Types of Back Pain and What They Mean?
A healthy spine, one that is in tip-top condition is very important if one is to go about with their everyday routine and activities smoothly. This is particularly important when it comes to mobility, moving around as well as lifting and carrying things. That is probably why, of all the types of pain one can experience, back pain is the one that most people would rather avoid if they could. Back pain can be caused by a number of things, from injuries to them being a sign of much more serious underlying issues. Some types of back pain are to be taken seriously, while others, such as the type of back pain that comes with pregnancy, are not what one would term as medical emergencies. Some of the causes of back pain out there include heavy falls especially from high distances, high velocity impacts when taking part in contact sports, when one suffers an accident such as car accidents, motorcycle accidents among others, as well as back sprains and strains due to over stretching of back muscles. Awkward sleeping or sitting positions may also lead to one suffering from some level of back pain. Given that back pain can be caused by a number of causes and factors, it is important to know the different types of back pain and what they mean; something that this article will look to do.
There are broadly, three types of back pain one can experience, all of which can be judged according to how long the pain and symptoms last. One of these types of back pain is acute back pain. This is usually short-term pain and can last anywhere between a day and about four weeks. Acute back pain is usually due to a specific injury or event that triggered it. This can be either from a heavy fall, lifting and carrying heavy materials such as boxes or sacks among other reasons. As is discussed over at frontlineer.com by the subject matter experts over there, acute back pain, like with any type of acute pain, normally goes away once the underlying problem that triggered the pain is treated or dealt with. For acute back pain, once the swelling in the back muscles goes down, or the damage in the muscles heals, then the pain will most likely go away. Most cases, using the R.I.C.E technique helps resolve acute back pain, however if the pain is severe, you may want to visit a doctor for further evaluation, especially if the pain is too much and it is making it difficult for you to carry on with your normal everyday activities.
The next type of back pain is subacute back pain, which lasts a bit longer than acute back pain, that is, anywhere from four to twelve weeks. If you are suffering from subacute back pain, it means you should head over and see a doctor so that they can determine whether there is an underlying problem behind the back pain and that it can be resolve or if one is suffering from chronic back pain. That takes us nicely to the third type of back pain, which as has been mentioned, is chronic back pain. This sort of pain, as has been covered in detail over at frontlineer.com, lasts longer than twelve weeks. The severity also usually varies from case to case, where for other cases the pain may be a constant dull ache, other cases it may be a matter of a series of flare ups, while in other cases the pain may be stabbing and severe. Chronic pain may be debilitating and have a great impact on your psychological wellbeing if left untreated. However, it is usually difficult to pinpoint the exact source of chronic back pain, and even when the source is traced, as say an injury to the back, the pain may still persist even after the injury heals. There are even times when chronic back pain cannot be traced to any obvious source or origin. In most cases dealing with chronic back pain involves managing its symptoms and pain.
Speaking of symptoms, most of the time back pain symptoms can tell you the cause behind the pain. For example, if you are experiencing lower back spasms, which are painful contractions of the lower back muscles, it could be due to sudden strain on a weak back or repetitive motions like the pain experienced by baseball players due to repetitive swinging of a bat. Back spasms can also indicate a more serious issue such as a herniated disk, facet joint osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis or even degenerative disk disease. If you are experiencing pain that starts in the lower back up to the buttocks and legs then it could indicate sciatica, which is a condition where there is something pressing on the sciatic nerve which runs from the spine to the leg, as is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com. Sciatica can be due to a cyst, tumor, herniated disk, spinal stenosis, degenerative disk disease among other causes. If you are also experiencing back pain that moves and has no clear source then it may indicate that the problem may not necessarily lie in your back, and that this may be what is referred to as referred pain. This occurs when your brain is unable to distinguish where the pain signals from your body are coming from. In this instance, back pain may mean that you are suffering from either kidney stones, prostate cancer, gallstones, an enlarged prostate among other conditions.
The above are the different types of back pain and what each of them may mean, with more on this and other topics to be found over at frontlineer.com.
