Is Your Back Pain Inflammatory Or Mechanical Heres How To Tell
If you suspect you could have AS, there are some key clues based on your back pain and other symptoms you should pay attention to. If you answer yes to most of the following questions, its likely that your back pain is inflammatory and not mechanical.
When you call your primary care doctor or a rheumatologist for an appointment, let the doctor know you suspect your back pain could be inflammatory. Be prepared to explain why based on your answers to these questions. This can help speed up your getting an appointment and direct your doctor to conduct certain tests to help get to the bottom of the cause of your back pain.
Stretch Your Hamstrings Twice Daily
One often overlooked contributor to lower back pain is tight hamstrings. If your hamstring muscleslocated in the back of your thighsare too tight hamstrings your lower back and sacroiliac joints will be stressed, leading to more pain. Hamstring stretching should be done carefully and at least twice per day for 15-30 seconds each time.
There are many gentle stretching exercises that should not hurt.
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Preventing Pain And Injury
Posture. Using correct posture and keeping your spine in alignment are the most important things you can do for your neck and back . The lower back bears most of your weight, so proper alignment of this section can prevent injury to your vertebrae, discs, and other portions of the spine. If you have back or neck pain, you may need to make adjustments to your daily standing, sitting, and sleeping habits and learn proper ways to lift and bend. Your workspace may need to be rearranged to keep your spine from slouching. Because extra pounds can make back pain worse, you should maintain a weight that is appropriate for your height and body frame.
Exercise. Regular exercise is important to prevent back pain and injury. A program of strengthening, stretching and aerobic exercises will improve your overall fitness level. Research has shown that people who are physically fit are more resistant to back injuries and pain, and recover quicker when they do have injuries, than those who are less physically fit .
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Take Pain Meds That Arent Habit
There are times when SI joint inflammation affects the nearby sciatic nerve, which may lead to radiating nerve pain in the lower back, hips, and legs. If heat and ice arent working, you may benefit from anti-inflammatory medications or acetaminophen. A class of NSAIDs called COX-2 inhibitors may be gentler on your stomach. Your doctor can help you make a choice thats right for you.
Stay Away From Foods That Contribute To Inflammation
What do sugary snacks, fried foods, artificial sweeteners, and processed meat have in common? Theyre all foods youll want to avoid or eat less of if you want to ease SI joint inflammation. Instead, opt for a diet full of foods that naturally minimize inflammation, such as:
- Fatty fish
- Olive oil
- Nuts like walnuts and almonds
- Berries
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When In Doubt Go Medium
Research is limited, but in one study, researchers assigned new mattresses to more than 300 people with low back pain. They used either “medium-firm” or “firm” mattresses for 90 days. Those in the medium group reported the least amount of discomfort.
You might consider getting a memory foam mattress . The foam molds to your body. The downside: Some memory foam mattresses keep in heat and the material might have more chemicals.
Natural Remedies To Reduce Inflammation And Pain
1. Ice Pack:
This is the simplest and one of the most beneficial home remedies for pain and inflammation. The cold ice constricts the blood vessels leading to the painful area. This reduces the supply of blood to the affected part and as such the swelling decreases.
- Take a few ice cubes and wrap them in a thin cloth or towel.
- Press this ice pack to the painful area with gentle pressure.
- Do this for twenty minutes at a stretch in every alternate hour until the pain disappears which will soon enough.
- Do this daily for a week and the pain will be completely gone.
Also Read: Natural Treatments to Reduce Swelling
2. Apple Cider Vinegar:
The alkalizing impact of apple cider vinegar breaks down the building up of harmful toxins in the swollen and painful area of the body. This vinegar helps to enhance mobility and alleviates the pain to a great extent.
- Take two cups of water in a bowl and two teaspoonfuls of apple cider vinegar into it.
- Mix this well. Take small sips of this mixture throughout the entire day.
- Do this daily and the pain and inflammation will heal in a week or so.
3. Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar:
Apple cider vinegar is highly effective in treating aching and inflamed joints, and when combined with some olive oil, then even more so.
- Take a tablespoon each of olive oil and apple cider vinegar in a bowl.
- Stir this well and then gently massage the affected area in circles with this mixture.
- Do this twice daily for a couple of weeks and the pain will go away.
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Knowing The Difference Will Dramatically Affect Your Back Pain Treatment
This video is part of a new campaign about ankylosing spondylitis awareness from the nonprofit patient community CreakyJoints. The videos in this campaign were produced with support from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
If your back has been bothering you, you might chalk up your pain to a bad mattress, overdoing it at the gym, or throwing out your back while lifting something heavy. All of these are considered mechanical causes of back pain, which means that theres been a disruption in the way the components of the back fit together and move, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
However, theres another and much less well-known kind of back pain that is considered to be inflammatory back pain, not mechanical.
This kind of back pain, which is a form of inflammatory arthritis, occurs because your immune system is mistakenly attacking the joints in your spine. This back pain is known as ankylosing spondylitis or axial spondyloarthritis.
Ankylosing spondylitis typically affects the bones in your lower spine and where your spine connects with your pelvis . Theres also inflammation where ligaments and tendons attach to bone, such as the Achilles tendon at the ankle. The most common AS symptoms are on-and-off flares of pain and stiffness in the lower back, hips, and buttocks.
Why Does It Matter If Your Back Pain Is Inflammatory Or Mechanical
It matters a lot. If your back pain is mechanical, the best way to treat it is often to allow time to let things heal, or to try physical therapy. Lifestyle changes such as losing weight, quitting smoking, improving posture, and exercising more can help too, by allowing better circulation to the discs in the back and relieving pressure on the spinal column. Steroid injections can be used to relieve pain thats not getting better with physical therapy and lifestyle changes surgery is considered a last resort.
If your back pain is inflammatory, however, ongoing inflammation from your immune system will continue to cause pain even as you attempt to treat your back pain with the above options. Newer medications, such as biologic drugs that tamp down the activity of the immune system, provide more targeted and effective treatment for AS.
If you attempt to treat inflammatory back pain with treatments that soothe mechanical back pain, you wont get better. Even worse, ankylosing spondylitis is progressive, so you will become more debilitated. Over time, ankylosing spondylitis can cause the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together, resulting in permanent damage and a stooped posture.
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What Research Is Being Done
The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is to seek fundamental knowledge of the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. NINDS is a component of the National Institutes of Health , the leading supporter of biomedical research in the world.
As a primary supporter of research on pain and pain mechanisms, NINDS is a member of the NIH Pain Consortium, which was established to promote collaboration among the many NIH Institutes and Centers with research programs and activities addressing pain. On an even broader scale, NIH participates in the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, a federal advisory committee that coordinates research across other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agencies as well as the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
What Can Cause Lower Back Pain
Most acute low back pain is mechanical in nature, meaning that there is a disruption in the way the components of the back fit together and move. Some examples of mechanical causes of low back pain include:
Congenital
- Skeletal irregularities such as scoliosis , lordosis , kyphosis , and other congenital anomalies of the spine.
- Spina bifida which involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord and/or its protective covering and can cause problems involving malformation of vertebrae and abnormal sensations and even paralysis.
Injuries
- Sprains , strains , and spasms
- Traumatic Injury such as from playing sports, car accidents, or a fall that can injure tendons, ligaments, or muscle causing the pain, as well as compress the spine and cause discs to rupture or herniate.
Degenerative problems
- Intervertebral disc degeneration which occurs when the usually rubbery discs wear down as a normal process of aging and lose their cushioning ability.
- Spondylosis the general degeneration of the spine associated with normal wear and tear that occurs in the joints, discs, and bones of the spine as people get older.
- Arthritis or other inflammatory disease in the spine, including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis as well as spondylitis, an inflammation of the vertebrae.
Nerve and spinal cord problems
Non-spine sources
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Low Back Pain Fact Sheet
If you have had lower back pain, you are not alone. Back pain is one of most common reasons people see a doctor or miss days at work. Even school-age children can have back pain.
Back pain can range in intensity from a dull, constant ache to a sudden, sharp or shooting pain. It can begin suddenly as a result of an accident or by lifting something heavy, or it can develop over time as we age. Getting too little exercise followed by a strenuous workout also can cause back pain.
There are two types of back pain:
- Acute, or short-term back pain lasts a few days to a few weeks. Most low back pain is acute. It tends to resolve on its own within a few days with self-care and there is no residual loss of function. In some cases a few months are required for the symptoms to disappear.
- Chronic back pain is defined as pain that continues for 12 weeks or longer, even after an initial injury or underlying cause of acute low back pain has been treated. About 20 percent of people affected by acute low back pain develop chronic low back pain with persistent symptoms at one year. Even if pain persists, it does not always mean there is a medically serious underlying cause or one that can be easily identified and treated. In some cases, treatment successfully relieves chronic low back pain, but in other cases pain continues despite medical and surgical treatment.
Tests To Help Determine Lupus Nephritis
Urine Test
The urine test will detect if there is any protein in the urine. Diseases that affect kidneys many times cause your glomeruli to leak protein into your urine causing it to have a foamy appearance. The term for the condition of having protein in the urine is called proteinuria.
A symptom of lupus nephritis is blood in the urine. Although its typically easy to spot blood in the urine, a urine test can detect this as well.
Blood Test
There are several things technicians look for with diagnostic labs involving the blood. The first is cholesterol and protein levels. When they are high, that means the kidneys are not filtering waste the way they should.
Blood tests also check the GFR , which also shows how well kidneys filter waste.
Finally, blood tests check for antiphospholipid antibodies and anti-nuclear antibodies , which indicate autoimmune diseases..
Kidney Biopsy
A biopsy of the kidney can also detect if a case has evolved into lupus nephritis. Biopsies are invasive procedures where a clinician removes a small slice of a particular organ for analysis under a microscope.
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What You Will Learn From This Article:
- The difference between healing and chronic inflammation
- Symptoms of acute and chronic inflammation: includes belly fat, chronic pain, autoimmunity, allergies and more
- What causes inflammation: includes stress, dairy, coffee, alcohol and more
- Ways to reduce inflammation: includes resistant starch, green leafy veggies, certain herbs and spices, and reducing your stress and more
- Our top supplement recommendation for reducing inflammation
Bonus Tip: Consider Taking A Vitamin D3 Supplement
If your doctor agrees, consider taking a vitamin D3 supplement. Vitamin D is essential for bone, neuromuscular, and immune system function. Taking a vitamin D3 supplement can help reduce back pain by increasing the absorption of calcium in your body and improving bone strength.15
See Calcium and Vitamin D Requirements
Finding the perfect pain relief technique is usually a process of trial and error, making it worth exploring various approaches. Try these natural pain-relieving strategies for your back pain and see what works best for you. Severe pain that is not relieved by self-care must be evaluated by a health professional for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
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How Inflammatory Back Pain Symptoms Lead To An Ankylosing Spondylitis Diagnosis
One of the most important things you can do to ensure a prompt and accurate diagnosis is to keep track of your back pain symptoms. You can use an app like ArthritisPower to document when your back pain gets worse and when it eases up.
However, keep in mind that there is no single test or red-flag symptom that can confirm an ankylosing spondylitis diagnosis. Its a clinical judgment from your doctor, based on inputs from a physical exam, blood tests, imaging, and your self-reported symptoms.
The above symptoms of inflammatory back pain, coupled with other results such as X-ray or MRI evidence of inflammation or damage to the sacroiliac joints or the presence of the genetic marker HLA-B27 on a blood test, make it more likely that your back pain is ankylosing spondylitis.
You should also be aware of these other symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis in addition to lower back and hip pain.
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What Structures Make Up The Back
The lower backwhere most back pain occursincludes the five vertebrae in the lumbar region, which supports much of the weight of the upper body. The spaces between the vertebrae are maintained by round, rubbery pads called intervertebral discs that act like shock absorbers throughout the spinal column to cushion the bones as the body moves. Bands of tissue known as ligaments hold the vertebrae in place, and tendons attach the muscles to the spinal column. Thirty-one pairs of nerves are rooted to the spinal cord and they control body movements and transmit signals from the body to the brain.
Other regions of vertebrate are cervical , thoracic , and sacral and coccygeal segments.
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Find Activities That Make You Happy
Ongoing back pain can wreak havoc on your life, affecting your cherished relationships, finances, and your ability to get stuff done at work and at home. Finding activities that make you happy can help reduce some stress and may relieve some pain.
Some people find that even doing just 3 things that make them feel good each daysuch as enjoying a comforting cup of tea or coffee, calling an old friend, walking the dog, or receiving a longish 30-second hug from a loved onecan make pain more tolerable.
Even something as simple as laughter with a friend may stimulate feel-good endorphins.1, 2
Facts You Should Know About Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of arthritis featuring chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints .
- Ankylosing spondylitis belongs to a group of arthritis conditions that tend to cause chronic inflammation of the spine .
- Ankylosing spondylitis affects males two to three times more commonly than females.
- Ankylosing spondylitis is a cause of back pain in adolescents and young adults.
- The tendency to develop ankylosing spondylitis is genetically inherited.
- The HLA-B27 gene can be detected in the blood of most patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
- Ankylosing spondylitis can also affect the eyes, heart, lungs, and occasionally the kidneys.
- The optimal treatment of ankylosing spondylitis involves medications that reduce inflammation or suppress immunity, physical therapy, and exercise.
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