In times of chronic back pain one considers that "Do Ulcers Cause back Pain?" A simple answer to this anxious thought is 'yes', a peptic ulcer is a probable cause of back pain.

An ulcer is a term that defines an open sore, lesion or break in the skin or in a mucous membrane. The thin tissue that covers the inner surface of body openings like the lining of the stomach and intestines is a mucous membrane. However when people generally refer to ulcers, they usually mean the peptic ulcer 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.

Back in the day it was considered by physicians that excessive stress causes ulcers. The theory was based on the fact that excessive stress increases the production of hydrochloric acid. This acid is powerful enough to hurt the protective mucous lining of the stomach causing an ulcer. Although this theory is still accepted by many physicians, currently it is also established that bacterial infection is the primary cause for ulcers in more than 70 to 80% of the cases.

Bacteria 'Helicobacter Pylori' is the most common bacteria known to cause gastric ulceration. These bacteria can burrow into the mucous layer of stomach and produce inflammation. Excessive acidic juices generated by stomach due to spicy foods are capable of burning the lining of digestive tract and thereby damaging the digestive system. Extreme physical and emotional stress is likely to aggravate an existing ulcer, though it is normally not considered as a root cause for 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 ulcer diagnosis, any physician would inquire about the symptoms. Besides the symptoms, the physician would look for factors from a patient's such as any cases of family history of ulcers or stomach cancers, frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking habits, patient's age, recent weight loss, repeated nausea or vomiting incidences, back pain, history of using anti-inflammatory drugs or other NSAIDs. Apart from the symptoms and patient's history, endoscopy is a modern approach to minimally invasive diagnostic medical procedure. Endoscopy is also well accepted as one of the best methods of diagnosing ulcers. An endoscope is a narrow tube which contains a light and tiny camera at its end to study the patient's digestive system. When this tube is inserted down the patient's throat the physician can examine the interior walls of the stomach and duodenum. Endoscope can also carry a small scissor to cut off small sample of 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.

Do ulcers cause back pain? Yes, ucers and especially peptic ulcers do cause severe back pain. Such pain is likely to happen immediately after eating when someone is suffering from ulcers.