Pinched nerves, or in medical language called a hernia of the nucleus pulposus, can cause back pain. This condition occurs due to nerve disorders which cause the bearing surfaces of the spinal segments to protrude from the spaces between the vertebrae. This bulge can press on nerves, causing severe pain in the waist. However, pain can also occur from the neck to the lower back, depending on the location of the affected nerve. Even so, most cases of pinched nerves occur in the lower back area, or are called lumbar nucleus pulposus hernias.
Causes of Pinched Nerves
The use of the term pinched nerve could be said to not be very accurate in describing the condition of a herniated nucleus pulposus. This condition occurs due to excessive pressure, with many things that could be the cause. Here are some of them:
- Injury.
- Rheumatoid arthritis.
- Wrong body position, but repeated. For example, sitting in the wrong position while working.
- Obesity.
Excessive pressure on the nerve is exerted by the surrounding tissue, such as muscles and bones. Apart from that, swelling of the spinal cord can also be the cause of a pinched nerve, because the channel in the bone narrows. Pinched nerves will experience functional problems.
Anatomically, the intervertebral disc (spinal joint bearing), consists of a joint bearing nucleus (nucleus pulposus) and a joint bearing ring (annulus fibrosus). The core of joint pads contains glycosaminoglycan compounds which contain lots of water. As you get older, the water content in the core of the joint bearing will decrease so that the joint bearing becomes less flexible and at any time the joint bearing can bulge. Protrusion of the spinal joint pads in the waist also occurs because the continuous and excessive load received by the joint pads causes damage to the annulus fibrosus so that the nucleus pulposus shifts to the back and side and causes pressure on the nerves.
Symptoms of a pinched nerve in the waist include pain radiating from the lower back/waist, middle of the buttocks and calf, behind the heel to the soles of the feet. There is also tenderness, weakness of the leg muscles and tingling. Some patients experience burning pain and the pain gets worse at night. Several risk factors that can worsen complaints are physical/work factors, psychosocial factors/work environment, lifestyle and unergonomic body posture (long sitting position, squatting & bending).
This article was written by dr. Dhira Atman, Sp.BS, FINPS, FINSS, S.Kom (Grha Kedoya Hospital Neurosurgery Specialist)