What Should I Know About Low Back Pain? | Dr Zafer Kansas City

Pain in the lower back or low back pain is a common concern, affecting up to 80% of Americans at some point in their lifetime. Many will have more than one episode. Low back pain is not a specific disease, rather it is a symptom that may occur from a variety of different processes. In up to 85% of people with low back pain, despite a thorough medical examination, no specific cause of the pain can be identified.

What causes low back pain?

Back pain can have many underlying reasons, but often no specific cause will be found and the pain will stop. This chapter will review many of the causes of back pain and proper evaluation and diagnosis. Please be sure to discuss your individual symptoms as well as the suggested treatments with your health-care professional to determine the appropriate diagnostic and treatment plan for your circumstances.

• Low back pain is second only to the common cold as a cause of lost days at work. It is also one of the most common reasons to visit a doctor's office or a hospital's emergency department. It is the second most common neurologic complaint in the United States, second only to headache.

• For most people, even those with nerve root irritation, their symptoms will improve within two months no matter what treatment is used, even if no treatment is given.

• Doctors usually refer to back pain as acute if it has been present for less than a month and chronic if it lasts for a longer period of time.

Low Back Pain Symptoms and Signs

Pain in the lumbosacral area (lower part of the back) is the primary symptom of low back pain.

• The pain may radiate down the front, side, or back of your leg, or it may be confined to the low back.

• The pain may become worse with activity.

• Occasionally, the pain may be worse at night or with prolonged sitting such as on a long car trip.

• You may have numbness or weakness in the part of the leg that receives its nerve supply from a compressed nerve.
• This can cause an inability to plantarflex the foot. This means you would be unable to stand on your toes or bring your foot downward. This occurs when the first sacral nerve is compressed or injured.

• Another example would be the inability to raise your big toe upward. This results when the fifth lumbar nerve is compromised.

Low Back Pain Causes

Back pain is a symptom. Common causes of back pain involve disease or injury to the muscles, bones, and/or nerves of the spine. Pain arising from abnormalities of organs within the abdomen, pelvis, or chest may also be felt in the back. This is called referred pain. Many disorders within the abdomen, such as appendicitis, aneurysms, kidney diseases, kidney infection, bladder infections, pelvic infections, and ovarian disorders, among others, can cause pain referred to the back. Normal pregnancy can cause back pain in many ways, including stretching ligaments within the pelvis, irritating nerves, and straining the low back. Your doctor will have this in mind when evaluating your pain.