Back pain, dare not straighten my back

Low back pain is considered an important problem in the eyes of many people, because when the waist hurts, it often makes people feel very uncomfortable and even restless. Moreover, the degree of back pain varies from person to person. Some people have mild back pain and can walk normally, but some people have severe back pain and cannot even straighten their backs normally. If you have lower back pain and cannot straighten your back, you need to take measures to treat it.

1. Treatment of lumbar disc herniation

Lumbar disc herniation is one of the more common lumbar diseases in clinical practice and is a common and frequently occurring disease in orthopedics. This is mainly because the various parts of the lumbar intervertebral disc (nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus and cartilage plate), especially the nucleus pulposus, have different degrees of degenerative changes. Under the influence of external factors, the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc ruptures, and the nucleus pulposus tissue protrudes (or falls out) from the ruptured part to the back or inside the spinal canal, causing adjacent tissues, such as spinal nerve roots and spinal cord, to be stimulated or compressed, resulting in a series of clinical symptoms such as low back pain, numbness and pain in one or both lower limbs. Lumbar disc herniation is a diagnosis of Western medicine, and there is no such disease name in traditional Chinese medicine. Instead, the disease is generally classified under the category of "low back pain" and "low back and leg pain". Traditional Chinese medicine has long recorded and has a deep understanding of low back and leg pain.

Causes of Lumbar Disc Herniation

(1) Degenerative changes of the lumbar intervertebral disc: The degeneration of the nucleus pulposus is mainly manifested by a decrease in water content, which can cause small-scale pathological changes such as joint instability and loosening; the degeneration of the annulus fibrosus is mainly manifested by a decrease in toughness. (2) The effect of external force: Minor damage caused by long-term and repeated external force acts on the lumbar intervertebral disc over time, aggravating the degree of degeneration. (3) Weaknesses of the intervertebral disc’s own anatomical factors: ① The intervertebral disc gradually lacks blood circulation after adulthood and has poor repair ability. Based on the effects of the above factors, some inducing factors that can cause a sudden increase in the pressure on the intervertebral disc may cause the less elastic nucleus pulposus to pass through the annulus fibrosus that has become less tough, thereby causing nucleus pulposus herniation.

Predisposing factors of lumbar disc herniation;

①Sudden weight-bearing or lumbar sprain is the main cause of annular fibrous rupture.

② Trauma to the lumbar region causes the degenerated nucleus pulposus to protrude.

③Improper posture can induce nucleus pulposus herniation.

④ Nucleus pulposus herniation may also occur when abdominal pressure increases.

⑤Exposure to cold and damp. Cold or dampness can cause small blood vessel constriction and muscle spasm, which increases the pressure on the intervertebral disc and may also cause degenerative disc rupture. External factors include excessive weight bearing or rapid bending, lateral flexion, and rotation resulting in rupture of the annulus fibrosus, or lumbar trauma, improper daily working posture, etc., which can also cause lumbar disc herniation.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the main causes and pathogenesis of low back pain (lumbar disc herniation) are:

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that low back and leg pain (lumbar disc herniation) is mainly due to kidney deficiency, which allows wind, cold and dampness to enter the body and accumulate in the tendons, muscles and bones. In addition, excessive fatigue, sprains and falls can cause damage to the tendons and blockage of the meridians, which causes pain. Therefore, the patient experiences low back pain as if broken, inability to turn, soreness and numbness in the waist and legs, which are often difficult to heal. Therefore, trauma and wind, cold and dampness are the external causes of lumbar disc herniation, and kidney deficiency is the internal cause of lumbar disc herniation.

Signs and clinical manifestations of lumbar disc herniation:

The main symptoms are lower back pain and sciatica. Before the onset of the disease, there is often a history of lumbar sprain, lumbar fatigue or lumbar cold. This low back and leg pain is aggravated by activities such as walking, standing, and sitting for a long time, and can be temporarily relieved after bed rest. The pain in one or both lower limbs radiates along the sciatic nerve, along the buttocks to the back or outside of the thigh and the outside and posterior side of the calf to the dorsum or sole of the foot. In some patients, the pain may start in the calf or outer ankle. Half of the patients may experience aggravated lower limb pain due to coughing, sneezing or abdominal straining. For patients with high-positioned lumbar disc herniation, the symptoms are mostly manifested in pain in the lower abdominal groin area or the anterior and inner thigh. Patients with huge central disc herniation may experience abnormal urination and defecation or incontinence, numbness in the saddle area, and in severe cases, foot drop. Some patients with lumbar disc herniation experience cold lower limbs due to stimulation of their lumbar sympathetic nerves, and some may also have unilateral or bilateral lower limb edema.

Treatment of lumbar disc herniation

The main problem of lumbar disc herniation is the compression of nerve roots by the herniation and the subsequent aseptic inflammation around the nerve roots. The key to treatment is to relieve the compression of the protrusion on the nerve root, eliminate the chemical stimulation of aseptic inflammation, and not increase the patient's pain. If the compression cannot be completely relieved, basic cure can be achieved as long as the inflammation subsides. The use of drug treatment is an auxiliary means, and the effect can be more obvious and easier to achieve ideal results when combined with external application of medicine. Based on the basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine and combined with the patient's specific condition, choosing appropriate Chinese medicine formula can effectively treat lumbar disc herniation.

Preventing recurrence of lumbar disc herniation

After treatment and rest, patients with lumbar disc herniation can have their symptoms alleviated or cured, but the recurrence rate of the disease is quite high. The reasons are: (1) After treatment of lumbar disc herniation, although the symptoms have basically disappeared, the nucleus pulposus of many patients is not completely returned, but the degree of compression on the nerve roots is alleviated, or the adhesion to the nerve roots is released. (2) Although the condition of patients with lumbar disc herniation has stabilized or recovered, fatigue or sprain of the waist within a short period of time may cause the nucleus pulposus to protrude again, leading to a recurrence of the disease. (3) Failure to keep warm during cold and humid seasons can cause wind, cold and dampness to invade the affected parts of the body, and fatigue can easily trigger a recurrence of the disease. (4) Liver and kidney damage cannot be restored in time. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the kidneys store essence and control bones, while the liver stores blood and controls tendons. If the kidney essence is sufficient and the liver blood is abundant, the tendons and bones will be strong and the joints will be flexible. Deficiency of the liver and kidneys, decreased physiological functions, and insufficient essence and blood of the liver and kidneys cause the tendons and bones to be malnourished, which can easily lead to the recurrence of osteoarthritis or difficulty in healing of bone diseases. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the kidneys, bones and waist to prevent recurrence of bone disease.