Low Back Strain: A Chinese Traditional Medicine Approach | 腰肌劳损的识别与治疗

Low back pain is a fact of life. Just about everybody will suffer from it sooner or later. One of the main causes of back pain, whether acute or chronic, is low back strain.

What is low back strain?

A series of muscles and ligaments in your back hold the bones of your spinal column in place. You can strain these muscles by stretching them too far, causing tiny tears in the tissue. The muscles are then weakened, so they may not be able to hold the bones of your spinal column in place correctly. The spine becomes less stable, causing low back pain.

And because nerves stretch out from the spinal cord throughout the entire body, low back strain can cause pain in areas other than your back.

You need to watch out for back strain if:

1. You had low back pain problem before and you job involves long time sitting. If you are lack of exercise, the chance is even greater. 2. You experience chronic low back pain. The pain can go away after rest massage, or hot compress. The pain can also be eased by moving around, but may come back if you move around for too long. 3. You had injuries to low back, and there are consistent pressure pain points, which are usually located at the beginning and ending points of each piece of low back muscle. 4. You experience acute pain on one or both sides of your low back spine. 5. You feel low back pain and restricted low back movement when weather is changing.

Treatment of Low Back Strain in Chinese Medicine:

In Chinese Medicine, Tuina massage and acupuncture are the most common treatment to low back strain, and can effectively ease the pain.

There are also two kinds of herbal medicine for external application that can be used. The first kind of medicine is applied to the affected area directly. The second kind is used to wash the affected area. Both are served warm. The first way is effective for those who have the pain after weather change, the second way is effective for the pain caused by a physical injury.

In the theory of Chinese Medicine, low back strain is also considered to be a result of weakened kidneys. Long period of standing, sitting, and looking at computer can weaken the kidneys. Therefore, to prevent low back strain, you need to keep a good posture, have breaks and exercise in long period of work, and consult a doctor ASAP when you have acute low back pain to prevent is become chronic.

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随着生活节奏的加快，人们进行体育锻炼的机会越来越少。尤其是经常坐着工作的人，其腰部软组织需要长期承受很大的压力，这就很容易造成腰部肌肉及其附着点的筋膜、甚至是骨膜的慢性损伤性炎症，如此便形成了腰肌劳损，它是上班族腰痛的常见原因之一。

腰肌劳损患者除了有慢性腰痛以外，并无其他的明显症状，所以该病往往不会引起人们的足够重视，致使该病无法得到及时的控制，待到病情严重时该病患者经常会因为剧烈腰疼而影响正常的躯体活动。那么，怎样才能及时发现腰肌劳损呢？

腰肌劳损通常有以下五种表现：

1. 有早期腰部损伤史或腰部软组织疼痛史，如果这类人经常从事于某项工作，如办公室文员、司机等，平素又缺乏体育锻炼，则很容易患上腰肌劳损。

2. 经常出现无明显诱因的慢性腰部酸胀痛，休息、揉捏或热敷后疼痛可缓解。这种疼痛也可在卧床片刻后减轻，但不久又会复发，稍做活动可再次减轻，而一旦活动过久疼痛便会再次加剧。

3. 曾有明显的腰部外伤史且在疼痛区有固定的压痛点，这类固定压痛点的位置通常是在腰部肌肉的起、止点附近，或在神经肌肉的结合点。但大多数腰肌劳损患者的疼痛部位往往比较广泛，并不局限于一两点，故有时不能完全明确地指出疼痛部位。

4. 有单侧或双侧腰椎旁肌肉痉挛现象。这类人的腰部活动一般较正常，但可在身体处于某一固定体位时出现类似于急性腰扭伤样的剧烈疼痛，不过，此时若对腰部进行X线检查一般并无明显病变。

5. 天气变化时会出现腰部肌肉痉挛和疼痛的症状，且腰部活动明显受限。

那么，腰肌劳损该如何治疗呢？

腰肌劳损患者，可直接针对其疼痛部位进行局部治疗，如到医院请专业医生对其腰部进行适当地推拿和按摩。这种物理疗法往往可使病情得到明显缓解。另外，患者还可选择外用药物直接作用于腰部，如用中药外敷或用中药汁擦洗患处。具体方法如下：①中药外敷法：可分别取当归、防风、牛膝、桂枝、赤芍、羌活、五加皮、威灵仙、艾叶各100克，将这些药物装入布袋中封口，用水煎煮，待温热后直接将布袋外敷于患处。患者可每天敷一次，直至病情好转。②中药擦洗法：可分别取伸筋草、海桐皮、独活、当归、钩藤各9克，乳香、没药、川红花各6克，将这些药物用水煎煮后，用温热的药液直接擦洗息处。患者可每天擦洗2次，每次擦洗1小时左右，直至病情好转。以上这些方法，可起到舒筋活血止痛的作用，对腰肌劳损有很好的疗效。其中，中药外敷法对因天气变化而疼痛发作的患者效果明显，而中药擦洗法则对损伤后的筋络痉挛痛具有明显的疗效。

但是，想要降低腰肌劳损的发病率，最根本的办法还是预防。在日常生活中，人们应根据各自工作种类的不同，选择正确的工作姿势，并应尽量避免长时间地用单一、固定的姿势工作，而且要在工作中经常调整体位，应提倡通过做工间操来缓解肢体的疲劳，尤其是经常处于坐位的工作者，如打字员、司机等，平时更要加强体育锻炼，如经常做腰背部的后仰运动、腰部的旋转运动等，以此来增强腰背部肌肉的耐力。如果出现了急性腰痛或腰扭伤，应及时就医，防止因拖延使其转变为腰肌劳损。

于博士认为，大多数的腰肌劳损在中医看来都与肾虚有关，长期站立，坐力及久视电脑都属于慢性的微细损伤，这些微细损伤的损伤脏器是跟肾密切相关，减少这些损伤和补肾治疗是关键的两个部分！