Definition
Low back pain (LBP) is a common complaint—second only to cold and flu as a reason why patients seek care from their family doctor. It may be a limited musculoskeletal symptom or caused by a variety of diseases and disorders that affect or extend from the lumbar spine. Low back pain is sometimes accompanied by sciatica, which is pain that involves the sciatic nerve and is felt in the lower back, the buttocks, the backs and sides of the thighs, and possibly the calves. More serious causes of LBP may be accompanied by fever, night pain that awakens a person from sleep, loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness, burning urination, swelling or sharp pain.
Symptoms
Acute back pain is treated with muscle relaxantsor nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or aspirin. Applications of compresses using heat or cold also can be helpful to some patients. Patients are recommended by one source, do not worry, and to stay active. Acute LBP often resolves within a short time. Some patients may be prescribed opiod analgesics (pain relievers with codeine or codeine similars), however, statistics demonstrate no shortening of the healing period, as noted above. The use of muscle relaxants may increase risk of further damage, but they have been shown to be more effective than placebo (though no better than NSAIDS alone) in relieving acute pain. If the patient has not experienced some improvement after several weeks of treatment, the doctor will reinvestigate the cause of the pain.
Related Articles
Pain
Pain is a universal human experience. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage... More »
Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders
Previous
Copyright © 2012 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. | Yahoo! Lifestyles Network |
Terms of Service | Copyright/IP Policy | Help