Low Back Pain
Overview
Low back pain is pain on one or both sides of the lower back, which may radiate to the buttock or leg, with difficulty bending or turning. Chinese medicine holds that "the lower back is the mansion of the kidney"; it is closely related to kidney essence deficiency and kidney yang insufficiency, but also to cold-damp or damp-heat obstruction, or qi stagnation and blood stasis from trauma. Chronic recurrent cases often involve root deficiency with branch excess.
Pattern differentiation (clinical patterns)
Kidney Deficiency (Yang or Yin)
Dull aching weak lumbago that lingers and worsens with exertion; yang-deficiency type has cold limbs and aversion to cold with pale tongue and deep fine pulse; yin-deficiency type has vexing heat, dry mouth, insomnia, red tongue with scant coating and fine rapid pulse.
Tonify the kidney and strengthen the lower back (warm yang or nourish yin).
Cold-Damp Obstruction
Cold heavy fixed low-back pain with difficulty turning, gradually worsening in damp weather or prolonged sitting, relieved by warmth, greasy white coating, deep slow pulse.
Disperse cold and eliminate dampness; warm the channels and unblock collaterals.
Connections
Daily care & prevention
Avoid prolonged sitting/standing, bending to lift heavy objects, and cold exposure to the lower back; lift by bending the knees while keeping the back straight. Keep the lower back warm; use heat or moxibustion at Shenshu (BL23), Mingmen (GV4), and Yaoyangguan (GV3), and massage Weizhong (BL40) and local points. Once pain eases, gradually build core and back strength with bridging and Baduanjin movements.
When to seek medical care
Seek immediate care for back pain with marked leg weakness, progressive numbness, urinary retention or incontinence, or numbness around the groin/saddle area (cauda equina), as well as severe pain after trauma, fever, night pain with unexplained weight loss, or a cancer history.