Ensuring an accurate diagnosis is important to enable the right choice of treatment and recommendations to be prescribed. If we feel the cause is outside the scope of our practice, we will tell you and advise you on which route you should be taking.
Joint, muscle and ligament pains can often be sharp, twingy, spasms or aching in nature and are typically felt during specific movements e.g. getting out of a chair, turning in bed, lifting, bending or walking.
Disc problems can range from a mild tear to a fully herniated 'slipped' disc. The damaged or bulging disc can often irritate nearby nerves that travel down your arms or legs. Pain is typically a deep nagging toothache type pain that can be constant and very hard to find a position to relieve the pain. Other symptoms of nerves being damaged include pins and needles, weakness or numbness. Often the pain (or pins and needles, weakness or numbness) is worse in the arm than the neck, or worse in the leg than the lower back.
Back pain is an increasingly common problem and is primarily due to the lifestyles we now lead. Treatment can vary from a few days with some injuries to 18 months with others.
It is very rare for back pain to be a sign of serious underlying pathology such as fractures, infections or tumours.