Why Does My Whole Lower Back Hurt

Why Does My Lower Back Hurt After I Eat

4.9/5Back pain after eatingpainback pain

Also asked, what does it mean when your back hurts after eating?

Some back pain and discomfort experienced after or during eating is avoidable, like pain associated with poor posture or heartburn. However, back pain during or after eating can also be caused by serious underlying health issues, like pancreatitis or gallbladder disease.

Likewise, can bowel problems cause lower back pain? If the pain in your lower back is dull and you have constipation, it’s possible that your back pain and constipation are related. The backup of stool in your colon or rectum could be causing the discomfort in your back. irritable bowel syndrome

Likewise, can food cause back pain?

Major dietary causes of back pain include caffeine, alcohol, and sugar. He notes that the science connecting diet and back pain applies to all levels of discomfort, concluding that eating a large amount of inflammatory food can cause muscles to contract without relaxing.

Can Overeating cause lower back pain?

Acid reflux and bad and aching stomach, go hand in hand within those who overeat. The food when dumped in the stomach callously becomes difficult to digest. Stomach takes more time for digestion. Many times, acid reflux is the major cause of severe back pain.

What Does It Mean If Lower Back Pain Is Shooting Into Legs

Lower back pain can radiate to other parts of the body: up or down from its place of origin. Sometimes lower back pain can be on one side of the back, which is also normal.

If the pain is shooting from the lower back into one or both legs, it could be sciatica , but its not always the case. There are many parts in the lower back that may cause the pain to radiate into the legs, such as facet joints, sacroiliac joints, muscles or inflammation of the bursa.

Causes Of Back Pain And 4 Ways To Prevent It

The statement that low back injuries tend to be difficult to cure can be a myth in many cases. By utilizing a team approach, the physician, the physical therapist, and the patient are the key players when choosing an appropriate treatment plan of care. With a physician’s written prescription for physical therapy, as well as recommendations from a registered physical therapist, we can help guide our patients and pave a pathway to recovery from their back disorders.

A physical therapist evaluates a man with lower back pain. Photo Source: 123RF.com.

A low back disorder may develop over a period of time or a patient may actually have a sudden onset of back pain. There may be one specific incident or known injury such as a fall, motor vehicle accident, direct trauma, or the back injury may be the cumulative result of one or all of the following:

• Poor posture
• Stressful living situations and poor working habits
• Limited flexibility and decreased strength

Take a look at that list and thinkWhy is it that my back always hurts? Am I guilty of poor posture or improper body mechanics? Do I need to work on my flexibility or reduce stress?

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What Is Back Pain

Back pain can be a symptom of many different illnesses and conditions. The main cause of the pain can be a problem with the back itself or by a problem in another part of the body. In many cases, doctors can’t find a cause for the pain. When a cause is found, common explanations include:

• Stress or injury involving the back muscles, including back sprain or strain chronic overload of back muscles caused by obesity and short term overload of back muscles caused by any unusual stress, such as lifting or pregnancy
• Disease or injury involving the back bones , including fracture from an accident or as a result of the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis
• Degenerative arthritis, a “wear and tear” process that may be related to age, injury and genetic predisposition.
• Disease or injury involving the spinal nerves, including nerve injury caused by a protruding disk or spinal stenosis

• Kidney stones or a kidney infection
• Inflammatory arthritis, including ankylosing spondylitis and related conditions
• A spinal tumor or a cancer that has spread to the spine from elsewhere in the body
• Infection, which may be in the disk space, bone , abdomen, pelvis or bloodstream

• Rarer causes include:

When To Call A Professional

Contact your doctor if:

• Severe back pain makes it impossible for you to do your normal daily activities.
• Your back pain follows significant trauma.
• Mild back pain gets worse after a few days or persists more than a week or two.
• Back pain is accompanied by weight loss, fever, chills or urinary symptoms.
• You develop sudden weakness, numbness or tingling in a leg.
• You develop numbness in the groin or rectum or difficulty controlling bladder or bowel function.
• You have had cancer previously and you develop persistent back pain.

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Reasons Why Your Lower Back May Be Cramping

While they could be fitness related, back cramps can also be an indication of an underlying problem.

No one enjoys dealing with different aches and pains throughout their body, especially when it comes to those located in the lower back.

Whether its from pushing yourself too far at your last workout , sleeping funny, or slouching at your desk all day, there can be many culprits that could be causing your lower back to cramp.

While the aforementioned are easily corrected with lifestyle changes, some back cramps can be an underlying sign of a greater complication happening within the body. To help us break down and differentiate the causes and symptoms, we spoke to medical professionals and health experts on the twelve different reasons why you could be experiencing pain and cramping in your lower back.

*While we trust the knowledge of our experts, its important to read over the potential causes and then see a medical physician to help diagnose why you may be having lower back cramps.

Dysfunction Of Sacroiliac Joints

Dysfunction of the sacroiliac joints is also called sacroiliitis. You have two sacroiliac joints, one on each side of your spine where it connects with the top of your pelvis. Sacroiliitis is inflammation of this joint. It can affect one or both sides.

Pain in your lower back and buttocks is the most common symptom. The pain is usually made worse by:

• standing

• unexplained weight loss
• pain after a fall or injury

If you need help finding a primary care doctor, you can browse doctors in your area through the Healthline FindCare tool.

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Back Pain Expert Philip Sell On The Questions To Ask

We asked Philip Sell, consultant orthopaedic and spinal surgeon, what he would want to know if he was suffering from back pain.

What is the cause of my back pain?In 85% of cases, were unable to be precise about why people have back pain. This can be frustrating. It may be more helpful to think about what you can do to make your back better quicker. Research has shown that occupational factors or physical factors only play a small part in back pain. Your genes are probably the most significant factor in back pain.

When should I visit my GP with back pain?See your GP as soon as possible if the back pain is combined with difficulty in passing urine or numbness between the legs or around the bottom. For people over the age of 55 with new back pain, a previous history of cancer surgery or loss of weight should also be medically checked as soon as possible.

Should I be resting?You may feel its the wrong thing to do, but keep mobile and active. Resting, bed rest in particular, can prolong the duration of an episode of back pain. Most acute episodes of back pain will settle on their own, often within days rather than weeks. Taking pain relief and keeping active will stop stiffness setting in and keep muscles in good condition.

What Are The Symptoms Of Lower Back Pain In Women

Pain in the lower back area can be acute or chronic . Paying attention to all symptoms you experience at the time can make management significantly easier. Symptoms of lower back pain in females depend on the cause.

As shown above, causes of pain in this area are numerous. In most cases, an affected person experiences a combination of the following symptoms:

• Dull or aching pain: refers to the pain that remains in the low back area. Pain can be stinging, burning, or sharp and it is usually accompanied by muscle spasms, pain in pelvis and hips, and decreased range of motion
• Pain feels better when changing positions: patients usually discover that some positions only enhance the pain in lower back while other positions alleviate it
• Pain gets worse after prolonged sitting: this symptom occurs in most cases of low back pain because sitting puts pressure on discs in your spine
• Pain is worse after waking up: a vast majority of patients who experience lower back pain report the discomfort is enhanced the first thing in the morning. However, pain decreases after getting up and moving
• Pain traveling to butt, legs, and feet: in some instances the pain doesnt remain in low back area, but it travels through your buttons down the legs and feet i.e. you experience symptoms of sciatica

If your lower back pain is accompanied by the following symptoms, you should seek immediate care:

• Fever and chills

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What Are Some Common Lower Back Pain Causes

The causes of lower back pain are sometimes viewed as being mechanical, organic or idiopathic. Sometimes spinal conditions are congenital or acquired meaning the disorder develops later in life.

• Mechanical lower back pain is often triggered by spinal movement and involves spinal structures, such as the facet joints, intervertebral discs, vertebral bodies , ligaments, muscles or soft tissues.
• Organic lower back pain is attributed to disease, such as spinal cancer.
• Idiopathic refers to an unknown cause.

These are some of the things your doctor might look for or rule out when you schedule a visit for back pain.

The common symptoms of lower back pain.

Sprains and strains. Ligament sprains and muscle or tendon strains are the most common causes of lower back pain. Theyre often related to overuse.

Degenerative disc disease. While the name sounds worrisome, it just means you have a damaged disc causing pain. Over time, discs become thinner and flatter due to wear and tear. That leaves them less able to cushion the vertebrae and more likely to tear .

Herniated disc. The protective covering on intervertebral discs can tear over time. When this happens, the soft inner disc tissue may push through the outer layer. A disc that bulges or slips out of place is known as a herniated disc, bulging disc, or slipped disc. The herniation may press on nerve roots, leading to symptoms such as pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in the area that the nerve serves

What Are The Symptoms Of Lumbar Strain

. Each person’s symptoms may be different. Symptoms may include:

• Sudden lower back pain
• Spasms in the lower back that result in more severe pain
• Lower back feels sore to the touch

Some of these symptoms may be caused by other health problems. Always talk with your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

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Herniated Disk In The Lower Back

The backbone, or spine, is made up of 26 bones called vertebrae. In between the bones are soft disks filled with a jelly-like substance. These disks cushion the vertebrae and keep them in place. Although people talk about a slipped disk, nothing actually slips out of place. The outer shell of the disk ruptures, and the jelly-like substance bulges out. It may be pressing on a nerve, which is what causes the pain.A slipped disk is more likely to happen due to strain on the back, such as during heavy lifting, and older individuals are at higher risk.

Rarity: Common

Top Symptoms: lower back pain, moderate back pain, back pain that shoots down the leg, back pain that gets worse when sitting, leg weakness

Urgency: Primary care doctor

Reasons Why Your Lower Back Hurts When You Walk

As a lower back specialist who has worked with thousands of people suffering with lower back pain and having experienced over a year of lower back pain myself and every possible intervention known to man I know for a fact that the number one difficulty when someone has back pain is walking. Now Im here to share with you why that is. Here are the 5 most common reasons why walking is so hard and painful when your back hurts.

If you would like to learn more about Lower Back Pain and Sciatica and strategies to reduce pain and allow for pain free walking you should consider attending our lower back pain and sciatica workshop. You can click the image below to learn more.

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The Importance Of An Accurate Diagnosis

The physician will need to take a careful medical history and do a physical exam to look for certain red flags that indicate the need for an X-ray or other imaging test. In most cases, however, imaging such as X-ray, MRI , or CT scan is unnecessary.

There may also be certain clues in a patients medical history. Low back, nonradiating pain is commonly due to muscle strain and spasm. Pain that radiates into the buttock and down the leg may be due to , a condition in which a bulging disc presses on the sciatic nerve, which extends down the spinal column to its exit point in the pelvis and carries nerve fibers to the leg. This nerve compression causes pain in the lower back radiating through the buttocks and down one leg, which can go to below the knee, often combined with localized areas of numbness. In the most extreme cases, the patient experiences weakness in addition to numbness and pain, which suggests the need for quick evaluation.

A persistent shooting or tingling pain may suggest lumbar disc disease. A pain that comes and goes, reaching a peak and then quieting for a minute or two, only to reach a peak again, may suggest an altogether different cause of back pain, such as a kidney stone.

When tumor or infection are suspected, the doctor may order blood tests, including a CBC and sedimentation rate .

Back Pain While Sleeping

Experiencing pain in the back while sleeping can be distracting at times and can make it difficult for you to either fall asleep, or remain asleep. For that reason, its important to find a position that not only supports your spine where you need it, while at the same time maintaining good posture. If you notice the pain is stopping you from sleeping at times, or youre experiencing pain at other times of the day perhaps at work you may benefit from having some degree of spinal analysis done by a professional, as they can often give you a good insight into the position and measurements of your spine.

At The Mayfair Clinic, our specialist range of orthopaedic tests and ability to measure the angles of the curves in your spine, means that were able to provide constructive advice on how to rehabilitate your spine so youre not experiencing pain during the day, as well as during the evening when taking the time to relax and winding down to sleep. If your posture has been neglected over time, providing the right treatment in the necessary places can help to give you immediate relief, while a rehabilitation programme can help to strengthen your spine in the long-term.

You can learn more and join today for free by clicking the Learn More button on this page.

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All Of The Worst Possible Causes Of Back Pain And Their Major Features

None of these are common. All of them usually cause serious symptoms that are easy to take seriously. Some of them can fly under the radar in early stages, but usually not for long. The names of the conditions link to carefully chosen articles from good sources.

Finucane LM, Downie A, Mercer C, et al. International Framework for Red Flags for Potential Serious Spinal Pathologies. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2020 Jul 50:350372. PubMed #32438853

Lower Back Pain Causes

Nonspecific low back pain means that the pain is not due to any specific or underlying disease that can be found. It is thought that in some cases the cause may be an over-stretch of a ligament or muscle. In other cases the cause may be a minor problem with a disc between two spinal bones , or a minor problem with a small facet joint between two vertebrae. There may be other minor problems in the structures and tissues of the lower back that result in pain. However, these causes of the pain are impossible to prove by tests. Therefore, it is usually impossible for a doctor to say exactly where the pain is coming from, or exactly what is causing the pain.

To some people, not knowing the exact cause of the pain is unsettling. However, looked at another way, many people find it reassuring to know that the diagnosis is nonspecific back pain which means there is no serious problem or disease of the back or spine.

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