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In case of repeated back pain an anxiety gets instituted in one’s mind as to “Do Ulcers Cause back Pain?” A simple answer to this anxiety is ‘yes’, peptic ulcers could be a probable cause for back pain. Before discussing further, it is better to understand the basics of ulcers.

An open sore, lesion or break in the skin or in a mucous membrane is called an ulcer. The thin protective layer that covers / protects the inner surface of body openings like the lining of the stomach and intestines is a mucous membrane. However when people generally use the term ‘ulcers’, they usually mean the peptic ulcer (the one that occurs in the upper digestive system). The digestive system is made up of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum and intestines. Ulcers that occur in the stomach are referred to as gastric ulcers, and likewise there are duodenal ulcers and esophageal ulcers. 80% of peptic ulcers are duodenal ulcers.

There are various symptoms of ulcers. Most common symptoms are intermittent and irritating pain in the stomach which could transmit to other areas like back or shoulder blades, indigestion, heartburn, gas, bloating, appetite loss and nausea.

In the olden days it was generally believed by physicians that too much stress causes ulcers. The classic theory was based on the fact that high amount of stress can increase hydrochloric acid production. This acid is strong enough to hurt protective mucous lining of stomach and as a result causing an ulcer. Though this theory is still accepted by many physicians, but nowadays it has also been well established that bacterial infection is the prime cause of ulcers in more than 70 to 80 % patients.

Gastric ulceration is most commonly caused by bacteria known as ‘Helicobacter Pylori’. This bacterium has been known to dig into the mucous layer of the stomach and cause inflammation. Excessive amounts of acidic juices generated by the stomach because of spicy foods is capable of burning the lining of the digestive tract and hence damaging the digestive system. Excessive amounts of physical and emotional stress will probably aggravate an existing ulcer, although it’s not considered the root cause of ulcer.

The use of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs as it’s called can also trigger ulcers. Commonly used by people as pain killers for headaches, sore muscles, menstrual cramps and other similar situations. Aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen belong to this family of NSAIDs, and excessive use of this category of drugs proves to be detrimental to the stomach lining and causes ulcers. Over consumption of alcoholic beverages and heavy smoking also damages the mucosal protection.

As a first step towards a diagnosis of ulcers, the doctor first inquires as to the symptoms the patient is having. Besides these symptoms, The physician would look over the patient’s medical history for a family history of ulcers or stomach cancers, frequent alcohol consumption, smoking, patients age, weight loss, repeated nausea or vomiting are also taken into consideration. Also incidences of back pain, history of using anti inflammatory drugs or other NSAIDS are looked into. Apart from looking into the symptoms and medical history, endoscopy is the latest method by which a minimal invasive diagnostic medical procedure. It is also accepted as the best diagnostic methods for ulcers. An endoscope is a narrow tube with a light and tiny camera at its end used to study the patient’s digestive system. When it’s inserted down the patient’s throat the doctor can start to examine the stomach lining and duodenum. An endoscope can also carry scissors in to take tissue samples of the mucous membrane for further examination of potential stomach cancer.

Patients are not very comfortable with Endoscopy, so imaging techniques are frequently relied on. First the patient is asked to drink down a fluid containing Barium. Barium is a substance / chemical which is opaque and transparent to x-rays. The x-ray image of the patient’s digestive can show abnormalities such as ulcers that may be present where the opaque substance appears as a white patch on the X-ray image. Most ulcer symptoms can be treated with over the counter drugs which can subdue the pain, nausea or general discomfort caused by ulcers.

Ulcers and especially Peptic Ulcers do cause severe back pain. Such pain is likely to happen immediately after eating when some one is suffering from ulcers.

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