Pain in the lumbar region in men after 35 years is considered quite common. In such a situation, many patients smear the inflamed area with various ointments, make injections and live, slowly resigning themselves to daily suffering.
However, back pain is formed for various reasons. You will not get rid of the appearance of lower back pain with injections or ointments alone.
In such a situation, the patient is diagnosed by a general practitioner, who identifies the causes of lower back ailments and prescribes specific treatment.
Causes of pain
Why does the lower back hurt in men? Low back pain in men appears for the following reasons:
- with the formation of a hernia on the spine;
- due to the occurrence of sciatica;
- with osteoporosis;
- due to osteochondrosis;
- due to pinching of the spinal nerves;
- due to the formation of tumors in the back. This cause of the disease is also often the result of various ailments of the lumbar region of the back.
Pain also occurs during stressful situations.
Spinal hernia
Men often ignore back pain in the lumbar region. However, such conditions often lead to a herniated back.
In such a situation, when the lumbar disc is destroyed, a hernia appears in the back, which sometimes leads to the immobilization of a person and his disability.
With the formation of an intervertebral hernia, a person feels severe discomfort in the lumbar region of the back (right or left), a consequence of damage to various sections of the spinal cord.
sciatica
What causes lower back pain in men? For example, from a disease such as sciatica. This disease is considered a complex of painful symptoms that arise when pinching or squeezing the roots of the spinal cord.
Such a disease does not occur as an independent disease, but as a secondary pathological process.
Such sciatica appears after the development of osteochondrosis - the destruction of intervertebral discs.
The patient has another attack of sciatica in such situations:
- with physical stress;
- due to hypothermia;
- with colds, flu;
- due to general intoxication of the body;
- due to circulatory disorders;
- with sudden or random lumbar movements.
As a result, a man has the following symptoms of lumbar sacral sciatica:
- pain of varying intensity, which is exacerbated by a sudden movement of the back, with a fall. Also, the pain syndrome increases when lifting heavy objects and other physical exercises in the lumbar region of the back.
- back pain in the lumbar region when sneezing, coughing or tension in the abdominal muscles;
- movements are inhibited when the body moves sideways, forward, backward;
- the patient is unable to stand on the toes or bend them.
Osteoporosis
If a man bends over and feels pain in his back and lower back, he most likely has osteoporosis. This disease occurs due to calcium deficiency in the tissues.
As a result, osteoporosis occurs for the following reasons:
- with a deficiency of male sex hormones - testosterone;
- due to a lack of calcium and vitamin D;
- with an inactive sedentary lifestyle;
- due to taking specific medications;
- with complications of various ailments;
- because of bad habits.
At first, with osteoporosis, a person suffers from painful lower back pain. Such attacks are diagnosed by the constant nature of pain or they occur with sudden movement, sneezing, coughing or laughing.
Osteoporosis is detrimental to a person in that it destroys the vertebrae from the inside. Therefore, men suffering from such a disease feel unpleasant ailments when tilting to the left and right.
Also, lower back pain in men is formed when walking. Thus, the back becomes fragile, and vertebral fractures occur under heavy loads.
Osteochondrosis
What are the other causes of back pain in men? Pain that appears below the waist may be the result of the development of vertebral osteochondrosis. With such a disease, vertebral bone and cartilaginous tissues grow in a person, which pinches the spinal nerves and forms pain.
Osteochondrosis often occurs in athletes with increased physical activity.
With such a disease, a man has a feeling of "stiffness" in the lumbar region, and the person cannot fully straighten his back.So, the back begins to hurt with a sudden movement or if a person bends low.
Doctors such as an orthopedist or a surgeon know how to cure osteochondrosis. In the treatment of such a disease, doctors slow down the rapid growth of cartilage tissue. So, the doctor introduces cell division inhibitors into the patient's body, stretches the vertebrae and prescribes him to wear a corset.
In some situations, the surgeon performs back surgery. Then he releases the pinched nerve.
elongation
With a back injury in a man, the back muscles are stretched. A person develops muscle fatigue if they lift weights or do too much physical exercise, in a domestic situation or during sports activities.
To eliminate inflammation when stretching the back, you need to apply a cold compress to the sore spot with any product from the freezer. In addition, under the compress it is necessary to put a layer of fabric. Keep it for about 30 minutes.
Then the stretching of the muscles is removed by the ambulance doctors. They assess the patient's condition and prescribe a diagnosis of the back, while preventing the formation of more serious injuries.
Back and lower back stretches are treated for several weeks. In such a situation, the patient must be at rest, otherwise the treatment of the lower back will be ineffective, and the pain will become chronic.
pinched nerve
Most often it is a short man who suffers from pain in the lower back, which forms when the spinal nerves are pinched. This occurs during sudden movements and exercises with weights, as well as when lifting heavy objects in everyday life.
To avoid pinched nerves, the patient should do all physical exercises with a certain technique - in particular, keep the back straight.
With a nervous pinching of the lower back, unpleasant pains are given to the legs.In such a situation, the patient should lie down on a warm bed.The patient should lie in a comfortable position - in which the lumbar muscles are completely relaxed.
Also, with such a disease, a wrapped blanket is placed under the patient's knees to relax the lower back. Then the lower back is wrapped in a thick cloth - a warming woolen belt is put on it.
If the nerve is pinched due to frost or wind, the above steps should be repeated. Also in a similar situation, you can use various warming gels. If after 2 days the man does not feel better, you should seek medical help from a neurologist.
Low back pain as a symptom of a tumor
When pain in the lower back in men is not eliminated by any medication, a malignant tumor often appears in the internal organs. When such a tumor occurs on the lumbar spine, severe pain is formed. It happens when nerves are pinched after metastases have formed.
Oncology is considered a serious disease, regardless of location. Almost all carcinomas affect any vertebral segment with metastases.
It should be noted that some tumors cause neurological symptoms that make it difficult for the doctor to identify the primary cause.This applies to tumors that form on the spinal cord.
Tumors such as spinal carcinomas grow rapidly, progress and destroy adjacent organs. Cancer cells quickly reach the spine, so you cannot manage your condition. Even the initial stage of osteochondrosis leads to serious consequences without proper treatment.
Stress
Men's lives are often filled with the pursuit of success, various victories and defeats. So, pain in the lumbar region in men often occurs due to severe fatigue or nervous tension.
A stressed person is often slouched.Thus, the load on the lower back increases.
Therefore, such a patient needs rest, visiting a new place or changing the type of work. However, the correct diagnosis is made only by a neurologist, who sees exactly what diseases of the spine a person has.
Symptoms
A person often has pain in the lower back precisely because of the enormous stress. Constant pain is formed not only in the region of the lumbar spine, but can also radiate to the groin, lower abdomen, passing to the male genital organ and legs.
Aching pain in the lower back forms in a man due to such symptoms: painful urination and impotence.
When men have lower back pain, they experience a variety of side effects. Therefore, each doctor establishes a differentiated diagnosis for each patient.
Thus, the therapist excludes possible diseases of the internal organs and focuses on lumbar pathology.
Diagnostic
When contacting a doctor, many men complain of pain in the lower back, but they do not understand what is wrong. Then the therapist, with the help of pain (his type), establishes the cause of the formation of a lumbar condition and prescribes a specific treatment for the patient.
When diagnosed with pain in an unhealthy back below the waist in men, the patient undergoes the following activities:
- computed tomography;
- radiography (x-ray examination);
- magnetic resonance tomography (MRI);
- myelography.
Treatment
After establishing the correct diagnosis, the therapist prescribes a specific treatment for the patient: conservative or surgical.
In the conservative treatment of back pain below the waist in men, the doctor prescribes the patient the use of various drugs and ointments, the passage of exercise therapy, etc. Thus, the patient performs the following actions:
- uses NSAIDs (injections, tablets, ointments);
- uses steroids (injections, tablets);
- uses means to restore the joints (injections, tablets, ointments);
- uses drugs that improve the metabolism of phosphorus and potassium (injections, tablets);
- uses fortifying preparations, vitamin complexes;
- adjusts your weight, and also changes the diet;
- undergo necessary physical therapy;
- going to get a massage;
- engaged in physical therapy.
With a conservative approach, alternative treatment methods are often used: acupuncture, kinesiology and manual therapy.
Medical treatment
How can a man care for his back in the lumbar region? When treating lower back pain, a man smears the inflamed area with various ointments.They are very effective in treating the disease at home.
The ointment relieves lower back pain, muscle tension or warms the sore spot.
Accordingly, if the lower back hurts, the man applies the following ointments to the skin:
- painkillers that give an anti-inflammatory effect (menthol, lavender);
- anesthetic ointments;
- various combination preparations used for sprains and injuries;
- various chondroprotectors that quickly restore articular cartilage.
In addition, the patient drinks such pills:
- anti-inflammatory;
- muscle relaxants;
- various corticosteroids;
- antidepressants (for example, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (prescribed only by a doctor);
- with chronic pain in the lower back, the patient drinks tricyclic antidepressants;
- injects vitamins of group B;
- the doctor injects the patient with a drug consisting of several vitamins.
exercise therapy
What if a man's lower back hurts? Therapeutic gymnastics is considered a good prevention and therapy for spinal ailments.During the transition from exercise therapy, the patient strengthens the muscle corset of the back and corrects the posture.
With ailments of the lower back, the patient performs the following exercises:
- lies on his back, alternately raises the lower limbs by 15 cm and holds his legs on the weight for some time;
- lies down on the shoulder blades, bends the legs at the knees at a right angle and rises to a great height. After performing such an exercise, the man moves his bent legs to the left and right and touches the floor with them;
- slowly and smoothly tilts the body in specific directions. During such an exercise, the man does not bend his back at the level of the chest, which makes it equal;
- gets on all fours then immediately moves the right shin and left arm, or vice versa.
Treatment with folk remedies
If not, how can you deal with lower back pain in a man? For example, you can adopt traditional medicine. When treating a disease with folk remedies, the patient performs the following actions:
- uses heated horseradish or radish compresses, saline compresses or applies fly agaric tincture to the skin;
- rub the sore spot. A man uses vodka tinctures of burdock root or red pepper;
- wraps the lower back in a woolen belt or lies on a heating pad;
- treated with herbs - drinking decoctions or dietary supplements that restore inflamed joints and lower back;
- massages the lower back with honey and various warming agents.
All folk remedies can be used only after the diagnosis and identification of the cause of low back pain, as well as in consultation with the attending physician.
Operation
Lumbar surgery is rarely performed and only if the herniated disc causes severe pain or when the disease progresses. This is followed by a long recovery of the patient.
If a man suffers from severe back pain in the lumbar region due to the pathology of internal organs, surgeons first eliminate the main source of pain.
Prevention
Since any disease is easier to prevent than a few months or years to treat, every man needs to maintain his health on a daily basis.Thus, he must follow specific prevention methods.
In the prevention of lumbar spine pain, men who don't move much should take short breaks to walk, bend, or straighten up during labor.
Don't spend all your free time in front of the computer. At least once a week you should take a walk in the park for 1-2 hours.
When sitting, a man should maintain a straight posture so that his back does not bend over time and osteochondrosis or scoliosis does not form.
Special exercise therapy strengthens spinal muscles and increases spinal flexibility. Thus, exercise therapy prevents pinching of nerves and compression of blood vessels.
In addition, a man should lift heavy loads correctly, evenly distributing the load over the whole body and at the same time reducing the load on the spine.
Thus, timely prevention helps men maintain their own health and avoid many low back pain.