Forms of back pain
The following illnesses affect among other things causally the spinal column range (particularly causes of chronic neck pain): Back pain of the lumbar spine is particularly frequent. These back pains, also known as low back pain, can also radiate into other areas of the body under certain circumstances. This is the case, for example, with lumboglutäalgie (radiation into the buttocks) or lumboischialgie (radiation into the leg).
Since these types of pain are characterized by repeated occurrence, they are often referred to as chronic pain disorders. As a rule, there are no neurological symptoms. Pain in the area of the back can also be a hardening of the muscles.
The following article will show you how to recognize this: What is muscle hardening?
- Vegetative pain
- Cervicalgia, cervical syndrome
- Brachialgia, dorsalgia
- Lumbago, lumbalgia
- Sciatica
- Radicular pain
- Pseudoradicular pain.
Lower back pain can be caused by a variety of factors. In diagnostics, it is crucial to distinguish the significant causes from the easier causes.
At the beginning of the diagnosis, the patient is asked about the type and duration of the pain, as well as movements that reduce or increase the pain. If the affected person describes sensory disorders in the legs in the form of numbness or tingling, quick action is required, since the causes of the described back pain are most likely to be problems with the nerves of the spine. If the patient even describes a newly occurring incontinence, it is a neurological emergency.
Imaging is of crucial importance in the diagnosis of non-treatable back pain. An X-ray of the spine can show fractures of the vertebral bodies. A magnetic resonance tomography, which can also depict soft tissue and make herniated discs visible, is a further step.
In addition to the imaging procedures, an extensive blood test can also provide information about what is causing the back pain. For example, inflammation of the vertebral bodies or intervertebral discs can be shown by increasing the inflammation values. The therapy depends on the cause of the pain.
Uncomplicated back pain, which in most cases results from postural defects, can be treated conservatively in most cases. Conservative treatment options include adequate pain therapy, which usually consists of medication, and appropriate physiotherapy, which may consist of heat or cold applications or learning certain back exercises. If the back pain cannot be controlled by the conservative treatment options and the cause is in principle operable, invasive surgery must be considered.Herniated discs can in many cases be treated conservatively, unless the pain is so severe that it cannot be controlled with medication, or neurological disorders such as numbness or paralysis as well as incontinence are already occurring.
In this case, surgical therapy must be planned and carried out immediately, as a neurological emergency can quickly develop from this situation. If neurological symptoms are present, it is already a nerve compression, which must be relieved by an operation on the spine. Herniated discs are removed and the two successive vertebral bodies are often stiffened.
If the vertebral bodies are fractured, the decisive factor is whether the fracture is stable or unstable. In most cases, stable fractures are treated conservatively with painkillers or by immobilization in the form of a corset. Unstable fractures must be operated on and stabilized with screws.
The described surgical procedures are performed in departments of neurosurgery. Minimally invasive surgical procedures using the so-called keyhole technique are often sufficient. Pain therapy for the back
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