Lower Back Pain

Authors

Kritsada Yang, Rachel Flores, John Estrada, Kayla Wettlaufer

Overview

     Nowadays, there are many people that are involved in athletic activities. The many talks about being active almost always include the possibility of somebody getting injured by participating in contact sports or the stunt of growth of a adolescent by exercising and weightlifting but, the truth is, not everybody will get hit in the sport and suffer an injury and those who do lift weights won´t always have their growth stunted. The only way for a person to stunt their growth by weightlifting is by lifting too heavy of a weight and damaging any of their epiphyseal plate (growth plate) that is located in their bones. Although those hypothesis aren't true, there are many other problems an athlete could come in contact with. In the article "Multiple Spinal Anomalies in a High School Wrestler", a 14 year old athlete who is an active participant of motocross racing, competitive wrestling, and a weight lifter, suffered from lower back pain. Lower back pain is common with adolescents who are still having development in their bones. Half of the population that age from 18-20 suffer from lower back pain as well. The symptoms that accompany lower back pain are fevers, the loss of weight, constant pain, pain in the night, and/or a pain that progresses over time. There are many reasons that could be the cause of lower back pain. The causes include a defect at birth, infection, trauma, idiopathic pain, sickle-cell crisis or an overloaded backpack.

Treatment

     Like with any other type of pain, there is almost always a treatment. Lower back pain can either be acute, meaning temporary and for a short duration or chronic, meaning it's a long-lasting back pain that may be there for their entire lifespan. To treat an acute back pain, heat or ice pads can be applied to the area, pain killers and muscle relaxants can be consumed, epidural steroid shots can be injected, stimulation from electricity can be used, massages can be given, and a proliferant shot can be injected. The key to getting back to normal while suffering from lower back pain is to stay active. That does not particularly mean to go back to contact sports but just to exercise minimally to keep your body healthy. Proliferant shots have been used for over 60 years at the spondylolisthesis and transitional vertebrae. Chronic lower back pain is a lifetime of back pain unless it is treated correctly. To treat chronic lower back pain, acupuncture can be done on the area, biofeedback, cognitive-behavioral therapy, chiropractics, and a comprehensive amounts of rehabilitation programs.

Conclusion and comments

     After reading through this article and doing some research, I was able to find this entire topic educating. I have learned that the teenage group is the most active, but, with being the most active group, we are the ones most prone to suffer from lower back pain. At the conclusion of this research, I not only learned about the hazards of being active, but, I also feel obligated to help not only myself, but, also others that suffer from lower back pain. Before this article, I was unaware that lower back pain was this common. It's really something amazing when I have the chance to help another person and that's exactly what I'm going to do with this newly acquired information. I too, have lower back pain, and with this knowledge, I will attempt to help others and myself. This knowledge sparked something else, I will continue to learn about the teenage population and the common disorders they can have and will do the best of my ability to educate and treat others to the extent of my knowledge.

References

Barrall, S. Amy. (2009). Multiple Spinal Anomalies in a High School Wrestler. 2009 Human Kinetics, ATT 14(2), pp. 19-22.

WebMd. (June 29, 2012) Lower Back Strain Causes, Treatments, Exercises, and More - Back Pain Health Center. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/guide/low-back-strain 2005-2013 WebMD, LLC