Large abdomin low back pain
Backward spinal curvature (lordosis) – accentuation of the normal concave shape of the lumbar area may be used to counterbalance a large abdomen or for other spinal deformities, hip or leg deformities. This stresses the low back and leads to low back pain. An obese person with a large abdomen places more stress on the lumbosacral area by helping gravity place pull on the already stressed spine. They must make a concerted effort to drop this weight, for their condition and their health in general. Low back pain is a common complaint in obese people. Why does pregnancy cause low back pain? The answer is twofold. First, as the fetus grows, a woman's abdominal wall stretches to accommodate the expanding womb, and the extra room needed for this has to come from somewhere. Because the abdominal muscles are stretched far beyond their normal state during pregnancy, they lose their ability to perform their normal role in maintaining body posture and as a result, the lower back takes on an abnormal amount of weight from the torso. The hormone relaxin is the second explanation for low back pain. During pregnancy, the hormone relaxin is present in 10 times its normal concentration in the female body. Relaxin is good in the sense that its function — as you might guess from the name — is to relax the joints in the pelvis so the baby has room to pass through the birth canal. Unfortunately, relaxin also causes abnormal motion in many other joints of the body, causing inflammation and pain. Fortunately, there are a couple of simple strategies that can help minimize the pain: • Reduce your physical activities. If possible, minimize certain activities that maximally stress the lower back and pelvis. These activities include standing on one leg, climbing stairs, walking long distances and standing for long periods of time. About 30 percent of women older than 30 years have fibroids, and they usually appear between the ages of 35 and 45. Some women are more likely to get fibroids, including black women, women who have never been pregnant and women who have a mother or sister with fibroids. The cause of fibroids is unknown.
Some women never realize that they have fibroids because they have no symptoms. In other women, uterine fibroids are discovered either during a routine gynecologic exam or during prenatal care.
When symptoms of fibroids occur, they can include: • Heavy menstrual bleeding
• Pelvic ultrasound — In this radiology test, a wand like instrument will be moved over your lower abdomen or may be inserted in your vagina to view the uterus and other pelvic organs more closely. The instrument produces sound waves that create an image of your pelvic organs. Most aortic aneurysms occur in the abdominal aorta, the main cause being arteriosclerosis. This is a condition in which fatty deposits are laid down in the walls of arteries, which are less elastic and weaker as a result. Major risk factors for arteriosclerosis are smoking and high blood pressure, although it also probably runs in families. Other causes of aortic aneurysm include: trauma to the aorta, for example a crush injury to the chest following a car accident, Many people can have an aortic aneurysm for years before any symptoms develop. When they do become evident, symptoms vary according to the type and location of the aneurysm. Symptoms of an abdominal aortic aneurysm include: a pulsating feeling in the abdomen, Chronic constipation may lead to a condition called fecal impaction. This is a situation where the stool becomes hard and causes stoppage in the bowel. Five major factors can cause impaction: opioid pain medications, inactivity over a long period, changes in diet, mental illness, and long-term use of laxatives. Regular use of laxatives for constipation contributes most to the development of constipation and impaction. Repeated use of laxatives in higher and higher doses make the colon less able to signal the need to have a bowel movement.
Patients with impaction may have symptoms similar to patients with constipation, or they may have back pain (the impaction presses on sacral nerves) or bladder problems (the impaction presses on the ureters, bladder, or urethra). The patient's abdomen may become enlarged causing difficulty breathing, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and low blood pressure. Other symptoms can include explosive diarrhea (as stool moves around the impaction), leaking stool when coughing, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and dehydration. Patients who have an impaction may become very confused and disoriented with rapid heartbeat, sweating, fever, and high or low blood pressure. Ascites is the abnormal collection of fluid in the abdominal cavity, most often as a result of chronic liver disease. The diaphragm can be thought of as a flat horizontal muscular sheet which divides the human torso into two main areas. Above is the chest cavity which contains the heart and lungs. Below the diaphragm, lies the abdominal cavity which contains the digestive organs such as the intestines and liver, the urinary system, and reproductive organs. The front wall of the abdominal cavity is made up of skin and muscle tissue, and is covered by an inner lining called the peritoneal membrane. Normally, the abdominal contents are moist, but contain no fluid collections. Ascites is a medical condition in which excess fluid begins to puddle within the abdominal cavity. This fluid is outside of the intestines and collects between the abdominal wall and the organs within. In extreme cases, the abdomen expands outward and the intestines actually begin to float within this "lake" of fluid. Ascites is not contagious and poses no risk to others.
Advanced liver failure accounts for the majority of cases, but about 20% of patients with ascites have a cause other than liver disease. These may be secondary to heart failure, kidney disease, or cancer. Rarely, ascites is due to pancreatic disease, a severely underactive thyroid, malnutrition, or tuberculosis. Still liver disease is the most common cause. There are many types of liver disease, but most are due to excessive alcohol consumption or chronic hepatitis infection. When people have liver disease for a long period of time, healthy liver cells die and gradually replaced by scar tissue. The word "cirrhosis" means "scar tissue" so this condition is often called cirrhosis of the liver. This scar tissue changes the smooth liver surface into lumps and nodules distorting the normal anatomy and disrupting the blood flow out of the liver. The heart continues to pump blood into the liver with each heartbeat. If the blood cannot flow freely outward, there is an imbalance and excessive pressure builds up in the liver tissue. This is called portal hypertension. In simplistic terms, this pressure imbalance causes the surface of the liver to "weep" fluid into the abdominal cavity which accumulates causing ascites.
In mild cases, there are usually no symptoms. As more fluid accumulates, the abdomen begins to swell. There may be complaints of loss of appetite, frequent heartburn, fullness after eating, or abdominal pain. Eventually, there is marked distention of the abdomen - resembling the later stages of pregnancy. This may cause low back pain, changes in bowel function, and fatigue. During the day, gravity may carry some of the fluid down into the scrotum or legs causing swelling, or edema. Initially, the swelling may subside overnight. As the condition worsens, however, the swelling may extend up the leg and be present day and night. As more fluid accumulates, it may spread up into the chest cavity (pleural effusion) and cause difficulty breathing.
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