Know how lower back pain and hip pain are interlinked?

Sometimes in our hectic routine, we experience pain in our back, which sometimes even passes through to the hips. Right?

Well! If pain is occasional and mainly arises after strenuous activity, exercise, or heavy lifting. Most of the time, it gets fine on its own. But the condition could be intense and possibly may haunt you for prolonged periods in certain instances.

Let’s delve into a deep understanding of both- Lower back pain and hip pain, know why such pain arises, what are the possible complications if left untreated, and what treatment measures are best for these problems.

Lower Back Pain

Such pain mainly arises between the lower ribs and buttocks. Such pain could be both dull or sharp depending upon the factor that caused it. If it is due to overuse of the spine, then the pain will ease eventually within a few days. But back pain accompanied by any injury or disorder such as sciatica, ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis, etc can stay lifelong in the absence of an effective treatment option.

Hip Pain

Any pain around the hip joint or associated regions is considered hip pain. It is a common problem that is observed in multiple diseases and is often found in people who are obese, aged, or follow a sedentary lifestyle.

Hip pain starting from the hip joint area, following lower back pain can radiate to your thighs, buttocks, or legs with time. That’s why it is always suggested to consult an effective healthcare expert and treat this pain at its earlier stages.

Relation between Lower back and hip joint pain

There exist multiple muscles, ligaments, and nerves that are interconnected with your lower back and hip joint. That’s the reason why pain arising in one area, suppose in the lower back, tends to spread the pain in the other region, i.e.: the hip joint.

Sciatica is another major contributory factor that highlights the relationship between the lower back and hip joint. If you are dealing with sciatica, then the pain will start from your lower back and then travel towards your hips, buttocks, thighs, and lastly to the one leg.

Possible Complications

Any pain whether arising in your lower back or hip can cause severe problems when taken for granted or untreated for a prolonged period. The longer you take to treat your pain, the more intense it will become. Below are some possible complications that may arise out of untreated back pain and hip joint pain.

• Intolerable pain: The pain that often arises occasionally may tend to become frequent and with a higher intensity. Such pain could turn intolerable and it may become difficult to sit, stand, or walk properly.

• Possible injuries: Your spine and hip joints may start to lose their strength and usually become weak from the inside. This increases the risk of easy breakdown of the bones and fractures even after a minor fall, accident, or sudden pressure.

• Permanent damage: Sciatica accompanied by back pain and hip pain when left untreated can turn into Cayda equina syndrome. The condition is capable enough to cause permanent neurological and physical damage if not treated with the due care.

• Complete bedridden: In certain severe cases, patients with a painful back and sore hip joint even become completely bedridden. Their condition worsens way too much that they aren’t even able to pick a glass of water on their own.

• Trouble sleeping and poor mental health: Due to extreme pain in your back and hip, you may not be able to sleep properly which will eventually affect your mental health and peace in the long run.

ALL THESE COMPLICATIONS CAN BE PREVENTED!
Ayurveda has the best possible solution for your problem

Structure

There exists a sacroiliac joint, that connects your spine to the pelvis. At this joint point, the sacrum meets the iliac crests of the pelvis. This interconnection not only provides structure to your whole body but also supports the upper body’s weight and acts as a shock absorber for the spine.

By virtue of sharing the common muscles, joints, and ligaments, any effect on the lower back eventually affects your hip and vice versa.

How to diagnose Back Pain?

As mentioned earlier, the pain in the back pain could arise due to multiple causes. That’s why diagnosing back pain also requires a systematic procedure to be followed which usually involves a clinical examination, a review of the past medical history, and imaging tests:

• Clinical Examination: The doctor will check the location of your pain in the back, look for abnormalities, and know how it affects your movement.

• Past medical history: All the previous reports and medical analysis of the patient’s medical record is done to know whether he/she had undergone any serious spinal surgery or any other disease that may have affected his/her back.

• Tests: X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, EMG (Electromyography), Blood tests, and in certain cases, Urine tests are done.

How to diagnose Hip Pain?

Identical to back pain, also a complete and systemized procedure from the end of a healthcare professional is followed for the diagnosis of hip pain. It mainly includes:

• Clinical Examination: The doctor will examine your hips, thighs, back, and how you walk. Such analysis also helps to detect the areas of pain, swelling, and stiffness in your hip joints.

• Past medical history: The doctor may ask “Where and when did you start to experience the pain, when it becomes worse, or how it is affecting your routine work?” They may also ask about your ability to walk and other complications that you may be experiencing.

• Tests: X-rays, ultrasounds, CT Scans, MRIs, Blood tests, and sometimes fluid samples from joints are also taken.

Treatment Options Available

There are multiple options available through which one can relieve lower back pain and hip pain. If we are more focused on finding the best way out of all, then we can say that treatment for back pain in Ayurveda is the best of all. Let’s have a look at all these treatment measures and find out why Ayurveda is best for back pain and hip pain:

• Oral medications: That’s one of the most used methods that people usually opt for. Taking painkillers or oral medication for occasional pain is acceptable but long-term consumption of such medicine is highly harmful. Often in painkillers especially Western medications, steroids are used which can suppress the pain but are not capable of treating your problem. After a definite period, the same pain tends to arise even with a higher degree of intensity and intolerability.

• Acupuncture: One natural way to relieve joint pain naturally is Acupuncture therapy. It is a specific procedure in which certain thin needles are inserted at specific points on the body which are usually called “meridians. These are considered the energy-stimulating pathways through which your overall body system is controlled. Acupuncture is always done by an expert who will target specific points depending on the location and severity of your pain, often including points on the lower back, buttocks, and legs. Sometimes, such needles may be placed for several minutes depending upon how intense your condition is.

• Posture correction: Also, a great emphasis is laid on correcting the posture of the patient. Improper posture while sitting, lying, or sleeping contributes to Lower back pain and hip pain to a great extent. Try to keep your body active and in a good position always. Avoid sitting or lying in odd positions and also, the prolonged sittings should be avoided. Patients can even opt for mild exercises or stretches to keep the joints flexible and mobile.

• Dietary changes: Diet also has a great influence on the overall well-being of your joint health. For this, we at our hospital Dr. Sharda Ayurveda conduct a thorough medical analysis of the patient and only after that, suggest to them the necessary changes they are into their diet. If the hip and back pain symptoms are due to arthritis, the dietary suggestions are advised accordingly and if such painful symptoms are due to calcium deficiency or some injury, then dietary suggestions may vary.

• Lifestyle changes: The experts also suggest all the patients make certain healthy changes in their routine lifestyle. For this often routine yoga, meditation, mild exercises, walking, and jogging are advised. It will not only keep your body active and joints flexible but will also provide you with a renewed fresh energy that can last throughout the whole day.

• Ice-Heat pack: Often the treatment of hip pain and back pain involves the use of ice and heat packs. If the pain is due to some injury such as a sudden fall or accident, then the use of ice immediately is advised. Icing will constrict blood vessels and numb the area. Also, it will reduce the possible chance of inflammation. Once, the swelling subsides and the pain is under control, heat packs can be applied to the affected areas to improve blood flow, muscle relaxation, and reducing stiffness.

• Ayurvedic treatment: Patients at a worldwide scale prefer Ayurvedic treatment for treating any of their health concerns including back pain and joint pain. It mainly involves the use of certain healing herbs and dietary + lifestyle changes. Besides all these, certain Ayurvedic medicines are also given to the patient which further are prepared using only natural ingredients. All these cause no harm to your joints or any other organ that’s why it is best for you.

• Surgeries: If your joint pain is due to some injury or trauma, then there is some possibility that the doctor may suggest surgery. However, these surgeries are only advised for intense conditions. Besides being highly painful, such surgeries ensure no guarantee that your joint pain will be gone.

We have seen cases of patients who still experience lower hip pain or aches in their back region even after multiple surgeries and operations.