Arthritis in The Lower Back in Vacaville CA

Older people commonly experience arthritis in the lower back in Vacaville CA, otherwise known as lumbar spine arthritis. It can also happen to overweight or obese individuals, heavy laborers, and anyone who may have a history of spinal injuries.

The backbone has a vertebra that are separated from each other by cushion-like spinal discs in front of the spinal cord. Its behind are connected by 2 small joints called facet joints. Your spinal discs and facet joints are responsible for certain movements such as bending, arching your back, or sideways twisting.

Causes of Low Back Arthritis in Vacaville CA

Lower back arthritis can happen when the protective cartilage undergoes wear and tear, aging, injury, or misuse. Your vertebrae will rub together or start pinching on a nearby spinal nerve, which can lead to local pain and swelling.

When the facet joints in the backbone have arthritis, the flexibility and movement of your neck and back becomes affected and can make your spinal movements become painful and stiff. This becomes lumbar spine arthritis that can be seen along with other conditions like spinal stenosis and spinal disc degeneration.

Patients with arthritis in the lower back will experience pain and stiffness, especially in the early morning after getting out of bed. Doing light activities during the day can make their backs loosen up. The symptoms may worsen with prolonged or strenuous activity.

It can come with other symptoms including:

• Intermittent back pain.
• Pain and tenderness in the neck.
• Lower back pain that radiates into the lower extremities.
• Difficulty in bending, walking, or stretching.

As your lumbar facet arthritis worsens over time, these joints will start forming bone spurs. Next, the surrounding tissue will start swelling with inflammation and can cause the surrounding nerves to become pinched. This will be called spinal stenosis and can cause symptoms like leg pain, tingling, numbness, and difficulty in walking.

The good news is that lower back arthritis can be treated in several ways, including:

• Weight loss, even to a small extent, can reduce the load that facet joints have to carry and can lead to significant pain relief due to arthritis in the lower back.
• Anti-inflammatory medications can provide pain relief by reducing the amount of inflammation surrounding the arthritic facet joints. There are natural anti-inflammatory supplements available that works equally better in reducing pain and inflammation, so you'd better check that out.
• Physiotherapy can strengthen the muscles supporting the lumbar spine to help reduce the burden placed on the facet joints.
• Chiropractors can provide relief from joint pain by performing a treatment called spinal manipulation.
• There are alternative treatments available like acupuncture, massage, yoga, and natural remedies that can provide relief and have fewer side-effects.

Arthritis in the lower back is best treated when it's on the early stages. You'd better get yourself checked if you feel like you have any of the symptoms mentioned above and they start to worry you. If you want to get yourself an appointment for such a matter, then you can visit our clinic here at Absolute Integrative Physical Medicine in Vacaville, CA. Just give us a call at (707) 474-5688 and we'll attend to your needs right away.