Your doctor probably won't be able to find what's causing your back pain. But he or she will be able to check that it isn't caused by more serious health problems.

Your doctor will ask you some questions about how and when your symptoms started. And you'll probably have a physical examination.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Deyo RA, Weinstein JN.
Low back pain.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2001; 344: 363-370.

 

 

 

 

 

¹ This helps to rule out some serious conditions that can cause back pain and sciatica. Sciatica is when you get a pain that runs down your leg. It can be caused by a damaged disk pressing on the nerves that join up with the sciatic nerves in your leg. The sciatic nerves are the main nerves in your legs. You have one sciatic nerve running down each of your legs.

Your doctor will ask you about the pain and other feelings you have in different parts of your legs, feet and toes. Your doctor may give you a pinprick on the back of your leg or on your foot to check that your sense of touch is working properly.

Your doctor may test the strength of your muscles by asking you to push against his or her hand. Your doctor will also test the reflexes in your knees and ankles by gently tapping just below your kneecaps with a special hammer (to test your knee reflexes) and just above your heels (to test your ankle reflexes).

Doctors often use the straight leg test to help find out if you have a damaged disk.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Devereaux MW.
Low back pain
Primary Care. 2004; 31: 33-51.

 

 

 

 

 

² Your doctor may ask you to lie on your back and then raise the painful leg, without bending your knee. Most people with a damaged or ruptured disk get sciatica pain (a pain that runs down one leg) before their leg is two-thirds of the way up. This suggests that you have a slipped disk, but it isn't proof. To learn more, see our articles on Slipped disk.

After this test, your doctor may be able to reassure you that your back pain is not serious and will probably clear up on its own. He or she may give you advice about how to look after your back. If you have had back pain for more than 12 weeks, he or she may also suggest some exercises that could help. Your doctor can also prescribe painkillers if you need them.

Most cases of back pain get better on their own within a few weeks, so you probably won't need to see a specialist. But if your back pain doesn't go away, your may need to see a doctor who specializes in back problems.

You may be offered an MRI scan to check if the cause of your back pain is a slipped (damaged) disk, and to rule out more serious problems, such as cancer. You may also be offered a

 

 

 

 

 

CT scan
A CT scan is a type of X-ray. It takes several detailed pictures of the inside of your body from different angles. CT stands for computed tomography. It's also called a CAT scan (computed axial tomography).

 

 

 

 

 

CT scan, but specialists think the MRI scan is better at finding out if anything is seriously wrong.

If you have had a fracture or an infection, or if your doctor thinks you may have cancer in your bones, you might have a

 

 

 

 

 

bone scan
A bone scan is a test performed to see if an infection or cancer has spread to the bone. It involves the injection of a substance into your blood stream that is taken up into the cells that have been affected by a disease. If a disease has spread to the bone, the areas it is in will glow brightly on X-rays.

 

 

 

 

 

bone scan. Pictures from the scanner usually show any areas where there is something unusual. If people do have tumours in their bones, most of them will show up in this type of scan.

Another type of scan, called a bone density scan, measures how thick your bones are. It is used to see if you have

 

 

 

 

 

osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is when your bones get too brittle. It happens if not enough new bone tissue is growing to keep bones strong. If you have osteoporosis, the bones in your body may break easily.

 

 

 

 

 

osteoporosis, which is a condition in which your bones become weak and brittle.

Usually, X-rays aren't used on their own to find out what is causing back pain.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Indahl A.
Low back pain: diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.
Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology. 2004; 33: 199-209.

 

 

 

 

 

³ Although they can help to show any wear and tear of the spine, that's seen just as often in people who don't have back pain. So, having an X-ray on its own won't help doctors to decide what's causing your back pain.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Indahl A.
Low back pain: diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.
Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology. 2004; 33: 199-209.

 

 

 

 

 

³

You might be offered other tests to find out more about your back pain. But doctors don't carry out these tests very often.

Sometimes other more specialized tests are needed for back pain.

Sometimes back pain is a sign of a more serious condition. These conditions are rare. But some things might mean that your doctor will advise you to go to the hospital urgently.

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