Causes of Lower Back and Hip Pain and Cure for Lower Back Pain and Hip Pain

In America, it is etimated that 4 out of 5 adults will experience significant lower back pain sometime during their life.  Second only to the common cold, back pain is the leading cause of absence from work in the US and the leading cause of disability in people aged 18 to 45.

According to articles in www.spine-health.com, there 5 sections in your back.  Immobile sections of fused vertebrat are the coccyx and the sacrum which are located below your waistline into the buttocks. Running from the top of the buttocks to the lower check; the lumbar spine contains five vertebrae.  Spanning from the lumbar spine to the shoulders; the thoracic spine has 12 vertebrae.  The cervical spine, 7 vertebrae, can be found in the neck. The thoracic, cervical and lumbar spines give you the flexibility to stretch, to lift, to bend, and to twist. The cervical and lumbar spines are the most flexible, and the most injury prone.

Causes of Lower Back and Hip Pain

As for the exact causes of lower back and hip pain, they are often hard to pinpoint because there are so many possibility.  There are so many different feelings of pain associated with the back.  It often takes some time to diagnose and examine for the specific cause of your pain.  Lower back pain is the most common type of back pain.  Besides car accidents or sports injuries, lower back pain can be caused by long period of time of sitting.  The back pain will extend to upper back neck shoulder pain or low back pain disc degeneration if you are constantly sitting in a poor posture.


If the muscles are overworked, or not situated properly, muscle fatigue low back pain sprain can occur easily. Ligament sprain happens when a sudden forceful movement, like car accidents, pulls a ligament and will require back strain / sprain treatment. Poor posture, or lack of proper conditioning like taking stretch breaks when sitting or lack of regular exercise, or overuse the muscle will often cause or aggravate sprains.


In addition to some of the commom factors mentioned above: poor posture, static sitting and overuse, obesity, smoking and the aging process also affect the back health. People lose much of their elasticity and strength on ligaments and muscles as they age.  Discs harden over time and over lack of nutrients.  Also, osteoarthritis can cause both lumbar and cervical back pain due to lose of muscle mass.  As people age, it is important to have regular exercise, proper diet in order to keep the back healthy.  It is equally important to quit smoking for the health of your back.

There are some degrees of arthritis in the body joints for the elders.  Older people also suffer extended degree of degenerative disc disease.  Low back pain disc degeneration might be quite insignificant for some people but for others, it could be a major cause of back pain.  When the bone wears away excessively with age, it leads to osteoporosis which is a condition generally associated with older people.  Osteoporosis also leads to back pain.

Fractures are common cause of back problem.  A bad fall, or an extreme lifting or excessive stress from simple everyday activities like holding little children could cause fracture or compression fractures. 


Between the vertebrae in our spine, there are ring-shaped discs.  These discs are soft on the inside and hard on the outside.  They are jelly-like for younger people but harden for older people.  Older people develop cracks or fissure in the discs over time.  A condition called a ruptured, slipped or herniated disk happens when tissues or materials from the disc push out from these cracks. 

Common symptoms for back pain

Symptoms vary from people to people in general.  They include pain anywhere in the back, or stiffness and strain. Some symptoms may travel through the shoulder and extend to the arm if it is a cervical spine injury.  If it is a lumbar spine injury, the symptoms may extend to the lower extremities, through the tailbones, buttocks and legs.  The pain can be stabbing pain, numbness, or tingling.

Diagnosis and Cure for Lower Back Pain

As mentioned above, a lot of time, it is not easy to sort out the causes of those symptoms.  Even for medical practitioners, sometimes, it is hard to diagnosis the causese by a professional physical exam by an orthopedist.   An X-ray will point out damage to bone tissue, such as arthritis or a fracture, but it will not assess soft tissue damage. An MRI or CT scan is, then, necessary to detect disc complications. 


A lot of time, most of back pain goes away itself or healed by a combination of rest, N-SAIDS, physical therapy and behavioral modifications like sitting in abetter ergonomic posture chairs. However, in some very serious cases, there are certain surgical procedures performed on herniated discs. Nevertheless, surgery is always used as the last option for really serious degenerative conditions.

Cold and hot therapy frequently asked or requested by doctor of chiropractic as home back pain relief tools to ease the pain and to decrease swelling. A short period of rest combined with gentle massage may ease the pain for some injuries. Losing weight will greatly reduce the strain on the back frame for people who are overweight. 

Poor posture while sitting an extended period of time is a major cause of back pain.  Fortunately, poor posture is one that can be rectified by simply choosing correct ergonomic office task chairs. To alleviate the back pain, one must keep the back properly supported.  Align the chair backrest with correct adjustment on the chair height, width, ergonomic office chairs tractor style seat pan, and the lumbar support.  To prevent accidental injuries from occurring, we need to learn the proper way to lift and to carry things to improve back problems and to maintain healthy back.


According to computer safety practices ergonomics, a physical therapist can recommend exercises that will keep the back in the proper alignment to help to strengthen the back and abdominal muscles.  It is important to sort out the causes of lower back and hip pain and other back condition and to prevent them from reoccurring in the future.  Various solutions like changing to a hard mattress for sleep, or improving your posture at work, or finding computer chairs with massage to replace the traditional chairs to improve back health can be considered.  Heat with gentle massage on the back is recommanded to promote body circulations and relax back muscle, expecially for the lumbar area where most pain happens.  For sever back problem, you need to see a chiropractor or osteopath to treat and correct the spine into its proper alignment.  Acupuncture and massage physical therapy also have provided the cure for many back pains.

Complications

There can be complications involved for your back pain.  It is very important to have the back pain properly diagnosed by the doctor.  See your health care practitioner for the back pain and have thorough examination.  Back pain can indicate conditions like an infection, ulcers, cancer, heart disease, gynecological problems, intestinal problems, bladder infection, or kidney disease.

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