According to statistics, more than 80% of people have experienced or are experiencing back pain. Such a high proportion is related to the stress and living habits of modern people. Sometimes soreness may be an important warning signal for the body, and it may be related to spinal lesions, which should not be ignored.

Taipei, Taiwan (Merxwire) - According to statistics, 80% of people have experience with lower back pain, and about a quarter of them have pain that lasts for more than a month. The reason for the high proportion is mainly because modern people are busy with work, have high pressure in life, lack exercise, and have poor posture, which makes the body tense for a long time. In addition, most people lack exercise and rarely stretch their muscles, which is prone to poor circulation and inability to relax their muscles, so they often suffer from soreness throughout their lives, which has become one of the diseases of modern civilization. The discomfort is exacerbated by musculoskeletal degeneration as we age.

According to the UK National Health Service, most waist and back pain has no specific cause. Pain is usually caused by the soft tissue, bones, or joints around the spine. It may be due to the natural aging of the spine or the accumulation of multiple daily injuries. This type of back pain usually has some common features:

• It may be caused by poor posture in daily life or when carrying heavy objects, but some are unexplained.
• Muscle injuries, such as sprains or strains, can turn into longer-term back pain.
• May worsen suddenly or slowly.
• Stress or exertion can exacerbate the pain.
• Pain can be ameliorated or relieved by light stretching, and complete inactivity or hyperactivity can be more uncomfortable.
• It will improve or worsen depending on your posture and can be relieved by sitting or lying down to rest.
  Usually gets better within a few weeks.

Some causes of soreness are traceable, such as long-term poor posture, excessive bending, often picking up heavy objects, accidentally straining when twisting, inadvertently injured during exercise, or being overweight and causing a burden on the spine. As a result, the muscles and bones will become inflamed, and pain will begin to appear. In severe cases, the normal activities of the lower back will be affected. Sometimes it is related to the type of work. Occupations that require standing for long periods of bending over to retrieve objects, such as farmers, nursing staff, workers, porters, or high-pressure groups, are more likely to have low back pain symptoms. This kind of soreness can usually be improved and is not easy to recur after the cause is found.

Even if you are used to occasional back pain, it should not be taken lightly, because the pain can also be caused by acute nerve damage caused by spinal diseases, such as vertebral fractures, degenerative arthritis, and lumbar nerve compression type lesions. The main treatment methods are drugs, rehabilitation, and physical therapy. If there is no improvement for up to three months, a neurosurgeon needs to determine whether surgery is needed to improve the disease based on the symptoms and detailed examination.

• Vertebral fractures: Possible causes are injuries, tumors, and osteoporosis. The fracture site can irritate nerves and cause intense pain with movement, making the patient want to stay in bed for long periods to reduce pain.
• Spinal joint degeneration: Bone spurs are formed after degeneration, and the neural tube becomes narrow. When walking for a long time, is more likely to cause lower back pain and numbness in the legs and feet. It is also called "nervous claudication".
• Lumbar nerve compression lesions: There may be nerve compression lesions caused by the above-mentioned bone spurs, tumors, or herniated discs.

In addition, it is also necessary to pay attention to whether it is an autoimmune-related disease "ankylosing spondylitis" caused by inflammation of the sacral joints, vertebral joints, and surrounding tissues in the pelvis. For older men, beware of bone metastases from prostate cancer. If the pain is concentrated in the lower back, attention should be paid to bone marrow, intervertebral disc inflammation-related infections, cauda equine syndrome, kidney stones, endometriosis, and fibromyalgia.

After finding out the real cause of low back pain, in addition to the guidance and treatment of professionals and doctors, it is recommended to adjust your lifestyle and add exercise, stress relief, nutritional health care, and physical relief to health care. In terms of sports, you can seek professional sports coaches to learn the movements to relieve low back pain, help muscles relax, stretch and increase flexibility. Developing regular systemic aerobic exercise habits, such as brisk walking, yoga, swimming, cycling, etc., for the relief of soreness, is also very helpful.

Pay attention to your daily diet, and supplement calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D from milk, beans, fish, yellow-green vegetables, and fruits to help bone growth. The gelatin in fish skin and pig's feet is also positive for joint repair. If you can't get enough nutrients from your diet, you can also take dietary supplements appropriately. Maintaining a normal weight range reduces the burden on the lower back muscles. Sleeping on the side in the baby position can reduce the curvature of the spine, relieve the pressure on the spine, and help the spine relax. Applying cold or hot compresses according to the symptoms can also relieve pain in time. When the pain gets worst, under the diagnosis of the doctor and pharmacist, appropriate anti-inflammatory painkillers can be taken. Health is a life-long matter, and don't ignore any distress signals from your body.