Is Back Pain a Disease of the Old?

spinal stenosis

For many of us, several things begin to happen to our back as we grow older. Our bones become brittle, muscles and ligaments loses that flexibility that exists in a youth; the discs between the vertebra lose moisture and shape due to wear and tear. As a result, the spinal canal becomes narrower putting pressure on the spinal cord and spinal nerves causing pain, loss of feeling {both in the hand and leg} and general weakness in the body. Medical practitioners have described this kind of condition where the spinal canal becomes narrow as spinal stenosis.

Spinal stenosis is a medical condition in which the spinal canal narrows and compresses the spinal cord and spinal nerves. This is usually due to the common occurrence of spinal degeneration that occurs with aging. It can also sometimes be caused by spinal disc rupture, osteoporosis or a tumor. Spinal stenosis may affect the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spine. In some cases, it may be present in all three places in the same patient. Lumbar spinal stenosis results in low back pain as well as pain or abnormal sensations in the legs, thighs, feet or buttocks, or loss of bladder and bowel control.

Back pain has been terrorizing human beings for very long time now and so it is not a disease of recent times as some people would believe. It is a global health concern. Civilization has also brought about back pain in terms of the work we do. Our jobs require us to do more of either sitting, standing, lifting objects, etc. This has endangered our health which leads to one form of back pain {Waist, mid-back, neck pain}. Most disabilities in older peoples are as a result of improper walking, standing or sitting posture or careless usage of their back while young and active.

What this means is that at their later years, they will suffer severe consequences especially when the pains spread to organs in the body such as lungs and other internal organs. In the lungs, there is constriction which means that the patient would find it difficult to breathe {agonizing pain is felt when breathing}. Other internal organs would also be deprived of adequate support from the lungs which would bring about difficulty in defecation, urination, penis erection for men and organism for women.

Well, all hope is not lost as there are still ways in which you can put those pains in your back to rest. There are many ways of relieving back pain but the best still remains therapy. Visit a physiotherapist today nearby or asked your doctor to refer you to one.