The lumbar vertebrae are 5 (L1-L5) and they are with the biggest sizes from all other vertebraes. They could take the weight from the vertebraes above and that is why very often the lower vertebraes ( L4-L5 and L5-S1) are the most problematic. The lumbar area secures mobility of the body and in the lower legs while walking, running and etc.
Because of the combination between vertebraes, nerves and muscles sometimes it is very difficult for our brain to recognize the exact reason of the pain. Almost everyone of us had experienced painfulness in this area and that is why that is one of the most often reasons for work sick leave.
Usually the pain in the low back is provoked from some kind of physical activity – lifting heavy subjects in a wrong way , taking a wrong posture for long time, direct trauma, sometimes even one very simple bending down. The most often symptoms are:
- Constant dull pain or sharp pain in the lumbar area
- Burning pain, radiating towards the buttocks
- Muscle spasm in the lumbar area
- Pain, increasing with sitting and standing
- Pain with continius walking or standing
The sitting pose increases the pressure of the lumbar vertebraes, that is a reason for the appearance of degenerative changes in the future. High percent of the people bend on left or right, forward , while sitting, which put additional pressure on the spine and it is a reason for the appearance of obvious muscle disbalance. Therefore it is recommended to stand up often ( every 20-30 min).to drink water, to stretch the muscles around the neck and the shoulders.
When the pain does not go in a few days, it is better for you to go to a doctor, or to make a ST- SCAN or MRI of the lumbar area. Together with the drugs-medicine therapy it is recommended to make a course of physiotherapy treatments. The electrotherapy has a goal to decrease the inflammation and the pain, the manual therapy is increasing the mobility in the lumbar area and the condition of the soft tissues and afterwards we could make a programme with exercises and stretching.