Pain is a characteristic sign of many diseases. But this is a very general concept. It can be acute, pulling, throbbing, mild, aching. Different and localization of pain. It is a sure sign that something is wrong in the body. But it is not always possible for a layman to sense only the sensation of pain, which organ "signals" the problem.
Can the lungs hurt from the back? How is this symptom manifested? What diseases can he talk about? We will give answers to these and other important questions in the article.
Is self-diagnosis possible?
The lungs hurt from the back, there is no temperature. What can such a state say? To identify the cause of the symptom, it is important to consider not only the fact of its presence, but also a number of characteristics:
- Intensity of pain.
- Localization.
- The nature of the pain.
- The duration of pain.
- The connection of this symptom with other conditions is coughing, inhaling / exhaling, certain movements.
- Body temperature, cough, discharge from the respiratory tract and other symptoms.
Why is it difficult to determine the cause on your own?
Can the lungs hurt from the back? As a rule, only a doctor can answer such a question. A lay person can easily take "wandering" pain in the spine for pain in the lungs. It is also possible to easily confuse the symptoms of a pulmonary disease with the symptoms of coronary heart disease.
Therefore, in this case, self-diagnosis should not be done. If the lower back of the lungs hurts, the best solution is to see a therapist as soon as possible. He will correctly determine the cause.
The main causes of pain
Does the lung seem to hurt from the back left or right? The main causes of pain are:
- Osteochondrosis.
- Intervertebral hernia.
- Pneumonia.
- Pleurisy.
- Pulmonary tuberculosis.
- Tumor development.
- Intercostal neuralgia.
As you can see, the causes of the syndrome are more than enough. Why you should not engage in self-diagnosis and self-medication. The best choice is to see a doctor soon. After all, it’s easier to get rid of any disease when it is at the very initial stage.
Right lung pain from the back? Let us consider in more detail the main causes of this symptom.
Pneumonia, pleurisy, tuberculosis
Can the lungs hurt from the back? Many people ask this question for fear of pneumonia. Indeed, such a localization of pain primarily indicates pulmonary disease.
How do lungs hurt from the back during pneumonia? The main insidiousness of this dangerous disease is that it does not manifest itself for a long time. That is, with pneumonia, a person does not feel pain. It appears only when pleurisy or myositis joins pneumonia.
In addition to pain, the defining signs of lung disease is the following:
- Persistent fever.
- General weakness, fatigue.
- A strong, exhausting cough.
- Possible shortness of breath.
- When coughing, the lungs hurt from the back. Moreover, this is not severe pain, but only unpleasant tingling. May also be felt with a deep breath.
The doctor determines soreness just from the back by palpation (palpation). Asks the patient to take a deep breath and exhale. Here auscultation is performed (listening to the lungs). With pneumonia, a crunch is heard, a slight crackle, sounds that resemble friction.
Pleural pains are dangerous because they can indicate the onset of tuberculosis. What are the symptoms of how the lungs hurt from the back? In this case, the pain will be localized in their upper part. That is, in the back, the patient will feel it in the area of the trapezius muscle.
To diagnose pneumonia, you need a radiography. If tuberculosis is suspected, specific tests are needed to identify the causative agent of the infection.
With pneumonia, conservative complex therapy is prescribed. First of all, this is the use of antibiotic drugs with cefazolin, ampicillin, oxacillin. Antitussive drugs and medications are also prescribed that promote the dilution of sputum and its removal from the respiratory tract. This is Ambrobene, Bromhexine, Libexin.
To reduce the temperature, the patient is prescribed Aspirin, Paracetamol. If the pain syndrome is intense, then analgesics are additionally prescribed.
Oncological diseases
In what cases does the right lung hurt from the back? This may indicate a malignant neoplasm. Lung cancer is dangerous because it is asymptomatic for a long time. And the non-specialist pain that has already appeared can easily be confused with the vertebral.
Additionally, the disease manifests itself as follows:
- A protracted cough with sputum production, in which there are visible inclusions of blood (the same symptom can be observed with tuberculosis).
- Panting, shortness of breath.
- Weakness.
- Increased sweating.
- General condition worsening.
- Periodically high body temperature.
- Rapid weight loss.
Diagnosis in this case consists in taking an x-ray, biopsy, MRI, CT, bronchoscopy. According to the results of these procedures, conservative, surgical treatment is prescribed.
Muscle inflammation
Back pain at the level of the lungs can indicate inflammation of muscle tissue. The reason - in hypothermia, trauma, improper distribution of the load on the muscles. It may seem that it is the lungs that hurt. Pain syndrome is aggravated by movement. But often the pain is constant. When you click on the inflamed muscle, it feels that it is spasmodic.
Untimely treatment is fraught with weakness, and then muscle atrophy. As therapy are prescribed painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, exercise therapy and massage (after an exacerbation).
Osteochondrosis
Can the lungs hurt from the back? Often, pain localized precisely in the region of the lungs is vertebral in nature. In particular, it speaks of osteochondrosis, which affected the thoracic spine. A person feels pain due to pinched nerve endings. Its non-specialist can easily be confused with pulmonary.
How to understand that the cause is osteochondrosis? A pain attack overtakes a person with bends, lifting weights, sharp turns of the body. The pain can also become intense with a deep breath.
As a rule, the pain syndrome in this case is stopped by taking NSAIDs (that is, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). Sometimes a person just needs to lie down so that the pain goes away.
But according to the symptom alone, the specialist, of course, does not detect osteochondrosis. To make this diagnosis, the following procedures are necessary:
- Magnetic resonance imaging.
- X-ray of the spinal column.
- If necessary, computed tomography.
As for the treatment of this disease, the doctor prescribes the patient an individual integrated therapeutic regimen. As a rule, it includes anti-inflammatory drugs ("Diclofenac", "Ortofen", "Voltaren"), drugs that relieve the pain itself ("Spazmalgon", "Trigan", "Spazgan"). Relief of the patient is often helped by therapeutic massage, special physical education.
Coronary artery disease
Can the lungs hurt from the back? Such pain, localized in the thoracic spine, often indicates another problem. This is coronary heart disease (CHD). It can often be given to the area of the lungs, under the scapula and in the left hand.
Thus, not only coronary heart disease manifests itself, but also angina pectoris, as well as heart attacks and pre-infarction conditions. Therefore, such a symptom dangerous to life and health should not be ignored. Indeed, the untimely provision of qualified medical care can lead to sad consequences.
Heart problems are manifested not only by pain from the back at the level of the lungs. Additional symptoms here are as follows:
- Severe pain that does not resolve on its own.
- Pale skin.
- Increased sweating.
- Labored breathing.
- Rapid pulse.
- Anxiety, panic.
In this case, you must call an ambulance. Any delay can cost a person life.
Diagnosis of coronary heart disease is often complicated - atypical course of the disease is also observed. This is also fraught with the fact that they can be accompanied by a number of complications - arrhythmia, aneurysm, cardiogenic shock.
Neuralgia
Another reason is intercostal neuralgia. In this case, the pain syndrome can "deceive" a layman. For example, pain from the right side can give off to the left front of the chest. Or start pulsating under the left shoulder blade.
Neuralgia is determined by palpation along the nerve. At the site of inflammation, numbness and loss of sensation are possible. As a treatment, external painkillers, oral anti-inflammatory drugs and therapeutic massage are prescribed.
Diagnostics
If the right lung hurts from the back, do not think that this is a sure sign of sarcoma or pneumonia. It is important to listen to the characteristics of pain, its dependence on certain conditions.
First of all, the specialist determines the nature of the pain. This allows us to make assumptions about the diagnosis, to assess the sensitivity of the body. The doctor always asks the patient to tell about the course of the pain syndrome. Whether it intensifies when you inhale or exhale. Does pain in the neck, stomach, lower back, or chest area. Based on this, one can judge whether the cause of pain is in the lungs, or in other organs and systems.
When is it not related to the lungs?
If it is a matter of vertebral problems, then the pain will intensify with movement, straining, and even when the head is bowed. So osteochondrosis, vertebral hernias are manifested.
For pain in the lungs, a layman can take the manifestation of myositis of the spinal muscles. When probing, you can see that they are tense. At the very site of the localization of pain, a slight swelling may appear. Often it is warmer, hotter than other parts of the body. With myositis, pain can be disturbing in the morning, at night, worse with physical exertion and palpation of the inflamed area.
If the pain syndrome is caused by compression of the nerve endings, then the following may additionally be felt:
- Tingling sensation at fingertips, feeling that they are numb.
- Pallor (sometimes observed "marble" skin) of the skin.
- Muscle weakness.
- Low threshold of sensitivity of the lower extremities.
If you note this with your back pain in the lung area, then the problem is completely different. So manifests itself osteochondrosis, various hernias, spinal injuries, osteoporosis, spondylitis, curvature of the spinal column. We can talk about the development of oncological diseases - often it is the tumor that compresses the nerve endings.
As you can see, back pain from the lungs is observed with various pathologies. Therefore, self-diagnosis and self-medication can lead to sad consequences here. With such a complaint, you should contact a specialist as soon as possible.