Pinched nerves in the lower back can be caused by displacement of the vertebrae or severe spasm of the back muscles. Most often, such an illness affects elderly people. But pain can be experienced by those who lead a sedentary lifestyle. How to prevent the occurrence of an ailment will be discussed in the article.
Main symptoms
Pinched nerve in the lower back manifests itself in the form of periodic outbreaks of pain or sensations are constant. It all depends on the causes of the ailment. The following symptoms are distinguished:
- Burning sensation in the lumbar .
- Incorrect work of some muscle groups in the affected area.
- The patient's gait changes, it becomes more difficult to move.
- Feeling of numbness in the legs.
- Weakness.
- Limited mobility of the whole body.
- Painful flashes manifested by sudden movements, as well as coughing, laughing or sneezing.
Symptoms may vary depending on the damaged nerve. For example, the motor nerve will affect gait, while the autonomic nerve affects the functioning of internal organs. Such pain can be felt in the region of the stomach, intestines, and also manifest in the heart. Constant severe pain indicates a clamping of the sensory nerve.
Diagnoses
Compression of the nerve leads to the fact that pain will always occur. Therefore, you should immediately consult a doctor to identify the causes of the disease and subsequent treatment:
- Pain in the sacrum and gluteal muscles is diagnosed as sciatica. The back of the legs may still hurt in this case.
- Lumbalgia is characterized by pain only in the lumbar region.
- If unpleasant sensations occur in the lower back and smoothly pass into the lower extremities, then lumbar ischialgia is diagnosed.
Causes of pinched nerve in the lower back
In itself, not a single disease occurs. Everything has its own reasons. Most often it is either nerves (they say that all diseases are from them), or an incorrect lifestyle. In any case, there is only one conclusion: something needs to be changed.
The following factors stand out:
- A sedentary lifestyle (another name for hypovolemia), inherent to people with sedentary work (office workers, public transport drivers) and e-sportsmen (ordinary gamers), who do not alternate their hobbies with sports and physical activity.
- Work with excessively large weights in the gym. Excessive loads lead to displacement of the vertebrae. To avoid this, it is necessary after such basic exercises as deadlift, bench press and squat, to hang on the horizontal bar. Helps to stretch back muscles and tidy up the spine.
- Injuries like dislocations or displacements of the vertebrae in the lower back.
- Severe obesity. Being overweight generally negatively affects the entire body. Joints, heart, blood vessels - all this will function incorrectly due to a large percentage of fat and a slowed metabolism.
- Various tumors that provoked the inflammatory process can also be causes of pinched nerves in the lower back.
- Osteochondrosis is a disease that reduces the distance between the vertebrae and can lead to compression of the nerve.
- In pregnant women, the disease often manifests itself during the period of gestation for obvious reasons. There is a lot of weight and little movement. Everything affects the spine.
- Obvious posture problems, such as scoliosis.
- Deficiency of vitamins, minerals and minerals in the body, as well as malnutrition.
- Inconvenient bed. A sleeping place with irregularities, an incorrect inclination or creating some discomfort for the back also leads to bad consequences.
- Various infectious diseases, as well as a hernia of the spinal column.
Not all of the above can be eliminated at home, because an ointment when pinching a nerve in the lower back can not always help. The best way is to consult a doctor to correctly determine the symptoms, the causes of the disease and the drug profile for the subsequent elimination of the disease.
See a doctor
To find out how to treat a pinched nerve in the lower back, you should contact your neurologist or reflexologist at your place of residence. Diagnosis of the disease begins with an x-ray. If you have a complete picture of the disease, treatment is prescribed. In case of lack of information, computed tomography, myelography and a number of additional procedures are prescribed.
Do not postpone the visit to the doctor if the pain gives in the leg. A pinched nerve in the lower back is a serious illness. Without timely intervention, death of nerve cells can begin, which will lead to paralysis and, as a result, a decrease in the quality of life of the patient.
Treatment
After the cause of the pain is identified, the patient is prescribed bed rest. The primary concern is the elimination of pain. For this purpose, the doctor prescribes special ointments. When a nerve is pinched in the lower back, "Fastum-gel", "Capsicam", and "Diclofenac gel" are usually used. All these funds are intended for external use at the site of pain.
Of the drugs for oral administration, Ketoprofen, Nurofen or Ibuprofen are used, as well as rectal suppositories to relieve pain.
You should know that leg pain when pinching a nerve in the lower back can be eliminated by injections. This method of exposure does not harm internal organs, unlike tablets, because they act at the site of the disease.
Trouble can only occur if the needle is inserted incorrectly. For injections are used:
- Lidocaine
- "Novocaine";
- Movalis
- Diclofenac
- Ketonal.
Unpleasant sensations are observed due to the fact that a pain attack spreads along the leg along the pinched nerve. If the situation is difficult, then the patient may not feel his leg at all.
Many resort to warming the problem area at the time of pain. This is the wrong decision, because when the nerve is pinched, edema occurs. With an increase in temperature, blood will flow to the affected area, that is, swelling will only intensify, respectively, more pressure will be exerted on the nerve. The degree of pinching will increase.
The feeling that the disease recedes (with a water heater applied, for example) is deceptive, because the unpleasant sensations will return with renewed vigor. Such procedures will be useful after the removal of an acute attack, when the pain passes. Treatment of nerve pinched in the lower back will be 100% productive only in consultation with a doctor.
Nutrition and bad habits
The patient is assigned a diet. Fatty, too salty foods, as well as smoked and spicy foods, should be excluded from the diet. High fat fat broths will also play a bad role.
You will have to forget about alcohol, because it negatively affects the work of the body as a whole. Smoking is the most harmful habits that harm the body. Of course, you need to have a strong will to engage in this. Any attending physician will definitely recommend to quit smoking. But, as statistics show, the more a person has experience, the more difficult it is to get rid of addiction. Therefore, it is easier for someone, but harder for someone. No smoking at all - ideal.
A good way to adjust your diet is to adhere to the principle of multiple meals. That is, to eat many times a day, but in small portions. It is preferable to form a diet from protein foods, take carbohydrates in the morning, proteins in the second, and do not eat four hours before bedtime.
Beginners Mistakes in Weight Loss
The principle of not eating after 18:00 is designed for many to fall asleep at 22:00. Vegetables should also be in the diet, as fiber cannot be ruled out. In addition, those contribute to a better assimilation of everything eaten.
It should be understood that in matters of weight loss, the decision to eat as little as possible is erroneous. The body perceives such conditions as the threat of starvation and slows down the metabolism, in order to cut more time for the functioning of the whole body in emergency mode.
It looks like this: a person eats, for example, once a day, while gaining weight instead of reducing. And after a week or two, a deterioration in well-being is observed.
Eating many times a day in small portions will allow the body to understand that starvation does not threaten, because metabolism will be normal, and the body will cease to store fat. This contributes to weight loss and is a significant step in terms of prevention and treatment of pinched nerves in the lower back.
Preventive measures
If nothing helps and it is not clear what to do when a nerve is pinched in the lower back, doctors resort to extreme measures - surgical intervention. After eliminating the most problematic phase, auxiliary procedures are prescribed:
- wellness massage;
- reflexology;
- various physiotherapeutic procedures;
- wax and mud applications;
- Wellness gymnastics and physiotherapy exercises.
The purpose of such measures is the removal of edema, the restoration of blood supply and the correct functioning of the problem area. But everything will be useless if you do not monitor your weight, nutrition and do not devote proper time to sports.
Folk methods
It should be understood that such methods should be used only with the approval of the attending physician as additional measures to accelerate the recovery of the body. Treatment of a pinched nerve in the lower back at home without consulting an experienced specialist can lead to negative consequences. So, among the useful tools are the following:
- Therapeutic baths. Tincture of oak bark and horse chestnut roots is added to the water. Take such a bath should be no more than 15 minutes.
- Pressed celery is often used as a lotion.
- Compress of honey and dough. Such a "cake" is wound to the lower back for the night, and removed in the morning.
- Tincture of vodka and bay leaves is rubbed into the lower back during the entire course of treatment until pain disappears.
Very good massage helps. The entire lower back and upper buttocks should be exposed to this effect. Then, the muscles along the spine (about three centimeters apart) are flexed with the fingertips. It is necessary to find the epicenter of pain and neat circular movements to stretch the place. Pain will be replaced by pleasant warmth in about five minutes. At the end of the procedure, you need to fist rub the area of the lower back and buttocks.
And also rubbing with therapeutic ointments, applying a warm heating pad and lying on “spines” are also used.
Exercises
It is important to listen to your body, because a well-functioning working system always signals the appearance of the slightest deviations from the norm. You just need to be able to understand these signs. For example, with minor back pain, the smallest thing to do is get up and walk. It is better to hang on the horizontal bar to allow the spine to straighten.
Exercise alone is always effective. They help to stretch the muscles, and also contribute to recovery in the post-painful period. Well proven:
- tilts forward, backward, right and left;
- push ups;
- Squats
- twisting;
- press lying or hanging (legs straight or bent at the knees);
- hyperextension.
Do not adhere to a frenzied rhythm or exercise with weights, because it can do harm. The correct embodiment is to slowly distribute the load while listening to your body.
Conclusion
Summarizing, it is worth saying that pinching of the sciatic nerve in the lower back is quite common. The whole blame is the neglect of one's own health, as a result of enthusiasm for a sedentary lifestyle.
They come to the latter because of their favorite work or because of a hobby. As they say, until the thunder strikes, the man will not cross himself. The proverb should be understood directly: a person does not have to think about his health until something gets sick.
A healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition and periodic general examination in the clinic will help reduce the risk of any disease. Especially as serious as a pinched nerve in the lower back. Treatment will not take a lot of time and money if you do prevention.
In other words, it’s easier to avoid the problem itself than to eliminate the consequences later. The problem is the lack of motivation or willpower to plan everything, draw up a daily routine, adhere to a certain rhythm of life. Only self-control and determination turns the patient into a healthy person.
And it’s not at all about drugs and medical care, but the desire to develop and fight your laziness. The simplest advice on how to avoid such a sore is to simply sign up for the gym and attend three times a week for an hour per day. Even if there is no goal of gaining muscle mass, strength exercises with small and medium weights will ensure the functioning of the body at a level that can withstand all "diseases of a sedentary lifestyle."
It should be started while young, so that the lifestyle (associated with sports) becomes a habit. With age, motor activity decreases, less energy becomes. This leads to the appearance of excess weight, problems with posture, back, spine, and may well lead to pinching of the nerve in the lower back.
Take care of yourself and be healthy!