Can Diverticulitis Cause Back Pain?

In answer to the question “can diverticulitis cause back pain”, the answer is yes, even if pain associated with diverticulitis often shows up elsewhere. It is not a well-known fact and sufferers from diverticulitis sometimes have to explain this fact to their own doctors. Diverticulitis begins typically with a pain in the abdomen that people often confuse with flatulence. The pain persists and leads to the next symptom, which is running a fever.

Diverticulitis has its roots in diverticulosis, which is a medical condition often brought on by a lack of fiber in the diet. Lack of fiber often means increased pressure in the large intestine. Small pockets in the intestinal lining can form under this pressure. These are called diverticula and they give their name to the condition of diverticulosis. When the diverticula then go on to become inflamed and possibly infected, the pain becomes persistent and the phenomenon is transformed into diverticulitis.

Prevention of diverticula is better than cure

The problem with high fiber diets is that once diverticula have formed, high fiber may only worsen an already delicate situation. Yet it is lack of fiber in the first place that contributes to the problem. So avoid the problem by regularly eating fiber. This can be relatively easy to do, with fruit, vegetables and nuts all being good sources of fiber.

Prevention also means knowing the role of diverticula in transforming the situation, as well as why this happens. It is important to regain control as quickly as possible. If the diverticula perforate, then much like intestinal yeast infection, the microbes can get out of the digestive tract and enter the circulation of the blood to trigger systemic infection.

The question of “can diverticulitis cause back pain” is compounded by the fact that sufferers of diverticulosis, the stage before, do not necessarily have any discomfort or symptoms. There may be constipation, bloating or cramps within the digestive system, but diverticulosis “shares” a number of symptoms with other diseases such as stomach ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Expert examination is needed to differentiate between diverticulosis and similar ailments of IBS and colon cancer for example.

Where does diverticulitis cause pain?

Diverticulitis, as well as being linked to back pain, has the faculty of being either left sided or right sided in the human body. The left side version of the disease is most common in the west whereas the right side occurs more often in Asia and Africa. Diverticulitis is not limited to any particular part of the body. Although the large intestine is typically involved, it can also occur in the esophagus, the stomach and the small intestine. Pain is in general abdominal and severe.

A tenuous link exists between one of the causes of diverticulitis and one of the causes of back pain in general. Diverticulitis has been associated with lack of exercise and statistical data that shows that diverticula are more likely to form if a person is not engaging in enough physical activity. However, physical activity can also take its toll on bones and joints, and very often this leads back to the spinal column where sports like running and jogging can make the lower back into a source of pain giving at least a partial answer to “can diverticulitis cause back pain".