Q: I am a 35-year-old man who has had pain in my lower back for the past couple of weeks, and I’d like to know some methods for low back pain relief. Because my mother and an aunt both have arthritis, I’m also wondering if I'm developing arthritis, too.
A: It's possible, but very unlikely, that you have arthritis of the spine, but the most common cause of acute low back pain in people your age is back strain. This condition is caused by strain to the muscles or ligaments supporting the spine or a herniation of the lumbar disks (cartilage pads that cushion the vertebrae). It is not always possible to differentiate between the two causes, nor is it necessary. In the vast majority of cases, the pain improves and subsides over several weeks.
Sometimes, however, the conditions that cause acute back pain can lead to more chronic and serious problems. Clues to a different and more serious cause include: persistent pain, pain and numbness that radiate down both the legs, bothersome pain at night plus fever, weight loss and swelling of the joints. If you experience any of these, it's important you consult a doctor who can examine you carefully, X-ray your back and perform some lab tests. Possible causes of pain in these cases could include ankylosing spondylitis or an infection or tumor of the spine.
Assuming your problem is simple back strain (and unless you develop other symptoms, you can safely assume it is), the following advice can help you achieve low back pain relief:
- Try to stay active. Prolonged bed rest (more than four days) has the potential for weakening muscles and prolonging the pain.
- Exercise in moderation. Start with a few minutes of daily walking, swimming or stationary cycling and build up to 20 or 30 minutes at a stretch once pain subsides. If the exercise causes too much pain, try another. Avoid aggravating activities. Jogging, golf or tennis are out until pain subsides.
- You can continue your daily work routine if your job does not consist of strenuous manual labor.
- Use medications. Acetaminophen or an over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen can offer low back pain relief and keep you mobile. Prescription muscle relaxants, sometimes prescribed for back pain, may do little to help your pain and may cause unwanted side effects, including dizziness, drowsiness or dry mouth.
- Use hot and cold treatments. An ice pack or hot water bottle applied to your lower back can be soothing.
- Practice proper lifting techniques. Lift objects close to your body at navel level and avoid twisting, bending and reaching while lifting.
- Avoid prolonged sitting. If you work at a desk, change positions often. Placing a support at the small of your back, using armrests to help support your body weight, and reclining your chair back slightly may make sitting more comfortable.
By following this simple advice and being patient, you’ll find low back pain relief shortly – most people do.
Doyt Conn, MD, Rheumatologist
hands...I am very hyper sensitive to pain killers of any kind. What has helped me and I hope can help some of your readers, is the following..
I take Tumeric capsules for inflamation,
use cold and warm packs, when area's are especially painful. I take epsom salt soaking
baths. Exercise by walking in an indoor pool. I try to avoid night shade vegetables.
I get low leval laser treatments on my knees. I will be having the laser treatments
on my back also. This treatment has helped
me to keep me walking and WITHOUT a cane..
Keep the faith, and keep moving.
But all the time i have been taking them i still been in pain there 250mg and i just dont know what to do anymore im in agony my back pain seems to be getting worse!! thanks for your time and i hope you will get bk to me.
I've been suffering from an autoimmune disorder since I gave birth 2 years ago, and have not lost the pregnancy weight, and already had a herniated disc before pregnancy in the L4 and L5 area, and a bulging disc in my neck. So it has become excruciating, and I have moments where I feel like I can't walk, I imagine the disc in my lower back is just so much worse. So about a year ago I called a number given to me by an alternative psychiatrist for these electrical items used for depression. Anyway, the man at that number ended up telling me all about these new things called pulsed electro magnetic fields, and how it has not just helped depression, but has healed all kinds of injuries like discs, to autoimmune issues. He was trying to sell something that cost so much, I just wrote down the info, and did my own research. I found on a site where they publish study abstracts that there were some smaller less intense versions of these that were used, and that they had helped. So I thought, why not, it only costs $30. I bought it, wore it once or twice, and forgot about it. Then I was looking through the guide for a show and saw that on Dr. Oz he was going to be discussing new breakthroughs in pain relief, so I taped it and watched it the next day. Low and behold he was talking about these PEMF mats (that cost A LOT) but he ALSO talked about these little ones that I had bought for $30 online, and was saying that they are effective!!! He says they take a lot longer since they're not as intense. So as I'm taking out the one I had bought, he even mentions the brand, same brand, I was psyched! I've been wearing it ever since, and it lasts about 720 hours, and I've been wearing it like a belt around my waist. What's weird is that not only has my back been feeling better, but the aching that I get in my wrists at night? Well I took it off for my shower and left it off, and the aching came back that night. I couldn't figure out why, but then thought I'd try the belt again. I've left it on. No more aching in my wrists! It's not a miracle cure that works in one night, or even 2, but more of slowly realizing eventually things weren't hurting as much! They have a few different ones, they're called patches, but it looks like they're mainly belts (though they have one for your heel, and my husband has plantar fascitis, and he's a cynic, so I just want to put it in his shoe). I'm not easily swayed, I don't believe things because someone tells me it might work. I don't know how or if it could work for someone else, but I hope it does. I do not work for them, and don't have much time to spend online because of my active 2 year old, but I found this site, and I know pain, and if it can work for someone, I hope it does. Maybe someday they'll have the bigger ones in pain clinics so you can go in and use it for no more than a co-pay, but it'll be years before that, if it ever does happen. So good luck! I hope it's working for others out there too!
so sorry the stimulator didn't work well for you as it did for me. Maybe after fusions, it can't get to the right spots. It should be directed to multiple places such as mine: lower back, thigh front, hip, more if needed. Ever tried the Fetanyl patch? Most I used was 50mcg, down to 37.5 mcg. Also take Nucynta at bedtime.Tried Cymbalta? Didn't do much for me.
Stimulator decreased my nerve pain in thigh & back.
Thinking of you, good luck!
I've had spine problems and pain there for years which is now recognized as part of my RA. If you feel pain and loss of use issues with your neck or spine then get it checked out and don't be dismissed by anyone including a doctor saying "You probably don't have this" Make them investigate it. You have to self advocate with RA and OA but, especially RA due to so many misconceptions about what it is like to live with this disease.
Also, the advice on exercise should be taken and applied to your own situation. I don't think exercise during a flare is recommended at all and I don't think over doing it ought to be seen as a path to dealing with RA. It isn't helpful.
Self advocate and only you know what you can and cannot do!
As for pain meds, I'm no longer worried about addiction or tolerance to them. I have RA and when I'm in pain I cannot function in daily life. I accept that sometimes I'm going to have to take medications that in an optimal world I wouldn't take at all. Getting seriously worked up about not taking pain meds or taking them too much is just not worth it. Talk to a pain management specialist about this. Yes, you will build up a tolerance...that is not the same as an addiction!! Not by a long shot!! I never get a "high" from pain meds. When you take them for PAIN they don't act the same way as when people just take them for some effect other than pain relief.
Learn the difference between tolerance and addiction. If you need pain meds to live a normal life there's nothing wrong with you and don't let anyone tell you there is!
I was touched to read so many difficult cases.
Fish oil, 3 tbl. is what I take for arthritis and bromelain for inflamation.
Bromelain can be found in health food store.
I know what pain is. David from Ky and MaryLou. They have their share.
Each day I get in car and drive. I thank God for 10 things. 2. To live in a country without war. 3. To see the clouds and beautiful sky. 4. For paved roads and
stop signs and traafic lights. And on
and oon...None of us are prisoners of war
in a foreeign land aand after I mention 10 things (this vaRIES DAYY TO DAY) I pray for
American soldiers esp. those in battlefield.
yes, we suffer but our life on earth is but a pilgrimage till we geet to the other, better side. Let us continue on. Don't despair. Today, I can hardly walk straight
but I will still ggo for a drive, and get
a cup of coffee and read a book at Starbucks
Osteo arthritis, Raynauds Phenom, Hemangioma on the spine and a meningioma brain tumor. Needless to say, pain is my constant companion. My PCP is also a pain-control specialist and has been generous in my request for pain medication. But a person can only take about so much of the stuff and still function. I get a pain between my shoulder blades so severe that it ranges from feeling cold to feeling wet.
My g.mother died of osteosarcoma and my uncle of CA of the spine. Needless to say, these things come to mind with so much pain.
I've been to specialists - one told me I should consider myself lucky..alot of people would be glad to have my back..When I
went looking for x-rays, reports of what he had ordered they were not to be found..either at his office or the hospital where they were taken. Something fishy about the whole thing..a week before he was telling me I might have cancer. Then all at once there was nothing wrong? I could not be re-tested due to rules of the insurance
about repetitive tests. I cannot believe my
days on earth are supposed to be spent in such pain. I've broken my tail bone twice.
That area, too, is extremely painful. I do my own work and try to stay moving, but sometimes it hurts till I don't want to breathe. I just want sympathy as I know you all can't diagnose or treat, but I am hoping soon, I can try a better doctor and find out the causes. ML
WHAT I HAVE TO DO?YURIY.
does gaining too much weight may be probable cause of it???
Things I'm reading here are puzzling me.
I have ankylosing spondylitis and take the maximum pain med dosages I can. I would love an alternative, but c'est la vie.
If you have a concern about arthritis, you go to a doctor. Period. People on the Internet can only offer opinions NOT backed up by a medical degree and YEARS of experience!
Go to the school nurse and tell her how you are feeling. She can check your back and if she thinks theres a problem maybe she can help.
I have a little problem that I hope someone may help me with. I have some lower back pain and sometimes in my left hip aria. Then I get muscle stiffness on the same side (left) on the side of the upper butt (lower back) aria? I try to stretch it out but that does not work. I also get that same pain if I sit a lot? I can’t find anything on the internet for this type of pain. Does anyone have any ideas? Oh, Napoxen does help the pain.
Thanks,
Anybody have Hep C and arthritis that has gotten help, please let me know.
Thanks.
Lisa
it sounds like you might have fibromyalgia - have you ever heard of it? It effects your muscles, especially in your back and can really make you hurt all the time. I think it would be important to get a doctor's opinion. Even if your step-mom is right and it is how you sleep (but I don't think so either), it would be better to let the doctor rule out any other problems and make sure you are okay.
I hope you are able to see the doctor and get some answers. Both my daughter (now 19) and I have arthritis and fibromyalgia and it is important to have answers to be able to take the best care of yourself. I hope you feel better soon!
I am a very honest person, honest to a fault. I always try to do the right thing and am respectful of others. All I expect from others is the same. But, that's not the case. I have been told by more than one person that I am naive and gullable. I think I'm just to trusting and honest. I have definitely been taken advantage of more than once in my lifetime but I still trust and believe that there has to been some "good, honest, God fearing" people somewhere out there. I just want to be treated fairly; as others expect and wish to be treated. I really hurt myself; unbeknownst to me at the time. I am the type of person that when something happens, I brush it off and say I will be "ok." That's what I did when this happened; although I informed the mental health counselor who I was assisting set up for a training class. I went to training rm to get an extension cord for her and as I unplugged cord from wall socket, stood up to turn left, my left foot landed on the power strip causing me to fall backwards; basically doing the splits with my legs as well. I landed very hard on my left side. There were tables/chairs directly behind me and I didn't want to bust my head open, therefore I threw my weight to the left; landing very hard. I have limped and gimped for over a year. I've had epidurals, facet injections and take narcotics daily. I really hurt myself and now they (my ddept) doesn't want to help me. I've been here 15 yrs, worked very hard for them and as stated previously, just want to be treated fairly. Instead of doing right thing, I had to go out and get an attorney. I hate this! I am too sick to fight anyone. Plus, I should not have to. I was hurt and they should help me get well. I ended up having emergency back surgery on 9/11. The pain was horiffic. I wsa losing my mind. After the surgery, I could stand and walk again. I was elated. However, the problem still exists. My right side "blew out" due to the extreme compensation for my left side for all this time. I really thought I was not going to make it. I went to ER five times b/f I was finally seen by a neurologist. I had surgery the next day; was admitted right then placed on morphine pump.
I had some back pain b/f this fall, however, it was not at all like this; symptoms are different as well as areas of pain. As I sit here typing this, my lower back feels "cold." It's really strange. Also, I have a real bad sensitivity with my upper back thigh area. Has anyone had these type symptoms and if so, what is it? I had several neck surgeries from my auto wrecks as well. Yesterday, both neck/back pain was severe; extremely severe - all day. The only help for me is lying on hot heating pad.
Thanks for listening to me and any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I have back stiffness and pain down both legs.
My doctor's suggestion is: Continue with Aleve for pain and stiffness.
Is there no way of reversing this condition through exercise, therapy, or medicine?
Joann Boston,MA
How to find an answer to help
What can I expect from the rheumatologist?
Kindly advise
I had more problems with lower back muscle pain when I was younger, in my 30's and 40's, than I have now. I have been doing situps on an inclined bench and reverse situps three times per week, and I think strengthening the abdominal and lower back muscle groups has made me much more resistant to back aches.(Reverse situps are done while lying face-down with my upper body cantilevered over the edge of a weight bench. The upper body (approximately the portion above where my pants belt would be) is lowered and raised to horizontal while my feet are hooked under the bench.)
Of course, check with your doctor and follow the advise given.
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