Prohab Quick Guide to back pain.

If you, accidentally, cut your finger, you experience pain. This pain signal is triggered in the cells of the tissue in your finger damaged by the cut. Although unpleasant, the pain is actually a useful response from your body since it alerts you that your finger is damaged and you need to take action to prevent further damage and/or ensure recovery from the damage. This is called acute pain. Similarly, when you irritate a nerve or sprain a muscle in your back you will feel a sudden jolt of pain. Again this pain signal warns you need to take action in order to recover or prevent further damage. This is called acute low back pain and should pass within 3-4 days.

Self-managing acute low back pain.  Download pdf here

However, persistent back pain is very different from the above examples. Persistent pain no longer acts as a warning signal and it does not refer to any tissue damage. The warning system goes into overdrive and sends out repeated pain signals, which are not needed or are out of proportion. The pain signals in persistent pain, also called chronic pain and must be dealt with immediately.  Your body is saying it’s stuck and cannot resolve the issue on its own. This is the time to have it assessed by a back pain specialist.

Book a free phone consultation with a Prohab Doctor of Chiropractic.

Call  0870 850 8892 to book now and find out more about your issue.

Prohab specialises in diagnosing and treating:

Nerve root pain
This occurs in less than 1 in 20 cases. This means that a nerve coming from the spinal cord is irritated or pressed on. (This is often referred to as a 'trapped nerve'.) You feel pain along the course of the nerve. Therefore, you may feel pain down a leg to the calf or foot, and the pain in the leg or foot is often worse than the pain in the back. A common example is 'sciatica'. This is where a main nerve to the leg, the sciatic nerve, is irritated or pressed on.
Nerve root pain can range in severity from mild to very bad. Like with simple low back pain, nerve root pain is often eased by lying down flat, and is often made worse if you move your back, cough, or sneeze. The irritation or pressure on the nerve may also cause pins and needles, numbness or weakness in part of a buttock, leg or foot.

Sometimes the discs between the vertebrae may become weaker and bulge out. This can irritate local tissue and nerve roots. In an extreme case this may lead to a prolapsed disc.

Sometimes a disc bulges so far out that it puts direct pressure on the spinal nerves running in your back. You may feel this as pain in your legs (sciatica) since these nerves in your lower back run all the way down to your legs.

How can I tell what type of back pain I have?
Most cases of low back pain that develop suddenly (acutely) are due to simple low back pain. Many people just 'get on with it' and treat it themselves (see our download) - and indeed most get better quickly.

 

If you are unsure, we are available for a free phone consultation on 0870 850 8892

 

 

If you suffer from any of the following, have a thorough assessment as they can indicate an underlying problem or a serious nature:

•    The pain developed gradually, and slowly gets worse and worse over days or weeks. (Most cases of simple low back pain occur acutely, that is, suddenly.)
•    Constant back pain that is not eased by lying down or resting.
•    Pain travels to the chest, or is higher in the back behind the chest.
•    Weakness of any muscles in a leg or foot.
•    Numbness (lack of feeling) in part or parts of a buttock, around the   anus, or in a leg or foot.
•    Problems with your bladder or bowels such as not being able to pass urine or loss of control (incontinence).
•    Weight loss, fever, or if you feel generally unwell.
•    Recent history of violent trauma or injury to the back.
•    You have or have had a cancer of any part of the body.
•    You have taken steroid tablets for more than a few months.
•    If you have a poor immune system.
•    If you are unsure about any symptom.

Cauda equina syndrome - rare, but an emergency
Cauda equina syndrome is a particularly serious type of nerve root problem. This is a rare disorder where the nerves at the very bottom of the spinal cord are pressed on. This syndrome can cause low back pain plus: problems with bowel and bladder function (usually unable to pass urine), numbness in the 'saddle' area (around the anus), and weakness in one or both legs. This syndrome needs urgent treatment to preserve the nerves to the bladder and bowel from becoming permanently damaged.