Friday, April 9, 2010

Medical causes of back pain 3

Sciatica: Sciatica is another relatively common form of back pain. This
is a term that is used to describe a pain that not only affects the lower
back, but also stretches down into the buttocks and legs. It results from
irritation or overstimulation of a large nerve in the spinal column known
as the sciatic nerve. Because sciatica is a pain that is associated with
irritation of a particular nerve, it is a condition that can accompany
other less serious back problems like muscle strains and ligament
sprains.

Spinal stenosis: This is another condition that is associated with
getting older. The spinal column itself can become more restrictive as a
result of a condition like arthritis, and as a result it can put pressure on
the spinal cord or surrounding nerves. In this case, pain is the almost
inevitable result.

Osteoporosis: This is another condition that is generally associated
with the ageing process, one in which the bones throughout the body
get continually weaker due to reduced levels of calcium. Consequently,
because the bones are gradually weakening, it is not uncommon to find
osteoporosis has caused compression fractures of the vertebrae,
particularly in older women.

Lumbar spine arthritis: Although it is likely that you are most familiar
with arthritis as a medical condition that mainly affects external parts of
the body such as the fingers, hands and toes, it is a fact that arthritis
can attack any bone and joint in the body. Consequently, arthritis can
attack the joints in the spine, making almost any kind of movement a
very painful process.

Spondylolisthesis: When adjacent vertebrae in the spine become
unstable because of a general degenerative condition in that area of the
body, individual vertebrae can begin to shift their positions relative to
one another. In this scenario, it is always possible that individual
vertebrae will start grinding or rubbing against one another, and this
will cause a great deal of back pain.
Chronic back pain.

No comments:

Post a Comment