Low back pain is one of the most common pains in society. According to a study, approximately 67 out of 100 people have back pain or have experienced it at some point in their lives (7 out of 10 people is a very high number!) Moreover, there is no age selection. Both 16-year-olds and 85-year-olds come to our polyclinics. It is reported that it is more common in women, but men are more likely to undergo surgery. Is there a difference in terms of profession? There's no room? There are those who work at a desk and those who work in the fields. When these patients ask doctors why this happened, we say that the one working at a desk is due to inactivity, and the one working in the field is due to bending over too much. Anyway, this is not our topic.
If there is so much back pain, what really causes low back pain?
The issue is all about the degeneration, that is, the aging of the gel-like structure between the two vertebrae, which we call the disc between the waist. . What happens when it gets old? The fiber-like structures inside break, and the liquid inside the disc loses its content. Therefore, the height of the disk decreases. As the size of the disc decreases, the joints behind the vertebrae begin to deteriorate. Once this damage starts, it continues. Is it possible to stop? No, but it is possible to slow it down.
So what causes this wear on the disk? One of the most important reasons is aging. Just as our skin wrinkles as we get older, our discs also lose water and damage occurs in the back joints. The other reason is that we do actions that will damage our discs. These movements include working with legs straight, leaning forward, lifting heavy items, and working with vibrating devices.
Another reason is not to exercise in order to protect our waist and discs. With exercise, it is possible to keep the waist, back and abdominal muscles strong and create a natural corset around our waist. Additionally, keeping our leg muscles flexible and strong reduces the load on our waist. Keeping our muscles strong and flexible increases the harmony in our movements, makes us more agile, which makes us less exposed to injuries.
Is it possible to have back pain and not talk about being overweight? Excess weight equals the burden on the waist. As we mentioned above, when we make inappropriate movements, the load on our waist increases. Also, weight means inflammation from fatty tissue. In a sense, it means the secretion of substances that damage tissues. Not to mention that high weight reduces mobility. Then, keep in mind how difficult it will be to get rid of back pain without losing that weight.
It should be noted that smoking, along with weight, is an extremely negative factor in back pain. When a cigarette is smoked, our smallest capillaries remain constricted for approximately 7 hours. The disc structure is already a structure with little blood supply. When the blood supply is reduced for such a long time, degeneration automatically occurs, that is, damage. Since the structure of the fibers inside is damaged, they begin to break and the degeneration sequence I mentioned above occurs.
Another harm of smoking is that it causes cough. Every time we cough, we make a kind of straining movement, which means our intra-abdominal pressure increases. The increase in intra-abdominal pressure puts a load on the discs and causes the nucleus inside the disc to be pushed out, which is the herniation we know.
Another factor that may cause low back pain is strain on the muscles and ligaments. If we do a job that our body is not used to, or if we overexert ourselves during any work or sports activity, strain on the muscles and ligaments may occur. Especially people who have previously had back pain are more susceptible to this type of injury because there is already a problem with the ground. Another important reason for these injuries is that the muscles around the waist are weak and injured because they cannot bear the loads. So, if you are aware, everything comes down to exercise.
Now that we understand the mechanism of lower back pain, to be protected; We should not gain weight, we should not smoke, we should avoid movements that will hurt our waist and we should exercise regularly.
Hope you stay in good health.
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