Unfortunately, pain often invades our daily lives. Of course, you can console yourself with the fact that if something hurts, then you are still alive, but it's better to try to eliminate it. What are the causes of back and stomach pains, and what needs to be done to alleviate your condition?
Pain localization
To understand what is happening, it is necessary to find out several parameters that characterize the discomfort that has arisen. In order to accurately determine what could cause pain in the back and abdomen, you need to try to determine their location. If with back pain everything is more or less clear, then to examine the abdomen, you will have to perform several actions:
- you need to lie on your back and bend your knees a little;
- place your palm on the abdominal wall and gently in a circular motion, but trying to push deeply, determine the place where the pressure causes maximum pain.
For ease of diagnosis, the stomach is schematically divided into the right and left halves. In various diseases, the focus of pain can be in the right or left iliac regions, in the navel, in the right or left hypochondrium. In addition, the pain can be spilled when the stomach hurts constantly and it is impossible to determine a specific point where the pain is most severe.
Nature of pain
It is equally important to determine the nature of the pain. They can be dull, aching, constricting or, conversely, sharp. A very dangerous symptom can be dagger pain (this creates the feeling that it was struck with a dagger). Also, the pain can be bursting, as if inside the ball begins to inflate.
It is equally important to determine where pain radiates (gives away). For example, there are often situations when the back hurts below, and these pains are given to the lower abdomen or thigh. It happens, on the contrary, abdominal pain can give back. In addition, over time, pain can change localization (with appendicitis, pain is first observed in the epigastric region, but after a while it descends into the right iliac region).
Related factors
To make an accurate diagnosis, it is equally important to determine what triggered the pain; it arose suddenly or developed gradually over several hours or even days; what could provoke its appearance (excessive physical effort, hypothermia, stress); what other symptoms accompany pain attacks - fever, vomiting, diarrhea or, on the contrary, constipation, which lasted several days. All these data will help to draw a more complete picture of the disease and correctly diagnose it.
Pain caused by pathologies of internal organs
The most common causes of back and stomach pain are pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract and urinary system. The same symptoms, but less often, can occur with diseases of the heart and bronchopulmonary system. Consider the most common diseases.
- Genitourinary system pathologies (cystitis, pyelo-, glomerulonephritis, urethritis). These diseases often cause a lower back pain. In addition to the pain syndrome, these pathologies are accompanied by impaired urination (usually with an increase in frequency), a slight increase in temperature, and the presence of blood in the urine. Another pathology that can cause severe pain is urolithiasis and, in particular, renal colic. It is she who can become the reason that a side sore from the back is very painful. In this case, irradiation of pain in the groin or thigh is possible.
- Appendicitis: its inflammation is often accompanied by pains that are initially diffuse in nature, and then most often localized in the iliac region on the right. However, it should be borne in mind that in some cases pain can be observed in other areas of the abdomen. Most often, acute appendicitis is accompanied by a low-grade fever (37.0), nausea, vomiting, and chills.
- Intestinal infections also become a common cause of abdominal pain. Various microorganisms and viruses can cause them. With such lesions, dull, diffuse pain is noted against a background of elevated temperature. In addition, vomiting, diarrhea is observed. In the stool, impurities of mucus or blood are possible.
- Pancreatitis also becomes a common cause, because of which the stomach hurts and gives to the back, while pains are more often located in the upper sections. They are accompanied by nausea and repeated vomiting, which does not bring relief, dry mouth. The tongue is covered with a white coating, on which teeth marks are visible at the edges.
- Cholecystitis can cause pain in the right hypochondrium, which is given to the back, right arm, shoulder, under the right shoulder blade. It is accompanied by bitterness in the mouth, nausea, vomiting, after which it becomes easier. Fatty foods or shaking in vehicles can trigger an attack.
- Colitis (intestinal colic) is manifested by diffuse, sharp pains in the navel, accompanied by weakness, chills. If you have problems with the intestines, an attack can be triggered by the use of chocolate, coffee, and high fiber foods.
Pathology of the musculoskeletal system
Various spinal problems can also cause back and stomach pain. Most often, they are pulling or aching in nature and can radiate to the lower extremities and various areas of the abdomen. The following diseases can cause pain:
- osteochondrosis;
- hernia of the intervertebral disc;
- spinal injuries;
- osteoporosis.
Gynecological pathology
Women quite often have to experience pain of varying intensity in the lower abdomen and lower back. Some of them do not pose a threat to normal life, such as menstrual pain or slight discomfort during pregnancy (in the later stages, back and lower abdominal pain are possible - the so-called false contractions). But it happens that pain becomes a signal of serious problems. These include:
- the threat of miscarriage - in the early stages, pain in the lower abdomen and spotting can signal about it;
- ectopic pregnancy - manifested by severe (up to loss of consciousness) pains on the right or left lower abdomen;
- similar pains can result from rupture of the ovary or torsion of the cyst legs;
- endometriosis is characterized by constant aching pain in the lower back and lower abdomen, aggravated during menstruation.
Causes of pain in men
Men can also “boast” of pain caused by diseases inherent only in the strong half of humanity. These include:
- prostatitis - the pain in this disease is most often localized in the lower back and may intensify during urination, radiating to the anus and sacrum;
- infections of the genitourinary tract are manifested by abdominal pain, which gradually spreads to the lower back and gives in the groin;
- inguinal hernia causes acute pain, against the background of which one can detect a hernial protrusion.
What to do
Obviously, pain in the back and stomach can cause many different pathologies. So what if they appeared? First of all, do not self-medicate. If you have already been diagnosed, and you are sure that the pain is associated with it, then you can take the medicine. So, with pancreatitis or cholecystitis, as well as with pathologies of the urethra, pain will help relieve antispasmodics. To relieve the condition with diseases of the spine, painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs can. If there are sudden severe abdominal pains, do not waste time - call an ambulance. Remember - with acute abdominal pain, if you do not know their cause, you should not take any medicine. This is done so as not to distort the picture of the disease prior to diagnosis.
If the cause of the pain is not known, then you should not endure, wait for it to pass by itself, or self-medicate. Remember that lost time can lead to serious complications that can be life threatening.