In the absence of other causes, abdominal swelling and intestinal gas can be responsible for the “low back pain” caused by irritation and stiffening of the back muscles adjacent to the lumbar spine
I have read that back pain can be linked to intestinal problems: I often have pain and I would like to understand what are the disorders potentially involved in this condition of mine. If the source of the problem lay in the gut, could I have hope of recovery?
He answers Alessandro ArmuzziHead of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Unit, Humanitas Clinical Institute, Milan
The presence of intestinal disorders, such as for example bloating, bloating and constipationbut also diarrhea, can be associated with a particular type of backache called low back pain, that is a pain very similar to low back pain, but not caused by pathologies of the spine. In particular, in cases where lower back pain has no other diagnosed cause, abdominal bloating and intestinal gas may be responsible for the low back pain caused by irritation and stiffening of the dorsal musculature contiguous to the lumbar spine. This is possible because the intestinal tract of the colon and the lumbar region of the spine are, from the anatomical point of view, in intimate contact with each other, separated only by the common fascia of the muscolo Psoas.
Irritable bowel syndrome
In addition, abdominal bloating and diarrhea are intestinal symptoms common to both some autoimmune diseases, such as those chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestine (IBD, e.g. ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis), both at the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a non-inflammatory disease that predominantly affects give it, with intermittent symptoms that come and go. However, in addition to abdominal bloating and intestinal gas, people with IBS often report extra-intestinal symptoms that involve other parts of the body, such as headache, urination problems, fatigue, muscle pain, pain in the pelvis, jaw and back pain. Studies estimate that back pain strikes between 30 and 70% of people with intestinal disorders, although the exact incidence is unknown.
Autoimmune diseases
Back pain, however, may not be directly linked to intestinal disorders from IBS and IBD, but to other coexisting and underlying conditions that may be associated with the disease. For example some studies have found that people with IBS sometimes also suffer from interstitial cystitisa chronic disease that causes pressure and pain in the bladder, symptoms that often result in patient-reported back pain. It is also estimated that around 30% of people diagnosed with IBS also meet the criteria for fibromyalgia which, in turn, can cause lower back pain, or present other acute or chronic conditions of the autoimmune type, such as rheumatoid arthritis, which are frequently associated with back pain. In fact, in some patients, inflammatory bowel diseases are preceded or followed by immune-based arthritis.
The evaluation of the gastroenterologist
Therefore, once other causes have been ruled out, if there is a suspicion that back pain may be caused by the presence of intestinal disorders, it will be necessary to evaluate the possibility that low back pain may originate in a pathology of the intestine. In general, after the evaluation of the gastroenterologist and any specific diagnostic tests, back pain could resolve itself with proper management of intestinal symptoms.
June 12, 2022 (change June 12, 2022 | 19:20)
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