Pain in the lumbar region in men after the age of 35 is considered quite common. In such a situation, many patients smear the inflamed area with various ointments, inject themselves 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 pain in the lower back 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? Lower back pain in men appears for the following reasons:
- with the formation of a hernia in the spine;
- due to the appearance of sciatica;
- with osteoporosis;
- due to osteochondrosis;
- due to pinching of spinal nerves;
- due to the formation of a tumor in the back. This cause of the disease is also usually the result of various ailments in the lumbar region of the back.
Pain also occurs during stressful situations.
spinal herniation
Men often ignore back pain in the lumbar region. However, such ailments often lead to a hernia in the back.
In such a situation, when the lumbar disc is destroyed, a hernia appears in the back, which sometimes leads to immobilization of a person and disability.
With the formation of an intervertebral hernia, a person feels great discomfort in the lumbar region of the back (right or left), which is a consequence of damage to various sections of the spinal cord.
sciatica
What causes lower back pain in men? For example, from an ailment such as sciatica. This disease is considered a complex of pain symptoms that occur 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 the intervertebral discs.
The patient has another attack of sciatica in such situations:
- with physical stress;
- from 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, forwards, backwards;
- the patient cannot 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 lack of calcium and vitamin D;
- with an inactive sedentary lifestyle;
- by the intake of specific medications;
- with complications of various ailments;
- due to bad habits.
At first, with osteoporosis, a person suffers from low back pain. Such attacks are diagnosed by the constant nature of the pain or occur with sudden movement, sneezing, coughing, or laughing.
Osteoporosis is harmful to a person because it destroys the vertebrae from the inside. Therefore, men with such an ailment feel unpleasant ailments when leaning to the left and right.
Also, lower back pain in men is formed when walking. Therefore, the back becomes brittle, and spinal fractures occur under heavy loads.
osteochondrosis
What other causes of back pain in men are there? Pain that appears below the waist may be the result of the development of spinal osteochondrosis. With such an ailment, bones and cartilaginous vertebral tissues grow in a person, which pinch the spinal nerves and cause 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.Therefore, the back begins to hurt with a sudden movement or if a person bends over.
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. Therefore, the doctor introduces inhibitors of cell division into the patient's body, stretches the vertebrae and prescribes him to wear a corset.
In some situations, the surgeon performs back surgery. Then release the pinched nerve.
extension
With a back injury in a man, the muscles of the back are stretched. A person gets muscle strain if he lifts weights or exerts himself too physically, in a home situation or during sports activities.
To eliminate inflammation when stretching your back, you need to put a cold compress on the sore spot with any product from the freezer. Also, under the compress it is necessary to put a layer of fabric. Keep it on for about 30 minutes.
The ambulance doctors then remove the stretch from the muscles. They assess the patient's condition and prescribe a back diagnosis, while preventing the formation of more serious injuries.
The stretching of the back and lower back is 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 ailments in the lower back, which are formed when the spinal nerves are pinched. This occurs with sudden movements and exercises with weights, as well as during heavy lifting in everyday life.
In order to avoid pinched nerves, the patient should do all physical exercises with a certain technique, in particular, keeping a straight back.
With a nervous pinch in the lower back, unpleasant ailments in the legs are given.In such a situation, the patient should lie down on a warm bed.The patient should lie down in a comfortable position, in which the lumbar muscles are completely relaxed.
Also, with such an ailment, 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 attached to 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, he should seek medical help from a neurologist.
Low back pain as a symptom of a tumor
When the 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 in the lumbar spine, severe pain is formed. This occurs when the nerves become pinched after the formation of metastases.
Oncology is considered a serious disease, regardless of its location. Almost any carcinoma affects 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 main cause.This applies to tumors that form in the spinal cord.
Tumors such as spinal carcinomas develop rapidly, progress and destroy adjacent organs. Cancer cells quickly reach the spine, so you can not run your health. Even the initial stage of osteochondrosis leads to serious consequences without good treatment.
Stress
Men's life is often filled with the pursuit of success, various victories and defeats. Therefore, pain in the lower back in men often occurs due to severe fatigue or nervous tension.
A person who is under stress often slouch.Thus, the load on the lower back increases.
Therefore, such a patient needs to rest, visit a new place or change 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 lower back pain precisely because of great stress. Constant pain is formed not only in the lumbar region of the spine, but can also radiate to the groin, lower abdomen, passing to the male genital organ and legs.
Aching pain in the lower back is formed 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 makes a differentiated diagnosis for each patient.
Thus, the therapist excludes possible diseases of the internal organs and focuses on lumbar pathology.
Diagnosis
When contacting a doctor, many men complain of lower back pain, but do not understand what is wrong. Then the therapist, with the help of pain (its type), establishes the cause of the formation of a lumbar ailment and prescribes a specific treatment for the patient.
Undergoing a diagnosis of unhealthy back pain below the waist in men, the patient undergoes the following activities:
- computed tomography;
- radiography (x-ray examination);
- magnetic resonance imaging (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. Therefore, the patient performs the following actions:
- use NSAIDs (injections, tablets, ointments);
- use steroid drugs (injections, tablets);
- use means to restore joints (injections, tablets, ointments);
- use drugs that improve the metabolism of phosphorus and potassium (injections, tablets);
- use fortifying preparations, vitamin complexes;
- adjust your weight and also change the diet;
- undergo the necessary physiotherapy;
- goes for a massage;
- dedicated to physiotherapy.
With a conservative approach, alternative methods of treatment are often used: acupuncture, kinesiology and manual therapy.
Medical treatment
How can a man treat 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.
As a result, if his lower back hurts, the man applies the following ointments to the skin:
- painkillers that give an anti-inflammatory effect (menthol, lavender);
- anesthetic ointments;
- various combined preparations that are used for sprains and injuries;
- various chondroprotectors that quickly restore articular cartilage.
Also, the patient drinks such pills:
- anti-inflammatory;
- muscle relaxants;
- various corticosteroids;
- antidepressants (such as a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (prescribed only by a doctor);
- with chronic pain in the lower back, the patient takes tricyclic antidepressants;
- makes injections of vitamins of group B;
- the doctor injects the patient with a medicine consisting of several vitamins.
exercise therapy
What to do if a man's lower back hurts? Therapeutic gymnastics is considered a good prevention and therapy for spinal ailments.During the passage of exercise therapy, the patient strengthens the muscular corset of the back and corrects posture.
With ailments of the lower back, the patient performs the following exercises:
- lies on his back, alternately raises the lower limbs 15 cm and keeps his legs on the weight for a certain time;
- lies down on the shoulder blades, bends the legs at the knees at right angles and rises to a great height. After performing such an exercise, the man moves his bent legs to the left and to the right, and touches the ground with them;
- Slowly and gently tilt your body in specific directions. During such an exercise, the man does not bend his back at the level of the chest, making it even;
- gets on all fours and then immediately moves the right shin and left arm, or vice versa.
Treatment with folk remedies.
How else can you deal with lower back pain in a man? For example, he can adopt traditional medicine. When treating an ailment with folk remedies, the patient performs the following actions:
- use hot horseradish or radish compresses, saline compresses, or apply fly agaric tincture to the skin;
- rub the sore spot. A man uses vodka tinctures from burdock root or red pepper;
- wrap the lower back with a woolen belt or lie on a heating pad;
- treated with herbs - drinking decoctions or dietary supplements that restore inflamed joints and lower back;
- massage the lower back with honey and various warming agents.
Any folk remedy can be used only after diagnosis and identification of the cause of low back pain, as well as in consultation with the attending physician.
Surgery
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 has severe back pain in the lumbar region due to the pathology of the 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 every day.Therefore, he needs to follow specific prevention methods.
In the prevention of pain in the lumbar spine, men who do not move much should take short breaks to walk, bend over or stand up during work.
Don't spend all your free time on the computer. At least once a week he 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 the muscles of the spine and increases the flexibility of the spine. Therefore, exercise therapy prevents pinching of nerves and compression of blood vessels.
In addition, a man must lift heavy loads correctly, evenly distributing the load throughout the body and at the same time reducing the load on the spine.
Thus, timely prevention helps men to maintain their own health and avoid many lumbar ailments.