Idowu Abdullahi
Senior medical practitioners have asked people experiencing chronic back pain to go for a medical examination to ascertain its cause and get proper treatment rather than gulping painkillers that could aggravate their condition.
The physicians revealed that having persistent chronic pain could be a sign of serious and life-threatening health conditions, including kidney diseases.
Other health conditions listed by the experts that may result in back pain include cancer, problems with the pancreas and heart problems.
Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise, a professor of physiotherapy at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Babatunde Adegoke, explained that chronic back pain lasted more than 12 weeks, adding that the common pain occurred in the lower back.
Adegoke stated, “I have had experiences like that. When you try everything with a patient and still the pain doesn’t change, then it means you may be dealing with something worse. So, there was a patient that I observed, eventually, we found out that the patient was having cancer and that was what was responsible for the back pain.
“Also, kidney problems can cause back pain, problems with the pancreas can cause back pain and even some heart conditions can also cause back pain. So back pain could be a sign of more serious things. But you don’t look for more serious things until you can’t find where the pain is coming from.”
Giving more insights into back pain, the expert maintained that pain also had its positive side, adding that without pain some people might not seek medical help.
“Pain has some positive aspects because pain forces people to treat themselves or find medical solutions. Without pain, most of us will work ourselves till we drop and die. Pain will tell you something is wrong and that is the reason people come to the hospital,” Prof. Adegoke said.
On chronic back pain, the don said while pain could occur anywhere in the back, it was more common in the lower back area.
“Chronic back pain is when a pain lasts more than 12 weeks. When we talk about back pain, you know the back starts below the neck to just above the buttocks. So, the area where the pain is most common is the lower back just above the buttocks. But the pain can occur anywhere in the back but it is more common in that area.
“In physiotherapy, we deal with what we call mechanical low back pain. Mechanical means that when you subject the back to some movement, it could worsen or reduce the pain and that is how we determine how to manage the pain. But sometimes when you do that, the pain doesn’t change- it doesn’t get worse nor better – after that, you can now look for more serious things that could cause the pain.”
On his part, a Professor of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Mike Ogirima, disclosed that dancing which involves several shakes and twisting is an abuse of the back.
The surgeon also listed wrong sitting habits, people engaging in rigorous work involving bending like labourers and artisans as part of the abuse of the back.
Ogirima, who is a past President of the Nigerian Medical Association, said this abuse could subject the back to experience faster wear and tear, and sometimes back pain.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, the bone expert explained that while there were several factors that may lead to an individual experiencing back pain, it could also be the price that humans were paying for walking erect.
According to him, back pain, whether it is upper or lower can result from so many conditions. “We are human beings, but we belong to the homosapiens and the lower homosapiens, lower animals, walk with four legs and there is no degeneration like the wear and tear of the back in them as we see in human beings.
“So, it could be a price we are paying for walking erect. It is designed so that the forces working on the back are well balanced, so back pain can originate most essentially from the evolutionary point of view. We don’t know the cause but maybe as many surgeons believe, it may be the price we are paying for walking erect with two legs,” Ogirima said.
Speaking further on other causes of back pain, the professor of orthopaedic and trauma surgery explained that there were also pathological causes due to diseases.
“When these diseases are along the structure of the back, the muscles are there and there are internal organs that are lying against the back. When you look at these, you can say that the causes of pain may be trauma in origin (that could be injury or due to infections and could be due to abuse of the back) or wear and tear that arise along those structures that I have mentioned. So, if we have pains in the back, the onus is on the specialist to comb down on the particular cause.
“So, as I have mentioned these groups of causes, there are so many factors that can cause back pain including injury and deformity because somebody can be born with back deformity.”
On the abuse of the back that may lead to chronic back pain, Ogirima listed factors including human porters carrying heavy loads, among others.
“The abuse of the back includes sitting habits. You are supposed to sit with your back squared up, but some people like to sit slant back or slant forward and that is abuse. Some people like to carry heavy loads and by that, they’re overloading the mechanical axis of the back.
“Then, a lot of dancing, twisting and twerking is an abuse of the back; that is subjecting the back to an unusual force.”
He advised that after sitting in one place for two hours, people should take a walk to stretch their back, adding that sitting in one position for two hours can worsen back pain.
“If you have back pain and you sit awkwardly and continue to sit like that for a long time, it is possible to worsen the pain. Also, if there is an infection somewhere in the vertebrae and it’s not detected, the pain can get worse. And if you have a tumour around the spine that is causing back pain which is not detected early, or if you’re maintaining a posture without changing it, it could get worse,” Ogirima said.
On lifestyle changes that should be adopted by people experiencing back pain, the bone expert said sufferers of back pain should avoid stressful activities.
“Some back pain comes with aging and being overweight, so avoid being overweight. We can’t stop aging but as you age, limit yourself to activities that will not stress your back.
“Anyone who is experiencing chronic back pain should see a specialist to examine the pain and to ensure the cause is identified and necessary care or medical advice is given.
“The more you use the back, especially for people who do rigorous work like labourers, artisans, the more you bend down and use the back, the more you are being subjected to faster wear and tear,” Ogirima said.
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