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.
If your lower back pain is accompanied by other troubling symptoms, it may require immediate medical attention. Seek immediate medical care if your lower back pain is experienced in tandem with any of the following symptoms: Increasing weakness in your legs. Loss of bladder and/or bowel control.
Chronic back pain is defined as pain that continues for 12 weeks or longer, even after an initial injury or underlying cause of acute low back pain has been treated. About 20 percent of people affected by acute low back pain develop chronic low back pain with persistent symptoms at one year.
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.
Blood and tissue cancers such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and melanoma can all cause lower back pain.
If your back pain is unrelenting and not relieved by rest, you should immediately visit the closest emergency department. If the pain is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, you should also seek emergency care: Fever. Numbness.
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.
Common Causes of Chronic Back Pain
Arthritis of the spine —the gradual thinning of the cartilage inside the spine. Spinal stenosis —narrowing of the spinal canal that may lead to nerve pain. Disc problems, such as a herniated or bulging disc. Myofascial pain syndrome—unexplained muscle pain and tenderness.
“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 ...
While some back pain is only mild to moderate, severe back pain is when your pain is constant, intense or gets worse when you're resting or at night. 2. Your pain is persistent. If your back pain lasts longer than three months, it's considered chronic and may require a tailored treatment plan.
If your herniated disk is in your lower back, besides pain in your lower back, you'll typically feel pain in your buttocks, thigh and calf. You might have pain in part of the foot as well. For a herniated disk in your neck, you'll typically feel the most pain in your shoulder and arm.
Sharp pain in one part of the leg, hip, or buttocks and numbness in other parts. You may also feel pain or numbness on the back of the calf or sole of the foot. The same leg may also feel weak. These are usually indications of a slipped disc in the lower part of the spine.
Staying in bed won't help you get better faster.
Research suggests that if you can find comfortable positions and keep moving, you may not need bed rest at all. Research shows that: Lying down longer than a day or two day isn't helpful for relieving back pain. People can recover more quickly without any bed rest.
The best position to avoid back pain is lying flat on your back. Even so, many people find it the hardest way to enjoy deep sleep. For optimal spine alignment, place one pillow underneath your head or neck and another underneath your knees.
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.
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.
In some cases, cancer may metastasize to the spine. The symptoms of metastatic cancer will vary depending on the size and location of the metastatic tumors. Tumors that affect the bones in the base of the spine may cause pain in the lower back. They may also cause the bones in this area to become weak or brittle.