What causes back pain?

When back pain occurs, we should not blindly use medication or random treatment. First, we should go to the orthopedics department to understand the causes of the disease. Common cervical spondylosis, shoulder joint, periarthritis or cervical sprain, etc., can cause pain.

1. Orthopedics: cervical spondylosis, periarthritis of shoulder, neck sprain and stiff neck, myofibrosarcoma. Many patients with back pain will go directly to an orthopedic surgeon, and indeed, several bone diseases can cause back symptoms.

For example, cervical spondylosis can cause soreness, heaviness, and neck stiffness in the neck, shoulders, and back. It may also cause numbness and weakness in the limbs, and even dizziness and headache. Patients with a long medical history can find the corresponding tender points; the pain range of shoulder periarthritis is relatively wide, and most patients have difficulty moving the shoulder joint, and it is difficult to raise or rotate the shoulder joint; patients with cervical sprain and stiff neck often find tender points above the inner side of the scapula, accompanied by muscle spasms and difficulty moving the neck; and the shoulders and back have recently been exposed to cold, dampness, fatigue, sprains, etc., and there is no fixed tenderness, and the pain is mainly a large area of ​​soreness, which may be myofibromyalgia.

2. Gastroenterology and hepatobiliary surgery: Biliary colic, pancreatic diseases, gastric and duodenal tumors, etc. can also cause back pain.

Biliary colic is mostly right upper abdominal pain or epigastric pain. Sometimes the persistent pain radiates to the right shoulder or right upper back, often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Duodenal adenocarcinoma also manifests as upper abdominal discomfort or dull pain, and sometimes the pain radiates to the back, but the pain does not ease after eating. Both acute and chronic pancreatitis have abdominal pain as the main clinical symptom, which can radiate to the back. Abdominal pain occurs within 12-48 hours after a full meal or after being drunk, and radiates to the waist and back. It may be acute pancreatitis. Worsening pain at night may be chronic pancreatitis.

3. Respiratory Department: Many respiratory diseases such as pleural adhesions, lung cancer and tuberculosis may also cause shoulder and back pain, but usually in the back, sides or shoulder blades. It is understood that about 25% of lung cancer patients have chest pain as the first symptom, and some patients with tumor invasion near the mediastinum on the inner side of the lung may experience persistent pain in the shoulders or chest and back.

4. Cardiology: Coronary heart disease can manifest as compressive pain in the chest, which can also spread to the neck, jaw, arms, back, etc. Failure to seek medical treatment in time may induce various cardiovascular events.

5. Dermatology and pain management: herpes zoster. Some patients with herpes zoster do not develop typical herpes, especially in the prodromal stage and rash-free herpes zoster, neuralgia may appear first, such as between the ribs, lower back, etc. The elderly, or those who have recently suffered trauma or are overly tired are more likely to develop this disease.