Suggest Treatment For Severe Lower Back Pain

Posted on Fri, 21 Aug 2015

Question: Doctor I m having severe lower back pain for which my doctor said its due to nerve compression. But after I did apply ointment and then I used hot water bottle for giving warmth to that area I have noticed little swelling in the same area kindly help me by guiding that should I discontinue hot water bag use?

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Muscle spasm knot

Detailed Answer:
Hi there.

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

Thanks for the query.

Does the swelling appear only after hot water bottle use ?

Is there any damage to the skin over that region ?

The method of hot water bottle use needs to be in a very cautious manner. You should apply comfortably warm bottle over the area of low back pain and this will help. Avoid it being too hot for your comfort level. The skin should not get damaged by overheating.

The swelling you feel could be due to muscle spasm forming a knot like structure which can feel quite firm. Other causes could be localised skin swelling due to excessive heat exposure to the region or fatty tissue collection.

I would advise you to softly massage the region about 4 times a day where you feel the swelling and apply heat upto 35 degrees Celsius which is safe or use heated or steamed towels to get warmth in the area. This will help to reduce the muscle spasms without damaging the skin. Apply gel with muscle relaxant like Thiox gel or the like, which contains Thicolchicoside. Do back stretching exercises as advised by your Doctor. Avoid lifting heavy weights or bending forwards.

If this does not relieve the swelling then you may need to show to a Dermatologist to rule out possible skin lesions.

I hope I have answered your query.

I will be available for follow up queries.

Thanking you.

Regards,

Dr. Aashish Raghu

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Neel Kudchadkar