May 24, 2011

Lumbar Strain

I once said that i have Mild Scoliosis and this past few months, i am experiencing pain on the lower back of my body, after experiencing constant pain, i took another xray to check my thoracolumbar spine and before i had 6 degrees.

I dont know if the pain has something to do with my Scoliosis. The rehab doctor scheduled me to 3 sessions of Physical therapy for the pain. She said that i have Lumbar Strain. Since the medical term is jargon for me, i googled and check what it is.



What is a low back strain or lumbar sprain?

Muscle strains and lumbar sprains are the most common causes of low back pain. A low back muscle strain occurs when the muscle fibers are abnormally stretched or torn. A lumbar sprain occurs when the ligaments, the tough bands of tissue that hold bones together, are torn from their attachments. Differentiating a strain from a sprain can be difficult, as both injuries will show similar symptoms. Many doctors refer to both injuries as a category called "musculoligamentous injuries" of the lumbar spine. In general, it doesn't matter what you call the problem because the treatment and prognosis for both back strains and sprains is the same.

What are the symptoms of a low back injury?

Most lumbar muscle strains and sprains cause symptoms isolated to the low back, usually they do not cause problems in the legs like some other spine conditions. The most common symptoms of a lumbar strain or sprain are:
    • Pain around the low back and upper buttocks
    • Low back muscle spasm
    • Pain associated with activities, and generally relieved with rest

What causes these symptoms of low back pain and spasm?

When the lumbar spine is strained or sprained, inflammation of the soft-tissues results. This inflammation causes pain and can cause muscle spasm. People are often surprised at how painful and debilitating a lumbar strain or sprain can be--these are not small injuries. They often force patients to remain in bed for a day or two, and can cause intermittent symptoms for weeks. That said, over 90% of patients are completely recovered from an episode of lumbar muscle strain or sprain within one month.


 
I had my first therapy last Saturday and yesterday is my second time. During my first therapy, what the therapist did with me is he let me lie on the bed, put this cold cream on my back, stick the wires that gives you like electricity, para kang kinakagat ng langgam. Pain is tolerable maybe because you are the one controlling the machine.

This is the device that you're going to control, as long as you can tolerate the pain then its good, on top of the wires is like hot compress on your back. After 20 minutes of this, we did some exercise for the lumbar strain. That's it on my first session.

Yesterday was my 2nd session, i am brave to go there because i didnt feel pain before. Yun pala sa una lang pala walang pain. The girl therapist did again the procedure like on the first session but now there's additional machine. I didn't expect that there's procedure that will locate the position of the muscle strain and this comes the painful part of the therapy.

This is the machine used on my back. The thing on the right side (the green color that looks like microphone), thats the thing used in locating the pain and its really painful because the therapist had to press the part of the muscles several times. And i was crying to death! Good thing hubby is not with me because he will feel sorry for me :(

After 20 mins of painful therapy, massage comes after. Theres pain also but not like the first one. She advised me not to do the exercise taught by the other therapist and instead took a 2 days bedrest but i have too many absent from work already since last week so i need to report today. The therapist had to ask me if i can go back today but since i had to go to work, our next schedule will be tomorrow. If there's still pain after 3 sessions, i need to continue the therapy until its gone. And after 6 months im going to have another xray for my Scoliosis to check again my thoracolumbar spine. Hay..

Proper Posture Guide


Just a simple reminder that anyone can have the Lumbar Strain, it just so happen that i also have Scoliosis kaya konektado. If you are an employee like me, you have to do the right posture especially when sitting in from of the computer, this is one of the cause in having the Lumbar Strain. Remember that prevention is better than cure :)




No comments:

Post a Comment