward, a so-called lordosis.
Diseases with this symptom
- Obesity
- Irritable bowel
- Herniated disc
- Spinal stenosis
- Kidney stones
- Flat back
- Osteoporosis
- Sciatica
- Facet syndrome
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Renal pelvic inflammatory disease
- Angina pectoris
- Arthritis of the vertebral joints
- Vertebral blockage
- ISG syndrome
- Shingles
- Lordosis
- Pleurisy
Physique and resilience in back pain
In the case of back pain, it is important to strengthen the muscles that are weak in constitution or have become weak in later life. The bony female pelvis has a broadly tapering shape with shallow iliac spines and low pubic symphyses, creating a wide pelvic canal. This specific physique is adapted to the particular performance of women, namely pregnancies and childbirths. However, the anatomical conditions mean that women are less able to carry heavy physical loads. For this reason, pregnant women in Germany enjoy corresponding legal protection, which also extends to their use at work. Our body not only has to bear its own weight, but must also be able to withstand many loads. The lumbar region is of great importance as a support for the body when it is subjected to a wide variety of loads.The ligaments and ligaments that hold the individual bone parts together are subject to monthly changes in strength in women, particularly in the pelvic region, as a result of hormonal influences. During pregnancy, the tissue connections are particularly loosened. In the pregnant woman, the shift in the body’s center of gravity also increases the already existing spinalordosis in the lumbar region. In order to keep the body upright, the back muscles must be strongly tensed. This constant muscle overstimulation very often leads to back pain or low back pain.
Prevent back pain
Relatively often, people also complain of back pain, which must be interpreted as muscle pain after a thorough examination and assessment of the physique. Predominantly, this affects slender, delicate young girls in whom the musculature is untrained. Even activities that require a constant working posture can lead to back pain if the forced posture exceeds the capacity of the musculature. What can be done to eliminate or prevent this back pain? Each of us knows that a well-toned body has a strong developed musculature. So it is necessary to strengthen the constitutionally weak developed muscles or those that have become weak in later years of life. Gymnastic exercises and light fitness or weight training not only achieve a general strengthening of the entire body musculature, but also improve blood circulation, which in turn has a beneficial effect on the elimination of unusable or toxic metabolic products.
Sports and gymnastics against back pain
In the case of back pain, you have it in your own hands to regain your performance and well-being through changes at work and balancing exercise and sports. Therefore, you should try to strengthen especially the low-performing muscle groups. These can be abdominal muscles if they have become flabby or have been stretched by multiple births. But muscle groups of the back muscles or the pelvic floor can also be strengthened. However, if the back pain has been caused by a forced posture during work, it is precisely these tense muscle groups that need to be relieved. Here, too, properly performed health sports or compensatory gymnastics must begin. Often the success of daily sporty exercises is noticeable only after months. If the complaints persist even then, a consultation with the doctor is recommended. Particular attention must be paid to the workplace itself, which in many companies is still designed to accommodate men’s physiques. This applies to office chairs, for example. On average, women are about 7 percent smaller than men. With a non-physiological sitting posture, the feet do not reach the floor. Circulatory disorders of the thigh muscles occur and with them a number of complaints that could be avoided by simply redesigning the workplace. The same applies to the height of the desk, to the grip area of many machines, to an often inappropriate and unphysiological viewing position that constantly requires a slightly stooped forced posture, and much more.
Other causes of back pain
Although the spine is supported by ligaments and intervertebral discs, most of it is supported by muscles. Therefore, muscle overuse plays a special role. Since abdominal and back muscles are heavily used during pregnancy, it is important to train the muscles especially during this time through appropriate compensatory sports and thus counteract back pain. However, if a rectus diastasis is present, i.e. a contraction of the anterior abdominal muscles, additional orthopedic-surgical measures are necessary. Often back pain and low back pain are also caused by a sagging abdomen. Breathing normally creates a suction that involves the organs and the pelvic floor. With a sagging abdomen, the load of the abdomen remains on the pelvic floor, the back muscles are weakened and the pelvic floor is damaged, or existing damage is aggravated. Back pain is then not absent. Compensatory posture occurs, and in turn, increased lumbar spineordosis occurs. So we see that back pain can have very different causes.To a large extent, however, they are caused by a slackening of the abdominal muscles, back muscles and pelvic floor muscles or by incorrect working posture. Here, women have it in their own hands to regain their performance and well-being through changes at work and balancing exercise and sporting activity.
When should you see a doctor?
During pregnancy, back pain may become more common due to hormonal changes and the added weight of the unborn child. Occasional pain is not unnatural, but a doctor should always be consulted if the suffering is intense. Acute pain usually responds to treatment with heat, ointments or massage. If all measures do not help, there is a risk of manifestation of symptoms. Unnecessary delay of an examination makes a successful therapy more difficult as a consequence. In addition, there is the suspicion of a serious disease or malposition in case of tingling or numbness in the extremities. Functional disturbances in bladder or bowel emptying indicate an emergency. However, other reasons are often hidden behind the back pain. Constantly recurring problems in the spinal area are an important indicator for a medical clarification. An injury or narrowing of a spinal canal can permanently affect the nerves. If the mobility of those affected is considerably restricted and the pain is almost unbearable, a herniated disc may be present and requires urgent clarification. At the same time, severe pain in the back in combination with other symptoms of the disease is considered potentially dangerous. Occurrence with fever or also strong weight loss are a serious alarm signal and possibly point to an inflammatory process at the spinal column. Psychological continuous stress also strikes the spine. Persistent stress in professional life and depressive tendencies provide for an unconsciously harmful posture when sitting. Low spirits also have a considerable influence on the work of the body’s own defenses. Depression influences the perception of pain and subjectively promotes the perceived degree of stress of affected persons. A visit to the doctor for clarification and implementation of psychotherapeutic treatment is in principle appropriate in the case of a permanently low mood, even without back pain.
