Pain in the back, legs and arms can be associated with the spine and the nerves located in certain areas of it. Irradiation is the ability of pain to move throughout the body. As a result, it is not the organ that is really healthy that hurts, but a completely different part of the body. As a rule, the one that is more distant from the central nervous system. For example, a quite common symptom is when the back hurts, radiates to the leg, and the patient does not immediately understand where the pain actually hurts.
In medicine, back pain radiating to the leg is called ischalgia. If the source of sensation in the back is on the left, then the right limb will hurt and vice versa.
This happens due to anatomical features: the nerve roots are crossed in the spinal cord.
Unpleasant sensations arise due to developing inflammation of the nervous tissue. Each nerve occupies a specific position between the vertebrae.
And if there is a violation of the integrity of the spinal column or changes in its physiology, then the inflammatory process from the nerve roots and plexuses spreads quite quickly to the periphery.
MEDICAL FACT! Severe pain in the lower back, radiating to the legs, is the result of disorders of the nervous tissue at the level of the lumbar or sacral parts of the spinal cord, which lies inside the spine.
If a patient has pain in the lower back and legs, doctors will primarily examine the lower back, lower back and sacral spine.
Nerves to the lower extremities come from the lumbar and sacral plexuses, so doctors use the prefix to the word “ishalgia” to indicate the source of the disease:
Among the common causes of ischalgia, doctors name herniated intervertebral discs with pinched nerves, osteochondrosis, scoliosis, and narrowing of the spinal canal.
Ischalgia is somewhat less common in pregnant women, patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and those who are overweight.
INTERESTING! The cause of ischalgia and pain in the lower back can be a very simple but common phenomenon - stress. More precisely, its destructive form is distress. And the nervous system does not tolerate hypothermia.
Also, the risk of inflammation of large nerves increases in athletes, patients with spinal injuries, and cancer patients. Viruses, infections, and toxic syndrome occasionally also lead to the development of pathology in the nervous system (for example, with tuberculosis).
Lower back pain radiates to the leg when any of the nerves stretching from the spine to the limbs are inflamed.
At the level of the second lumbar vertebra there is an innervator for the muscles of the anterior surface of the thigh; at the level of the third - the knee area, the fourth - the lower leg, the fifth - the foot. The lumbar segments are primarily responsible for sensation in the back of the legs.
The doctor determines the nature and location of the pain. For example, a patient has lower back pain that radiates to the left leg, which means that damage will be looked for on the right side of the spine in the lumbar region. It goes to the right leg - the problem is on the left.
Back pain and leg strain are more common when it comes to an inflamed sciatic nerve. Depending on which segment and pair of roots are inflamed, the patient may experience various symptoms:
Patients prefer to endure the pain or dull it by taking pills (analgesics and NSAIDs). But they are often very frightened by their condition, when, due to the inflammatory process in the nervous tissue, the innervation of the limbs temporarily stops - the legs are simply lost!
Men may face potency problems, and women may lose erotic sensitivity and libido.
What to do? So that one day the patient does not lose his limbs due to an advanced hernia or scoliosis, it is worth undergoing an examination and finding out why the pain radiating to the leg occurred, and undergoing treatment.
Until nerve activity is restored, mobility and sensitivity to any part of the body will not return.
And since prolonged inactivity weakens muscles, gradually leading to atrophy, treatment must begin immediately, otherwise the patient risks remaining disabled.
For an experienced doctor, making a preliminary diagnosis is not so difficult.
Especially when the inflammatory process affects one or two nerve roots with corresponding symptoms.
But in any case, preliminary diagnosis requires confirmation. Treatment is prescribed on an individual basis.
Any vertebral pathology is examined using photographs - this is the most convenient method, but when the pain radiates to other organs, specific studies of the condition of these organs are required.
Among the main diagnostic methods today are:
Even if pain occurs on the right side and radiates to the left half of the body, manual methods will be applied to the healthy half, and the complex of drugs will have an effect on the entire body, primarily on the nervous system.
Prescribing medications and procedures does not guarantee the patient relief from pain.
Sometimes these drugs and procedures can only be a preparatory stage, for example, before surgery to eliminate a hernia or straighten the spine for advanced scoliosis.
In the outpatient treatment of ishalgia, not only analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs are used, which reduce pain and relieve inflammation in the nervous tissue.
To restore its integrity and conductivity, vitamin complexes are prescribed, often in the form of injections, followed by a transition to long-term oral administration.
Muscle relaxants relieve muscle spasms and restore normal nerve conduction.
This is necessary not only to eliminate pain, but also to ensure that the muscles provide uniform support to the skeleton, and the joints begin to work correctly.
It is difficult to spend the acute period of the disease on your feet, so bed rest and optimal posture are recommended. Manual therapy, acupuncture and reflexology are prescribed in the subacute period and at the rehabilitation stage.
Massage, therapeutic exercises and physical exercise are recommended to patients throughout their entire lives so that the disease does not return.
When the nerve extending from the lumbar or sacral segment of the spinal cord becomes inflamed, a specific syndrome occurs: back pain radiates to the leg.
Only the damaged lower back (lower back or sacrum) can radiate pain to the limb. If the disease is localized to the right of the lower back, the left leg gives pain, and vice versa.
At first, the muscle aches or there is a pulling sensation in it for a short time. Then a rare tingling sensation, short-term numbness, and skin lightening appear.
The external harmlessness of this symptomatology is deceptive: as the disease develops, the nervous tissue conducts impulses more and more weakly and may become completely silent. Then the patient’s internal organs fail, and one or both legs may be lost.
Treatment should be prescribed by a professional and carried out under the supervision of the attending physician with periodic repetition of all studies until complete cure.
My lower back has been hurting for a long time now and radiates to my right buttock and leg. MRI shows protrusion of L4 and L5. One neurologist prescribed a course of massages, Neurobion and Niz did not help. Second, Tizalud tablets, Movinase and meloxicam. I went for needles and it still hurts. Tell me what helped? I’m just desperate, nothing helps.
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Take chondroprotectors (take six months, six months off) And hang on a t-bar more often + pump up your abs (only CORRECTLY)
Not everyone can hang, there is no need to advise that
Author, have you tried seeing an osteopath? Constant visits to him really support me.
Author, you need an intelligent vertebrologist, a massage therapist in a simple way. With a good massage therapist, pills are not needed, neurologists are not competent, are far from the root cause of lower back disease, etc. People have been taking pills for years, but things are still the same. Don’t go to neurologists, they are mediocre, I repeat, look for an intelligent massage therapist! 2-3 massage courses a year without pills normalize blood pressure and discomfort in the back and legs. Good luck!
I was helped by our children's massage therapist, whom we found through friends for children (when babies are given a massage so that they learn to sit, walk, etc.).
A chiropractor from a good clinic said that my problem (a curvature of my neck and a convexity on my spine that did not allow me to arch my back) could not be solved and that I needed injections, leeches, magnets and a bunch of medications to maintain my condition.
When they found a massage therapist for children, I asked if he accepted adults. It turned out that yes. He fixed everything in one session, straightened his back, straightened his neck (not completely, but the difference before and after is huge). Over the next two, he straightened the spine to the level that was possible for him. Then he said that he had nothing to do for now, that I should do yoga and tighten my muscle corset so that the muscles would hold and help the spine.
So a good massage therapist is, it seems to me, the main solution.
If you are from the European part, then in Moscow and Taganrog there are special clinics for such patients. but you need to get in line. In addition to treatment, they do spinal traction. The effect lasts for 5 years. Until you get up, you need daily stretch marks and a horizontal bar, in your case, be sure to have an assistant. Look at Kurkurina, she has a couple of videos on this topic. From experience, pills do not help.
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Ladies, if your mother periodically has pain in her back, her lower back if she pulled it or took something heavy. And now, without back pain, my leg hurts, that is, it seems to radiate to my leg. He walks and I see that he is limping. Pressure. Headache. Which doctor should I contact?
See a neurologist, just need to find a good one
Neurologists are mediocre. To the massage therapist, judging by the text, this is greetings from the lumbar region. Believe me, smart massage therapists do miracles, saving people from operations and pointless trips to neurologists.
You're just unlucky to find a good neurologist, really
I was helped by underwater traction procedures done at the Staraya Russa resort. The pain was very serious, I could no longer walk and even sit for a short time. I was very afraid that it would all end in a wheelchair. Also protrusions l4 l5. If you live far from Staraya Russa, look in your city. True, they do this everywhere in bathtubs, it seems to me that it is not as effective as in a swimming pool.
The result appeared after just one session; I did 8 in total. I’m already in my ninth month. True, only in sports shoes and you can’t carry weights.
By the way, be very careful with massage and the horizontal bar. It might get worse.
I agree about the horizontal bar, this is very well-known and dangerous advice.
Oh, I have the same garbage on the MRI, the doctor said that everything can be corrected at this stage, before hernias form, for this you need exercise therapy, manual therapy, drug treatment, swimming is good. In general, I take the drug Donna, when I have pain, I take painkillers, I go for a massage, I will continue to receive treatment, but it will be easier, otherwise I’m completely screwed! (If you have severe pain, then you may need to do a blockade (numb the pain locally), and only then connect massages and sports.
Author, it's all f*cked up ((
Since it radiates into the leg, then for neurologists this is a sign that the hernia (not just a “hernia”, but correctly called “herniated intervertebral disc”) is already quite touching the nerve. There is a brain, there is a spinal cord. The spinal cord is a bundle of nerve fibers running from the back of the head to coccyx. It is called the cauda equina." At the level of each vertebra of the spine, one nerve turns from it to the right and left. These nerve fibers, as thick as a match, are located in a tube with a diameter of 8 mm, called the “dural canal” or “dural sac.”
Each nerve is responsible for something different: the innervation of urination, or the work of the left hand, right, left leg, right, and much more. The nerves extend sideways from the cauda equina through narrow holes; it is crowded there even in a young and healthy spine. And if the intervertebral disc reduces its height, or if it bulges slightly backwards or to the side - all this begins to pinch some nerve. Your leg may atrophy, or you may lose control of urination, etc.
Guest 15, the author wrote that she had an MRI and there are no hernias, I have the same thing, but it radiates to my leg and the pain is like hell.
Author, it’s all f*cked up ((Since it radiates to the leg, then for neurologists this is a sign that the hernia (not just a “hernia”, but correctly called “herniated intervertebral disc”) is already hitting a nerve quite well. There is a brain, there is a spinal cord. The spinal cord is a bundle of nerve fibers running from the back of the head to the coccyx. It’s called the cauda equina." At the level of each vertebra of the spine, one nerve turns from it to the right and left. These nerve fibers, as thick as a match, are located in a tube with a diameter of 8 mm, called " dural canal" or "dural sac". Each nerve is responsible for something different: the innervation of urination, or the work of the left hand, right, left leg, right, and much more. The nerves extend sideways from the cauda equina through narrow holes, it’s even cramped there in a young and healthy spine. And a little bit of the intervertebral disc reduces its height, or a little bit of protrusion from it back or to the side - all this begins to pinch some nerve. The leg may atrophy, or you may lose control over urinary excretion, etc. P.
so smart. Are your brains tired?
and let the author and you write what they did. what exercises? otherwise you download the presses incorrectly or do all sorts of crap from the Internet and then. I also had it - I worked my abs and other things and did it sharply again - I lay in bed for a month - my sciatic nerve was pinched so I couldn’t sleep, eat or lie down.
Author, how long has it been? Why not write specifically? religion doesn't allow it? when did it start? Where does the pain in the leg - the whole leg as a whole or is it definitely pulling somewhere? Why can’t you express yourself at all?
For several years, I had the same symptoms when playing sports. A woman with life experience and medical education helped with the diagnosis, although she does not work as a doctor.
The sciatic nerve caused pain under a certain load. Chinese gua sha massage on the back really helped, once every three weeks, for almost four years. It was not possible to completely get rid of the pain, but it became much better.
The 15th guest wrote everything correctly. That's what happened to me. a hernia in the lower back, and the feeling that the leg hurts. I couldn’t walk normally. Only surgery helped. and there were those in the ward whose legs were already going numb. don't go to extremes
Stop stuffing your body with pills and go do yoga, it helped me, it was the same. Only movement and regular exercise will help, there are no such pills.
Household business - 4 mg per kg of weight of doxycycline by mouth, 15 mg per kg of weight of a handy fluoroquinolone from the handbag, 7 mg per kg of weight of gentamicin, or a gram of meropenem into a vein from the handbag once according to the expected microflora, lie down for a long time and get enough sleep, continue with fortification according to the deficiencies , cartilage cutlets With horseradish, mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise, malt bread or beer (which is basically the same thing). — and bring half of healthcare under optimization.
I just don’t have the strength to read about massage. If your leg already hurts, it’s definitely a hernia. You also need to be able to look at MRI correctly; not everyone can do this. But if you have a hernia, massage is not allowed. No manual therapy or mechanical underwater traction. These procedures will ensure your path to the operating table. No point in advising this. The only way out in this situation is a competent neurosurgeon who makes blockades into the damaged vertebra. Right at the vertebra. It is important. Injections not into the vertebral cartilage are not a blockade, don’t be fooled. And another piece of advice, strange but effective. Buy horse fat. Find on the Internet how to use it for hernias. I understand that such advice from a doctor sounds strange, but believe me, horse fat greatly eases the pain and in six months you will at least be able to walk half a kilometer without tears.
The same. It just hits the left leg. MRI showed sacralitis. I take DONA, an expensive medicine, and arthrofoon, a relatively cheap medicine. And Arthrofoon helps! You need hondoprotectors, as No. 1 wrote.
How exactly does a leg hurt with a hernia? It stretches through my buttock like a vein to my ankle. Through my entire leg from the outside or from the back.
Almost every person experiences discomfort in the lumbar region. For some it occurs as a result of a sedentary lifestyle, while for others it occurs as a result of excessive stress on the spine. However, in general, lower back pain is a symptom of pathological phenomena in the spine or urinary system.
The phenomenon when pain in the lower back radiates to the leg is also called lumbomyshalgia. When lower back pain radiates to your leg, this is a serious reason to think about your health.
If after physical activity the pain in the lower back radiates to the leg, then there is no need to hope that it will go away on its own. In most cases, pain occurs suddenly on one side of the lower back, and less often in the buttock or hip joint. After a short period of time, she switches to her leg, which is already quite difficult to straighten. Standing on your aching leg becomes simply unbearable. The patient is simply forced not to stand on it. As a result, the leg is bent and set forward or to the side, the body is slightly tilted. This phenomenon has various manifestations.
1. Muscular toxic manifestation (spasm of the lumbar muscles, curvature of the spine, it is impossible to make sudden movements).
2. Vegetative-vascular manifestations, in which the lower back hurts and the leg goes numb.
3. Neurodystrophic manifestations, when lower back pain occurs, mainly at night.
This state can continue indefinitely. In such cases, the main methods of treating low back pain are used.
Typically, lower back pain when walking occurs due to prolonged sitting with a hunched back. But mainly it is caused by affected back muscles, lumbago or inflammation of the iliosacral joint, when osteochondrosis and kidney disease occur.
Shooting pain in the lower back may indicate the presence of diseases such as osteochondrosis, myositis, and infections of the genitourinary system. They may also be of musculoskeletal origin. Such pain occurs from making sudden movements, lifting heavy objects, bending, or any rotation of the body.
Almost all people experience left lower back pain. It can signal osteochondrosis, kidney disease, and genitourinary system.
Causes of lower back pain on the left
2. Diseases of the lumbar and sciatic muscles.
3. Diseases of the nervous system of the lumbosacral region.
4. Suffered injuries, damage.
5. Sedentary lifestyle.
6. Incorrect posture.
About eighty percent of all back pain occurs in the lower back. They arise due to degenerative-dystrophic lesions of the spine in the primary syndrome. In the secondary syndrome, pain occurs due to the presence of vertebral tumors and their fractures, as well as due to damage to the vertebrae as a result of previous diseases of infectious and non-infectious inflammatory origin.
Back pain below the waist may indicate spinal stenosis, spondylosis or osteoporosis in older people. In women, the source of these pains can be inflammation of the ovaries, urinary system, and intestinal diseases.
Many people with back problems are interested in how to relieve lower back pain. There are a number of recommendations.
1. Provide complete rest. Find a body position in which pain will not bother you.
2. Take painkillers.
3. Relieve muscle spasm, for example, take no-shpa tablets.
4. Make an iodine grid on the sore spot.
5. After some time, rub an anti-inflammatory and analgesic ointment or gel into the area of your body that is bothering you. For example, finalgon.
These recommendations will help relieve lower back pain, but they will not get rid of the cause of their occurrence. Be healthy!