Most of us must have experienced the back pain once and some of us must be having it for long time hampering our day to day life. Backbone-related illnesses are mainly caused due to bad posture that affects the spinal cord, leading to back pain that can be debilitating.
But with current lifestyle changes — where we sit at a desk for long hours at a time — it can lead to several posture related spinal ailments.
“Back pain may occur in lower back, middle back, and upper back. Pain at any age should not be considered as part of life when option to ease the pain is available. Most common cause of back pain is mechanical low back pain and sciatica. In Mechanical back pain person experiences pain in thigh, buttocks & lower back while in Sciatica, pain radiates down to one or both legs rather than restricting itself to just one particular area.” Said Dr. Kapil Jain, Senior Consultant brain and spine Surgeon, Max Super Specialty hospital saket, New Delhi
Approximately upto 95% of patient with low back pain do not require any special diagnosis test during the first month of symptoms. There are few red flag signs which suggest serious underlying conditions and person should consult Neurosurgeon for the same. If a person in the age extremities (less than 20 years or more than 50 years of age) experiences pain in the back, or if the pain doesn’t subside with rest, unexplained weight loss, urinary or bowel problems, requires evaluation on urgent basis.
“It’s disappointing that most of us just accept the pain as a normal part of life instead of identifying and eliminating the root cause of the problem. Back or neck pain should not be neglected. Early treatment can solve the pain and the root cause of the problem within a short span of time providing complete recovery. Risk of surgeries can be avoided with early diagnosis and proper treatment helping a person lives a better life without back pain and spinal problems.” Added Dr Jain
With the consumption of a balanced diet accompanied with an active lifestyle and following safe practices while sitting, walking and bending, most of these spine-related problems can be prevented. Major goal of initial evaluation is to differentiate common spinal disorder to serious and urgent problems such as spinal infections, spinal tumours or cauda equine syndrome.
The outlook of lower back pain absolutely depends on its precise cause. As an example, acute strain injury requires minimal treatment, on the other hand disc prolapsed, lumbar canal stenos & spondylolisthesis etc requires surgery. Only around 5% of patient who had lower back pain require surgery. In today’s era of modern facilities surgery for the back is extremely safe with no major postoperative morbidity.
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