Back pain is experienced by nearly everyone at one point or another in life. In Great Britain alone last year, 110 million work days were lost as a result of symptoms of back pain, which may be caused by everything from a muscle strain or sprain to an underlying condition in the back like a herniated disc or spinal stenosis.

The most common type of lower back pain (also known as lumbago) is axial pain that may be sharp or dull and made worse by certain activities and/or positions. When an underlying back condition is present, a patient may experience symptoms in addition to or other than back pain. For example, when the sciatic nerve (the longest single nerve in the human body) is irritated by a back condition, a patient may experience referred leg pain described as sciatica.

A patient should immediately see a doctor if one or more of the following symptoms is present with the back pain:

• Fever, chills
• Significant weakness in the legs
• Extensive trauma
• Debilitating, continuous back pain and abdominal pain
• Sudden bowel or bladder incontinence (e.g. difficulties urinating or having a bowel movement)
• Recent, unexplained weight loss with a history of cancer.

While back pain is often related to the spine, it is not a common symptom of scoliosis, which describes an abnormal curvature of the spine. Most cases of scoliosis develop in adolescents, with causation unknown and treatment possibly including simple observation, use of back braces, or surgery.

Introduction provided by Spine-health: For additional information on these conditions, visit their health centers on back pain, sciatica and scoliosis.

Back Pain Treatments

Modern Western Medicine

Treatments depend on the type of back pain, but may include natural rest, pain medications, back exercise and physical therapy programs, chiropractic care, epidural injections, and/or other options for short-term (acute) back pain. If taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), oral steroids, narcotic drugs, muscle relaxants or anti-depressants for back pain, it’s important for the patient to understand the risks and benefits of such pain medications. As for more long-term (chronic) back pain, treatment may evolve to surgery if the pain is related to a spinal condition that is still causing significant dysfunction and discomfort after many non-surgical treatments have been tried.