Lowback Pain - Precautions

Precautions to be taken in Low Back Pain

1. Avoid any activity that increases low back pain like bending forward, lifting heavy weight etc.

2. Correct body posture. Maintain the lumbar curve.

3. Take back support while sitting, adjust the chair height so that feet should be placed firmly on ground or use a foot rest or foot stool.

4. Avoid stooping; always bend your knees while keeping the back straight while lifting anything from the ground or lower surface.

5. While exercising for back muscles also work for abdominal muscles to avoid any muscle imbalance.

6. Use firm mattress for sleeping.

7. While getting out of the bed, first take a side turn, then brings your legs down and then finally raise the upper body.

8. Do use a lumbar corset especially during traveling.

9. Avoid prolonged use of a corset as it makes your back muscles weak and decondition them.

10. Avoid continuance of same posture for prolonged periods of time.

LOW BACK PAIN

Low Back pain is a musculoskeletal problem encountered by most of the adults at some time in their life. It’s a most common medical problem. There can be variety of causes of low back pain ranging from minor ligamentous sprain to spinal tumour or fracture.
Etiology of low back pain can be categorized as follows-
1. Mechanical Low Backache
• Ligamentous Sprain
• Muscle Strain
2. Degenerative
• Lumbar Spondylosis
• Disc prolapse / slip disc
• Spondylolisthesis
• Spinal stenosis
3. Inflammatory
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Osteomyelitis
4. Neoplastic
• Tumors
5. Metabolic
• Osteoporosis
• Osteomalacia
The diagnosis of Low back pain is based on medical history, physical examination including range of motion of back and hip, tests of neurological involvement, muscle strength testing and diagnostic tests like X ray and MRI.
The treatment options depend on the nature of the pain, whether acute or chronic and cause of the pain and accordingly may vary from conservative to surgical. Our focus here is on conservative treatment which includes-
• Analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs/NSAIDS
• Muscle relaxants
• Various electrotherapeutic modalities like SWD (short wave diathermy), MWD (microwave diathermy), Ultrasound, IFT (interferential therapy), TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation).
• Moist heat- Hot packs.
• Lumbar corsets.
• Spinal manipulation
• Exercises to strengthen stretch and condition the back muscles- It is generally recommended in chronic cases. Usually exercise is not performed in acute cases of low back pain. Commonly performed exercises include-
Spinal extension exercises, pelvic tilts, abdominal curls, back rotation exercises.