Acute Posterior Myositis: Recognizing Symptoms, Risk Groups, and Proper Treatment Methods

Acute posterior myositis is a condition where the back muscles experience sudden inflammation, causing immediate pain after heavy use, injury, or repetitive activities.
The main causes stem from improper daily living postures, including prolonged sitting, heavy lifting, repetitive intense sports activities with incorrect form, and injuries from accidents.
Acute posterior myositis symptoms include immediate back pain, swelling, redness, heat, abnormal muscle spasms, difficulty moving, pain when bending, arching, or twisting the body, and reduced range of motion.
High-risk groups for acute posterior myositis include working adults, especially those who sit for long periods, athletes, blue collars, overweight individuals, and elderly people with back muscle weakness.
Non-surgical treatment approaches for acute posterior myositis include pain relievers, anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, and physiotherapy.
If left untreated, acute posterior myositis may develop into chronic back pain and significantly impact quality of life.

“Acute posterior myositis” is a condition commonly found in working adults or those engaged in manual labor. Many people overlook it because they think it’s not serious or will resolve on its own. However, back muscle inflammation symptoms can actually indicate other diseases. If left untreated, it may develop into chronic inflammation.

Therefore, this article will guide everyone through understanding acute posterior myositis in detail, so you can treat it and fully return to normal life.

Table of Contents

What is Acute Posterior Myositis?

Acute posterior myositis is a condition where the back muscles experience sudden abnormalities. It can occur anywhere from the neck area down to the lower back region. Pain symptoms take place immediately after the muscles are injured or overused to the point of inflammation.

Inflammation is the body’s natural response process when cells are injured or infected. The body releases substances to the injured area to stimulate self-repair processes or eliminate pathogens. However, if the injury is too severe or the body’s response is excessive, it will cause increased pain.

When back muscles are injured, the inflammatory process follows and results in pain, swelling, or muscle spasms in the problematic area.

Causes of Acute Posterior Myositis

Acute posterior myositis can occur from various causes, but the main causes are excessive heavy use and injury to the back muscles. The other causes that lead to this condition include:

Daily living activities

Daily living behaviors are one of the important causes of back muscle inflammation. This occurs from using muscles incorrectly or repetitively, causing muscle injury or spasms that lead to pain and inflammation. For example, sitting in the same position for long periods, poor posture while sitting, and heavy lifting are causes of acute myositis, as well as office syndrome.

Sports Activities

Playing sports is another reason for back muscle inflammation. Almost all types of sports are able to cause acute posterior myositis. Sports-related injury may stem from direct injuries and muscle overuse beyond their strength capacity.

This occurs in all sports types, whether sports that cause impact or pressure on the spine muscles like football, basketball, and weightlifting, or other sports where players must move in repetitive patterns. Additionally, back muscle inflammation and injury can result from playing sports too intensively or incorrectly, or the player’s insufficient muscle strength.

Accidents

Acute posterior myositis from accidents is also classified as injury-related. It typically occurs when the back area experiences an accident that causes muscle injury and subsequent inflammation, such as falling and having the back hit the ground or other accidents affecting the back area.

Acute Posterior Myositis Symptoms

Various symptoms that indicate acute posterior myositis and can be self-observed include:

Back pain
Back swelling, redness, or heat
Abnormal muscle spasms
Inability to move the back normally
Reduced range of motion
Pain when bending, arching, or twisting the body

Risk Groups for Acute Posterior Myositis

Groups at high risk for acute posterior myositis commonly include:

Working adults: They must sit for work for long periods or sit in the same positions, causing muscles to spasm or become easily injured.
Athletes: They must continue using their muscles from constant body movement for extended periods, as well as risking injury during sports or high-impact activities.
Blue collars: They must use back muscles all day in lifting objects, standing, walking for long periods, or frequently bending and straightening up, which may cause muscle injury.
Overweight individuals: Their muscles must work harder than normal due to excess body weight, making muscles more prone to injury.
Elderly people: Their muscle strength has declined, making muscles weak and more easily injured than younger people.

Treatment Methods for Acute Posterior Myositis

Typically, acute posterior myositis can be treated and cured through non-surgical methods. There are two main treatment approaches: medication treatment and physiotherapy. Doctors will choose the most appropriate method for each patient. Details of each method are as follows:

Medication treatment

Treating acute posterior myositis with medication involves using drugs to help relieve pain, reduce inflammation, or relax muscle spasms.

Additionally, people with back muscle inflammation can use topical sprays, ointments, or patches to help relieve pain, or use them in combination with oral medications.

Physiotherapy treatment

Treating acute posterior myositis with physiotherapy includes:

Using medical devices to reduce pain. Treatment will be considered by rehabilitation medicine physicians together with physiotherapists to determine which devices should be used to reduce pain, such as ultrasound machines, lasers, acupuncture, etc.
Self-physiotherapy. Patients can perform this treatment themselves through physical therapy exercises or muscle stretching postures that help relieve pain or help rehabilitate muscles to become stronger. This method is suitable for patients with mild pain or alleviated symptoms but still need to strengthen muscles to prevent recurrence.

Consequences of Not Treating Acute Posterior Myositis

Many people may wonder whether not treating acute posterior myositis will affect the body. The answer is: if symptoms are not severe, the body can heal itself and there will be no long-term effects. However, if pain doesn’t resolve within an appropriate timeframe, it may develop into chronic pain.

Importantly, if resting and taking basic pain medication doesn’t help improve the condition, you should see a doctor to correctly identify the cause of back pain – whether it’s muscle inflammation or other diseases with similar symptoms – in order to receive proper treatment.

In Summary

Acute posterior myositis is a condition that no one should overlook as it can occur in all genders and ages, arising from various causes including daily living activities, exercises, sports, and accidents. Once symptoms occur and don’t improve after rest and medication, you should see a doctor as it may develop into chronic back muscle pain that interferes with daily life, or it could be other diseases requiring proper diagnosis. Therefore, if you notice pain symptoms from acute posterior myositis in yourself or others that aren’t better over a period of time, you should promptly see a doctor and receive proper treatment to return to normal, happy living.An article by Jirachai Pisutbenya, M.D., Experienced Spine Surgeon

Consult symptoms before scheduling an appointment.

Tag

ปวดหลัง

Back