Cause of lower back pain?

Denerick

Wikipedia says most of the time its pyschological. 8/10 people will have it at some stage in their life. I currently have it and its hell!!

I'm not looking for medical advice, just curiousity. So is the pain real or imagined?

Improbable

couldn't really say without a diagnosis. Could be either.

Vorsprung

There's undoubtedly a psychological element that perpetuates the condition, resulting from the fact the some people are bed or house bound by the condition, so the pain is often the only thing in their minds - not great for their mental state. I wouldn't wish back pain on my worst enemy.

Causes wise, there's loads - I would be looking up sites like eMedicine or UpToDate for information on causes, rather than Wiki!

belongtojazz

I have a diagnosed back ailment and suffered with Cauda Equina syndrome a few years ago, which thankfully I made a nearly 100% recovery from.

But I do still believe there is a small % of my pain which is not physical. As soon as I get stressed my pain levels increase a lot. I refuse to give into it and have fought it for years. I have seen friends with less severe conditions than mine who became housebound and reliant on sticks to get around. My best advice to anyone with back pain is to try and not let the psychological effects be worse than the physical ones.

Good luck with your back I hope you make a speedy recovery

suckmyloli

Hi,

I have been suffering from the same condition for many years and I'm only in my early 20s.

Having said that I grew up in very hostile surroundings which not only may be the cause to my stunted growth*, but also the pain in my lower back. I went to different hospitals, clinics and GPs and no one seemed to find anything "wrong" till I went to a physio therapy clinic.

The therapy I recieved there certainly helped, however I do notice that during periods of great stress the pain tends to increase, probably becuase I am unconsciously tensing my muscles. My opinion of physiotherapists has been changed forever

*(some research suggest children growing up in hostile environments don't grow as tall as they should since their bodies are in constant "fight or flight" mode which inhibits HGH [human growth hormone] from being released and hence not growing).

HQvhs

Interesting question. Whether pain has a "psychological" or "physical" cause, it is very real. The truth is no one knows for certain what causes pain, however there a number of theories.
A way to describe it might be to say that the mind is like a cassete player, with a 'pain' tape - e.g. back pain, etc. I.e. the experience of pain occurs in the mind. But anything can push the play button and trigger the pain. For example, stubbing your toe. Other factors can modulate this, such as stress, concentrating on the pain, rubbing the affected area, expectation of pain levels, medication etc.

So yes, a high proportion of back pain may have no identifiable 'physical' cause, but that does not mean it is very real pain. This is a problem for the health service because often medics get frustrated when a patient presents like this, and occasionaly they may not either take the complaint as seriously as they would pain with a physical cause.

An interesting example is the repetitive strain injury epidemic in Australia in the 80s and 90s. No root physical cause could be found, and the epidemic seems to have disappeared after doctors stopped classifying it as a disease. (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118810255/HTMLSTART)

All in all, it's clear pain is more complicated than it seems!

irishh_bob

whenever doctors cannot find the answer to a problem beit pain related or otherwise , they dismiss it as being the patients head , its a very easy conclusion for the doctor to come to and one which they are usually very comfortable about

JuliusCaesar

irishh_bob wrote: »

whenever doctors cannot find the answer to a problem beit pain related or otherwise , they dismiss it as being the patients head , its a very easy conclusion for the doctor to come to and one which they are usually very comfortable about

Funny that psychologists are often involved in pain management then.

As mentioned above, stress will cause increased pain; being depressed and miserable about the pain increases the perception of pain.

There is no mind/body seperation - we are one, if I might be Zen about it.

irishh_bob

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Funny that psychologists are often involved in pain management then.

As mentioned above, stress will cause increased pain; being depressed and miserable about the pain increases the perception of pain.

There is no mind/body seperation - we are one, if I might be Zen about it.

was watching an eppisode of HOUSE a week ago or so , surrounded a charechter who tried to commit suicide due to his extreme chronic pain

a few of the doctors were dismissing his claims as being psychological and that the man was obviously depressed , HOUSE quickly cut them short by stating , hes depressed because hes in pain , not in pain because hes depressed !

sam34

irishh_bob wrote: »

was watching an eppisode of HOUSE a week ago or so , surrounded a charechter who tried to commit suicide due to his extreme chronic pain

a few of the doctors were dismissing his claims as being psychological and that the man was obviously depressed , HOUSE quickly cut them short by stating , hes depressed because hes in pain , not in pain because hes depressed !

oh well, if house says it then it must be true :rolleyes:

sam34

notwithstanding my flippant comment above, it would be foolish not to acknowledge that pain can very often be a symptom of depression, but likewise those with chronic pain (or indeed any chronic illness) are more susceptible to depression. it's a two way street.

Denerick

sam34 wrote: »

notwithstanding my flippant comment above, it would be foolish not to acknowledge that pain can very often be a symptom of depression, but likewise those with chronic pain (or indeed any chronic illness) are more susceptible to depression. it's a two way street.

Originally I twisted my back after leaning down for my beer can (Thats not the explanation I gave my mother, mind) and the pain was excruciating for 4/5 days. I don't know if the pain was pyschological or not, but it was certainly very real. I almost felt disabled for those few days, thats how bad it was...

sam34

Denerick wrote: »

Originally I twisted my back after leaning down for my beer can (Thats not the explanation I gave my mother, mind) and the pain was excruciating for 4/5 days. I don't know if the pain was pyschological or not, but it was certainly very real. I almost felt disabled for those few days, thats how bad it was...

thats different to what i'm getting at.

people who are depressed tend to have more somatic complaints than non-depressed people. with some people, thats pain, with others (elderly in particular) it's constipation.

particularly relevant to the elderly, because they tend not to complain of depression (good old societal stigma) they often complain of aches&pains , constipation, weariness etc... if that starts happening with an elderly person you really have to be mindful of an actual depressive illness.

i've kinda veered off the original topic of back pain though...:pac:

irishh_bob

sam34 wrote: »

notwithstanding my flippant comment above, it would be foolish not to acknowledge that pain can very often be a symptom of depression, but likewise those with chronic pain (or indeed any chronic illness) are more susceptible to depression. it's a two way street.

dont appologise , dismissing lay persons views are part and parcel of being a doctor

sam34

irishh_bob wrote: »

dont appologise , dismissing lay persons views are part and parcel of being a doctor

charming.

bob, this is a scientific discussion forum, it isnt a forum for exercising that chip on your shoulder or for making derogatory, insulting generalisations about the thousands of doctors in this country.

take that elsewhere... i suggest ranting & raving.

post in that manner in here again and you will be banned. no further warnings.

irishh_bob

sam34 wrote: »

charming.

bob, this is a scientific discussion forum, it isnt a forum for exercising that chip on your shoulder or for making derogatory, insulting generalisations about the thousands of doctors in this country.

take that elsewhere... i suggest ranting & raving.

post in that manner in here again and you will be banned. no further warnings.

interesting that i see no such rap on the knuckles for your sarcastic reply to my earlier post regarding an eppisode of HOUSE

sam34

irishh_bob wrote: »

interesting that i see no such rap on the knuckles for your sarcastic reply to my earlier post regarding an eppisode of HOUSE

as always, if you have an issue with a post report it.

if it's a post of mine, my co-mods will deal with it.