Navigating Back Pain

Have you ever woken up from sleep or came home from a long day at work only to be greeted by sharp pain in your back? Back pain is not a great way to start your day or evening. If you’ve experienced this nuisance, you are not alone.

Approximately 85% of adults will experience back pain at some point. This can typically resolve on its own within a few weeks.

On the other hand, it is not uncommon to have reoccurring back pain that comes and goes over weeks, months and years. Patients should find a treatment plan that will not only serve as a form of pain relief, but one that will address the root cause, eliminating recurrence in the future.

Common Causes of Back Pain

The most common causes of back pain are:

• Muscle strainwhich is often caused by damage to the muscles in the lower back including having the muscles overstretched or torn. This is most often caused by heavy lifting, turning, twisting, or sports related injuries.
• Disc disease which occurs when the discs in the spine begin to degenerate or weaken, causing pain, weakness and numbness in the spine. Disc disease may be caused by genetics, obesity, or a minor injury that causes a herniated disk.
• Osteoarthritisis the most common form of arthritis and may be caused by genetics, obesity, and/or injury and overuse.
• Nerve impingement is the result of either a disc compressing a spinal nerve or the spinal nerve canal being narrowed (stenosis). This in turn can cause pain in the spine as well as pain and numbness radiating to the legs.
• Stenosiswhich occurs when the open spaces in the lower spine begin to narrow. This causes pressure to be placed on the nerves which can cause pain in the legs and make it difficult to walk.

Without proper treatment, these conditions could be debilitating. If you haven’t seen your primary care physician yet to address your back pain, no need to worry: these conditions often do not require urgent evaluation and treatment.

Red Flag Signs and Symptoms

If any of these Red flags appear please seek medical care urgently:

• Back pain with fevers and chills,which could indicate an infection in the spine.
• Night pain with weight loss, which may be a sign of a spinal tumour.
• Unsteady gait or bowel/bladder incontinence with back pain,which is a common symptom of a spinal cord issue.
• Any back pain that begins suddenly after a traumatic event, such as a car accident or fall,which should receive an immediate medical evaluation for fractures, spinal cord injury, or other serious conditions.

Who should you see for back pain?

Depending on your condition, a treatment plan will be made to address your symptoms. Typically, patients are seen by a non-operative specialist first( GP,Chiropractor,physio etc), and are referred to a spine surgeon only if surgery appears to be necessary.

Fortunately, majority of  people with back pain do not need surgery and will recover with non-operative treatment.

Here at King Chiropractic Cardiff we are specialists with dealing and managing back pain. If you feel you fall into some of these categories get in touch!