Is There A Better Way
Remember, that lower back pain when standing up from a sitting position is caused by a sloppy spine. Meaning, because of degeneration, one vertebra is slipping slightly forward on another. This is causing the facet joints to get beat up and become arthritic. Hence, any treatment needs to stabilize the spine by tightening ligaments and reducing the pain in worn facet joints.
What Are Some Complementary Alternative And Emerging Treatments For Lower Back Pain
In some cases, doctors suggest therapies that are not considered standard of care. They probably wont be covered by insurance, but they may be worth considering. Examples include:
Platelet-rich plasma. PRP treatments use a small sample of your own blood that has concentrated amounts of blood building blocks known as platelets. Your doctor then injects the PRP directly into a damaged disc. The theory is that PRP injections use your own healing system to accelerate improvement of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints. PRP treatment has a longer track record in knee osteoarthritis, but a recent review article in the Journal of Spine Surgery suggests it may have a useful role for back pain, too. PRP needs a lot more research before it can be considered a proven technique.
Stem cells. In this emerging treatment, your doctor injects stem cells harvested from your hip into the intervertebral disc or discs causing your pain. Doing so may lessen pain and the degenerative effects of aging, though, like PRP, more research is needed before stem cells for lower back pain could eventually become the standard of care.
Acupuncture. Your doctor probably doesnt perform acupuncture , but may support you trying it as a complementary therapy. Acupuncture involves careful insertion of fine, sterile needles into specific points on your body. This may stimulate the release of your natural pain-killing chemicals.
Causes Of Lower Back Pain
Several conditions contribute to lower back pain. Injury-related reasons include strains, sprains, or muscle fatigue. The following medical conditions can also cause lower back pain:
- Spinal Stenosis The spinal column narrows, putting pressure on nerves
- Herniated Discs The discs between vertebrae shift, compressing nerves
- Osteoarthritis Facet joints of the spine are damaged, usually due to old age
- Sciatica The sciatic nerve becomes pinched, affecting the hips, buttocks, and legs
- Degenerative Disc Disease The discs between vertebrae disintegrate, irritating nerves
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What Are The Warning Signs Of A Serious Problem
Very rarely back pain or pain that travels down the leg is a sign of a serious problem.
If you have any of the following symptoms, you should seek urgent medical attention:
- difficulty controlling or passing urine
- loss of control of your bowels
- numbness around your back passage or your genitals
- serious weakness in your legs so you find standing really difficult
- severe and ongoing back pain that gets worse over several weeks.
The above symptoms could potentially be linked to a rare but serious condition that needs urgent medical attention.
What Exactly Is The Lower Back Anyway
Your lower back is known as the lumbar region of the spine. It has a lot of heavy lifting to do: The lumbar spine carries the weight of your entire upper body, plus biomechanical stresses that occur with movement.
The lumbar spine has five vertebraebackbones. Each vertebra has a large disc cushiony gel wrapped in a tough membrane on its front side that acts as a shock absorber. Each vertebra also has two cartilage-lined facet joints on its back side. Working together, discs and facet joints allow the spine to safely bend and twist.
Your lower back also includes ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Ligaments are strong bands that hold the vertebrae and discs together. Tendons attach muscles to the vertebrae. These structures help limit excessive movement that could harm the spinal cord.
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When You Should Go To The Er For Back Pain
If your back pain is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, head to your closest emergency room because you could be dealing with a more serious condition or injury:
- Sudden spike in pain, discomfort, weakness or numbness
- Loss of bladder function
- Unexplainable weight loss
- The pain results from a fall or severe blow to your back
If you experience any of these symptoms, its a good idea to talk to your doctor so you can determine next steps for managing pain.
What To Do For Chronic Backpain Can You Get Pain Relief Without Surgery
Surgery can be an effective option for long-term pain relief. But theres not a lot of data to support that surgery is the best solution for curing back pain.
Generally, surgery is only recommended after non-surgical treatment options have stopped working.
The best treatment for chronic back pain is movement, which may sound weird. When your back hurts, you usually think its time to take it easy. So, you avoid certain activities or movements because you think it will help you heal faster.
But the less you move the more youll experience that muscle deconditioning and your pain will probably get worse.
So, how do you heal your chronic back pain? You need ongoing active physical therapy.
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What Causes Lower Back Pain While Standing
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- What Causes Lower Back Pain While Standing?
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, roughly 80% of Americans will experience lower back pain at some point in their life. Whether its felt while sitting, standing, or sleeping, lower back pain can be debilitating and disruptive to your day-to-day lifestyle. Here are some of the causes of lower back pain while standing.
Lower Back Pain When Standing: Work Injuries
The most common causes of back pain are stress when lifting objects. Or the continual stress of standing in one place while working in a retail or manufacturing job.
The repetitive motion of continually moving even light objects can also cause back injury even when the work is done.
Even inactivity like sitting at your desk all day can lead to back strain, especially once you begin to stand up or walk around again. Over time this pain can get worse and lead to a serious injury.
Luckily, this type of back pain is often treatable by resting and learning lifting techniques to reduce symptoms and stop further damage.
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Why Does My Back Hurt When Standing Up
When you stand for a length of time, your pelvis is often pushed backward, increasing the curve of your lower back . This puts increased pressure on the soft tissues surrounding the spine, causing your lower back muscles to tighten or even spasm, resulting in pain in the joints and nerves of your spine.
Exercise And Being Active
Exercising may not be the first solution that pops into someones mind when they have lower back pain. This is because most people link it to moving their back, which means exercising would hurt more. However, there are many other types of exercises that people can do and actually enjoy while their back heals.
But every type of exercise is not safe some can even worsen the pain exercise like sit-ups is not good, while pilates, planks, and yoga are great.
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Areas Of Imbalance And Risk Of Injury
Key areas of imbalance, are the: lower back muscles , abdominals , hip muscles and the hamstrings .
If you can imagine that the muscles from behind you are tightening while those in front are extending, then you can visualize the lumbar discs and facet joints being pinched, causing a bulge out in front. You can develop an anterior pelvic tilt which is worsened by excess weight.
When this occurs over an extended period, the facet joints become worn and inflamed leading the facet joint inflammation, wear, and discomfort.
Chronic imbalance also leads to advanced disc degeneration, especially to the L5-S1 disc. The L5-S1 is the most important yet abused disc, crucial for your lumbar flexibility and protection.
How Should I Stand With Back Pain
Many people experience more low back pain with sitting than while standing. But, if you are one of the people who have more pain in standing, here are some tips to try:
- Stand for shorter periods of time.
- Try placing one foot on a step. This limits excessive spine curvature in standing.
- Avoid high heels!! Heels force the lower spine into increase curvature and can compress the facet joints.
- Consider a work station that adjusts from sitting to standing.
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Lower Back Pain When Standing: Seeking Help
If youve got constant lower back pain when standing it is likely all you think about. But relief is usually only a phone call away.
If the injury occurred while you are on the job, that treatment is likely covered by your employers Workers Compensation plan. However, its important to find an experienced workers comp doctor near you to get the best help possible before more damage is done.
NEW: Telemedicine appointments are now available in the safety and comfort of your home.
Contact International Spine Institute Today
Lower back pain could be a sign that you have a more serious spinal condition. If you try these tips to relieve back pain while standing and it still hurts after several weeks, then its time to contact the International Spine Institute. Our physicians specialize in finding the cause for your back pain and can help you come up with a treatment plan that works for you. This could include a minimally invasive procedure that will address your pain without the lengthy recovery time of other procedures.
Please contact us today to find out how we can help you.
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The Lumbar Spine What Can Go Wrong
The low back supports the weight of the upper body and provides mobility for everyday motions such as bending and twisting. Muscles in the low back are responsible for flexing and rotating the hips while walking, as well as supporting the spinal column. Nerves in the low back supply sensation and power the muscles in the pelvis, legs, and feet.
See Back Muscles and Low Back Pain
Most acute low back pain results from injury to the muscles, ligaments, joints, or discs. The body also reacts to injury by mobilizing an inflammatory healing response. While inflammation sounds minor, it can cause severe pain.
There is a significant overlap of nerve supply to many of the discs, muscles, ligaments, and other spinal structures, and it can be difficult for the brain to accurately sense which is the cause of the pain. For example, a degenerated or torn lumbar disc can feel the same as a pulled muscle both creating inflammation and painful muscle spasm in the same area. Muscles and ligaments heal rapidly, while a torn disc may or may not. The time course of pain helps determine the cause.
Range Of Lower Back Pain Symptoms
Low back pain can incorporate a wide variety of symptoms. It can be mild and merely annoying or it can be severe and debilitating. Low back pain may start suddenly, or it could start slowlypossibly coming and goingand gradually get worse over time.
Depending on the underlying cause of the pain, symptoms can be experienced in a variety of ways. For example:
- Pain that is dull or achy, contained to the low back
- Stinging, burning pain that moves from the low back to the backs of the thighs, sometimes into the lower legs or feet can include numbness or tingling
- Muscle spasms and tightness in the low back, pelvis, and hips
- Pain that worsens after prolonged sitting or standing
- Difficulty standing up straight, walking, or going from standing to sitting
In addition, symptoms of lower back pain are usually described by type of onset and duration:
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Low Back Pain Physical Therapy
If you are interested in receiving physical therapy, give JOI Rehab a call at . The fast track spine program ensures that you will get into a spine physical therapist quickly. Conservative spine physical therapy can be very beneficial in your recovery and your return to function. JOI Rehab is now offering Telemedicine services.
To make an appointment with a Spine Orthopedic Specialist at the JOI, call or schedule online HERE.
To learn more about low back pain and what you can do for it read our Low Back Pain article HERE.
How Your Back Works
The spine, which is also called the backbone or spinal column, is one of the strongest parts of the body and gives us a great deal of flexibility and strength.
Its made up of 24 bones, known as vertebrae, one sitting on top of the other. These bones have discs in between and lots of strong ligaments and muscles around them for support. There are also the bones in the tailbone at the bottom of the back, which are fused together and have no discs in between.
On either side of the spine, running from top to bottom, are many small joints called the facet joints.
The spinal cord passes inside the vertebrae, which protect it.
The spinal cord connects to the brain through the base of the skull and to the rest of the body by nerves that pass through spaces between the bones of the spine. These nerves are also known as nerve roots.
As you grow older, the structures of your spine, such as the joints, discs and ligaments, age as well. The structures remain strong but its usual for your back to get stiffer as you get older.
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Best Home Remedies For Lower Back Pain
If your lower back pain is less severe, try these remedies at home:
If your lower back pain is sharp or persists after trying home remedies, consult an orthopaedic specialist.
Is It Sciatica Pain
Sciatica happens when the sciatic nerve in your spine becomes irritated and causes pain. Because this extra-long nerve extends down your legs, it can cause pain anywhere from the lower back to the toes. Pain can be mild or severe.
Its typically a symptom of something else. A herniated disc, for example, can cause sciatic nerve compression or inflammation. Its also one of the most common reasons for this type of radiating nerve pain. Other conditions that may cause sciatica include:
- Degenerative disc disease
- Blood tests
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How To Get Relief From Back Pain That Happens While Standing And Not While Walking
- Ice and Heat Pack Can Help Relieve Back Pain that Happens While Standing and Not While Walking: When you get a back pain, without a certain knowledge of the cause behind it, you can still try and reduce the pain with an ice pack at first and then with a hot pad. The sequence should carefully be followed in which the ice pack should be applied first and then the hot pad should be applied. Though after any injury or pain, it is more tempting to put a hot pad, this will only increase the release of inflammatory compounds. You should apply ice packs for about 10 minutes at a stretch and then take a break of another 10 minutes and then repeat the process. This process should be continued for 24 to 48 hours. It is only after the ice pack that you should proceed to apply hot pad. None of the ice packs or the hot pads should be applied directly on the skin.
- Acupuncture is Effective in Providing Relief from Back Pain that Happens While Standing and Not While Walking: The use of small needles being pierced into the skin may seem to be a daunting task at first the fact is that this procedure can release those compounds that actually cause the pain to occur. You must always seek professional help from a skilled expert, specializing in acupuncture.
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Exercising At Work To Help With Standing
If you stand all day, doing stretching exercises throughout the day can interrupt the routine posture you hold. Doing a simple back stretch every hour is easy to do and can be especially helpful for people who are unable to sit at work. For example, the physiologist suggests doing the Standing Cat Camel:
- Stand with your feet under your shoulders
- Slightly bend the knees
- Put your hands on your legs just above the knees
- Round the back and curve the shoulders
- Arch the back and open the chest while rolling the shoulders back
- Alternate the rounding and arching of the back for 2 minutes every hour
Some other exercises you can do while at work include squats, shifting from one foot to another, rolling from tiptoes to heels and back, stretching towards the ceiling with arms reaching up and then stretch downward while keeping the legs straight, and side bends, to name a few.
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