Lumbago
Lumbago describes low back pain or discomfort. The pain can be described as acute, lasting from a few days to a few weeks, or chronic, lasting for months or longer.
Symptoms:
- Muscle ache
- Shooting or stabbing pain
- Pain that radiates into the buttocks, the back of the thigh, or to the groin
- Limited flexibility or range of motion of the back
- Inability to stand straight
- Muscular spasm surrounding the spine causing the back to feel stiff and sore
- Tingling sensation or numbness in the back, buttocks, or leg
- Pain aggravated during movement, including bending forward, backward, side-to-side, or while rotating
Common causes:
- Strained muscles and ligaments - resulting after a sudden awkward movement or from improper or heavy lifting
- Bulging or ruptured disks - the soft material inside a disk may bulge out of place or rupture and add pressure to a nerve
- Sciatica - sharp, shooting pain through the buttock and back of the leg caused by a herniated disk pressing on nerves that travels down the leg
- Stenosis - narrowing of the space around the spinal cord
- Osteoporosis - compression fractures of the spine's vertebrae can occur if bones become porous and brittle
- Skeletal irregularities - abnormal spinal curvature where the upper back may be rounded or lower back may arch excessively
Risk Factor:
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Older age
- Physically strenuous work
- Sedentary work
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Muscle imbalances
- Core weakness
- Improper ergonomics
- Maintaining incorrect posture