Low Back Pain

Low back pain is a condition which is often experienced by many people. It has a high prevalence and is a burden in population.

Over 80% of the population will suffer from lower back pain at least once during their lives.¹

There are some impacts because of LBP. Mostly it occurs in productive age, it is the 2nd most common reason people visit a doctor, and LBP is the 5th most common reason for hospitalization.²

Many lower back problems also cause back muscle spasms, which don't sound like much but can cause severe pain and disability.¹

The causes of low back pain can be complex, and there are many structures in the spine that can cause pain. Doctors will ask patients to describe the location, severity and type of pain, in addition to the history of the pain: when the patient started to feel it, and any activities or positions that make the pain better or worse.¹

The most common of Low Back Pain is simple back pain or non-specific mechanical back pain. Mechanical back pain occurs because of inflammation caused by disk irritation, ligament injury or lumbar muscles injury.²

Inflammation or injury are not the only ones that can caused LBP, it also can occur due to abnormalities in other places such as infection or kidney stone, pregnancy, reproductive organs problem or tumors that occur locally in bony waist and had spread to the spine. ³

The usual diagnostic work-up for LBP is by doing laboratory examination for the urine and blood, radiology examination with x-ray of the spine, MRI, and CT-Scan, as well as examination of neurophysiology using EMG. ³

Diagnosing simple back pain is done by a careful anamnesis, a brief examination is sufficient to determine whether it is a simple back pain or not. Patient in productive age (20 – 55 years old) who seems to be healthy but complain of pain in lumbosacral almost certainly has a simple low back pain.²

Appropriate treatment will help improving quality of life of LBP patient.

Some managements of low back can be given to the patient, such as:

1. Education to patient.

2. Exercise, controlled physical activity, bed rest.

3. Drug therapy: analgesic, NSAID, Muscle Relaxant.

4. Physical modalities: ice massage, hot packs, ultrasound. ²

References :

1.      Lower Back Pain Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment. 1999-2015. Available from:  http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/lower-back-pain

2.      Adapted from Indonesian Study Group on Low Back Pain, 2004

3.      Low Back Pain. 2010. Available from: http://www.ekahospital.com/en/low-back-pain