Lower back pain could indicate that you may have an incurable condition. Doctors advise people to consult their GP.
Adult back pain is a very common problem. Some people suffer from it for many years.
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CreakyJoints estimates that around 6 percent of people suffering from chronic pain will eventually be diagnosed with axial spine arthritis, or SpA, for short.
It’s estimated one in 200 adults in the UK have axial SpA.
According to the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society, charity, there is a general lack of awareness.
It is most common in teens and early twenties. However, it can take up to 8.5 years for the condition to be diagnosed.
If left untreated, it can lead to the vertebrae of the spine fusion, which can make everyday activities such as putting on socks too painful.
In severe cases, new bone may form.
The first signs of pain are often experienced in the 20s when people are starting to build relationships and a career.
Dr Raj Sengupta
Axial SpA can also be branded “just arthritis”As patients come to terms and accept the fact that they have an incurable or progressive disease, their impact is immense.
Treatment focuses on easing patients’ pain, rather than stopping the disease progressing.
Dr Raj Sengupta is a medical advisor NASSHe told the Daily Mail: “It’s heartbreaking as a rheumatologist to see patients in a clinic who have experienced back pain for years and the cause has been put down to sports injuries or work.
“I’ll see up to five of these patients a week.
“The pain often first occurs when someone is in their 20s, when they are building relationships and a career, and they are left struggling with symptoms. This may lead to mental health problems, as well as more damage to their spine.”
The condition causes pain in the lower back, hips, and spine.
However, buttock pain is a common feature that can lead to misdiagnosis.
Do you feel back pain?
Everybody has back pain from time to time.
However, axial SpA may be an option if you suffer from back pain.
- Before age 45, start
- It lasts at least 3 months (can be extended).
- Nights are worse, usually in the second half.
- Activity and exercise improve and rest worsens.
- Reacts well to non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like naproxen, ibuprofen or aspirin
- This is often the case with “alternating buttock pain”
- Often occurs with limited spinal flexibility, which can become so severe that people can’t do day-to-day activities
Dr Sengupta, also a consultant rheumatologist at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath, said: “With axial SpA the main joints involved are the sacroiliac joints, which are over the top of the buttocks, and it’s inflammation in these joints that is one of the key features.
“The buttock pain radiates from the joints and can alternate from one side to the other — this is a classic sign of axial SpA — or just stay on one or both sides.
“The problem with buttock pain is that it’s often confused with sciatica, a common condition caused by irritation of one of the two sciatic nerves that come out of the spinal cord.
“Sciatica causes pain and tingling in the buttock and radiates down the leg to the feet, but with axial SpA, if you get the buttock pain, it won’t radiate right the way down the leg and past the knee.
“Some people are told they have sciatica when they actually have inflammation of the sacroiliac joints caused by axial SpA.”
There are two types of Axial SpA: non-radiographic and ankylosing.
The main difference is that non-radiographic spondylitis tends to be the early stage of the disease, and can’t be seen on an X-ray.
It can take many years for a diagnosis to be made. There is not visible damage on Xrays until the condition has become ankylosing.
People with non-radiographic spondylitis may have visible inflammation on an MRI. This can help to diagnose the condition early.
A blood test can be used to determine if you have high levels of inflammatory markers or HLA-B27 (a gene that is found in approximately 80 percent of patients with axial SpA).
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