My Spine - Lumbar
The pain usually improves with movement, but certain movements, like arch-
ing your back, typically makes it worse. It is frequently associated with
referred pain, in other words pain that is experienced at a site distant to the
source of the inflammation.
Referred back pain
This is pain that spreads from the inflamed tissue in the lower back along
nerves to other parts of the body. This would frequently be experienced in the
area of the hips, the thighs and even between the shoulder blades. This is
directly associated with mechanical back pain. It should not be confused with
sciatica. The patterns of referred pain frequently overlap somewhat with sci-
atica, which can be confusing in making the diagnosis of the type of pain.
Sciatica (Radicular pain)
This is pain that is caused by a pinched nerve and the pain will travel down
the length of the nerve and be most severe at the distal point of the nerve, but
can manifest at any point along the length of the nerve.When the nerve, for
instance between the fourth vertebra and the fifth vertebra, is being pinched,
the pain will be sensed at the ankle and on the top of the foot, as this is where
the nerve ends up. It is typical that referred pain spreads to the upper leg, but
sciatica would normally spread beyond the knee. Apart from the compression
of the nerve root, there is usually also inflammatory changes in the nerve root
that leads to pain.
A pinched nerve may require surgery. Although surgery is very effective in
loosening nerves that are being pinched and fixing unstable areas of the spine,
it almost always leads to increased stress on the rest of the spine and is
believed to speed up the wear and tear of the spine.
The main aim of treating spinal pain should always be to support the normal
biological recovery processes of the body. Surgery is always the last option
and the aim of surgery would be to relieve the symptoms and to maintain the
normal biomechanical stability of the spine.
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