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When to see a doctor
By Mayo Clinic staffMost back pain gets better with a few weeks of home care and attention. If you're very uncomfortable, you can rest in bed for a day or two, but longer than that does more harm than good. Over-the-counter pain medications often help reduce back pain, as does the application of cold or heat to the painful area.
Schedule an office visit
Call your doctor if your back pain hasn't improved at all after several days of home treatment or if your back pain:
- Is constant or intense, especially at night or when you lie down
- Spreads down one or both legs, especially if the pain extends below your knee
- Causes weakness, numbness or tingling in one or both legs
- Causes new bowel or bladder control problems
- Occurs with a fever or unintended weight loss
Seek emergency medical care
Call 911 or have someone drive you to the emergency room if you have severe back pain after a high-impact car crash, bad fall or sports injury.
- Low back pain fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain/detail_backpain.htm. Accessed July 9, 2010.
- Chou R. Patient information: Low back pain in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 9, 2010.
- Aminoff MJ. Mechanical and other lesions of the spine, nerve roots and spinal cord. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/209103044-4/1023209029/1492/1420.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50428-6--cesec7_17846. Accessed July 9, 2010.
- Ferri FF. Back pain. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elseveir; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00037-8--s0010&uniq=209073387&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&sid=1023114547. Accessed July 9, 2010.
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