Contact your health care provider for back pain that: Lasts longer than a few weeks. Is severe and doesn't improve with rest. Spreads down one or both legs, especially if the pain goes below the knee.
“Red flags” include pain that lasts more than 6 weeks; pain in persons younger than 18 years or older than 50 years; pain that radiates below the knee; a history of major trauma; constitutional symptoms; atypical pain (eg, that which occurs at night or that is unrelenting); the presence of a severe or rapidly ...
A dull ache when you move
If your muscles are strained, they will feel like a sore or tight ache. A pulled muscle would not feel hot, tingling, or electric like an irritated nerve root would. The pain would only subside while you are relaxed and resting, as the tension and spasms are alleviated.
If your back pain lasts more than two weeks and keeps you from participating in normal, daily activities, see your family doctor. If your pain is severe, you should see a doctor sooner. You should seek urgent medical care if you have: Fever associated with back pain.
A person can often treat mild symptoms at home with rest, ice, and OTC pain relievers. For more severe symptoms, a doctor may recommend steroid injections or surgery.
Blood and tissue cancers such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and melanoma can all cause lower back pain.
Your spinal disc is at the bottom of your back, so if you have pain in your lower back, you may assume it is a slipped disc. Furthermore, the feeling of pain will differ between the two. Muscle pain will feel like post-workout soreness, while disc pain will feel debilitating and tingly.
A common cause of back pain is injury to a muscle or ligament. These strains and sprains can occur for many reasons, including improper lifting, poor posture and lack of regular exercise. Being overweight may increase the risk of back strains and sprains.
Check if it's a slipped disc
numbness or tingling in your shoulders, back, arms, hands, legs or feet. neck pain. problems bending or straightening your back. muscle weakness.
Pancreas. Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas, which is an organ that plays an important role in digestion and blood sugar regulation. The pain from pancreatitis may start in your upper abdomen and radiate to your lower back. The pain can be severe and disabling, so be sure to see a doctor right away.
Prolonged nerve irritation, which occurs when back pain is left untreated for too long, can lead to permanent disabilities. Untreated vertebrae injuries can even lead to spinal stenosis (the narrowing of the spinal canal), radiculopathy (severe nerve pain), and nerve damage.
Acute, or short-term back pain lasts a few days to a few weeks. Most low back pain is acute. It tends to resolve on its own within a few days with self-care and there is no residual loss of function. In some cases a few months are required for the symptoms to disappear.
An MRI is best used when your doctor suspects a specific problem—something other than the muscle strain that causes most low back pain. An MRI usually isn't done when simple muscle strain is suspected, because: An MRI will not show muscle strains or other problems with soft tissues.
Call if the pain is severe, has not gone away after 1 or 2 days, and you cannot do your normal daily activities. You have had a back injury before that needed treatment. Your pain has lasted longer than 4 weeks. You have had weight loss you cannot explain.
Blood tests help identify a possible cause for the back pain, such as inflammatory or medical disorders.
Poor posture, like slouching or pushing the head forward while sitting or standing, causing misalignment of the spine. Muscle overuse or strain, usually due to repetitive motions or lifting items or children incorrectly. Injury to discs, muscles and/or ligaments. Myofascial pain.
Pain is often described as sharp or burning. Numbness or tingling. People who have a herniated disk often have radiating numbness or tingling in the body part served by the affected nerves.
If you have a herniated lumbar disc, you may feel pain that radiates from your low back area, down one or both legs, and sometimes into your feet (called sciatica). You may feel a pain like an electric shock that is severe whether you stand, walk, or sit.
Herniated disc symptoms
The bulging or herniated part of the disc presses on nerves as they exit the spine, resulting in pain and other symptoms. Since herniated discs involve nerve compression, the symptoms they cause can feel a lot different from the symptoms associated with muscle strain.
When back pain is caused by a cancerous spinal tumor, it typically: Starts gradually and worsens over time. Does not improve with rest and may intensify at night. Flares up as a sharp or shock-like pain in the upper or lower back, which may also go into the legs, chest, or elsewhere in the body.
See a GP if: back pain does not improve after treating it at home for a few weeks. the pain is stopping you doing your day-to-day activities. the pain is severe or getting worse over time.
Pain at the site of the tumor due to tumor growth. Back pain, often radiating to other parts of your body. Back pain that's worse at night. Loss of sensation or muscle weakness, especially in your arms or legs.