How long is too long for back pain?
This can be a subjective question, as personally for me if I have back pain for more than a day that is too long. Some people may be used to back pain and have flare ups every 3 months that last for a week and they have been conditioned to thinking this is normal, any longer than a week and they would start to get concerned and think ‘Why is it not going like it normally does?’
Any sort of pain in the body is a sign that something is not right. Pain is always the last symptom to come as well, which means that your body has been doing a great job of compensating for this problem until it says, ‘enough is enough, I need some help’.
Think about this, most people that have heart attacks did not know they had a problem. Which means that they didn’t know about the clogged arteries or high blood pressure putting pressure on the heart. Your body does an incredible job at trying to force blood through the heart arteries until one day it can’t. It’s like any other muscle, it can’t work under stress for too long before it gives up.
The same is true for our spines, they are incredibly complex structures, and they cannot operate under stress for too long before breaking down.
The official definition of how long is too long. Is anything over 12 week is considered a chronic issue, we find that if your back pain hasn’t gone in one week by itself then it is likely it will not go on its own and will need some help and intervention to prevent it from becoming chronic.
As soon as it becomes chronic the chances of it reoccurring go up tenfold, so ensure you do something before the 12-week mark.
How do you know if back pain is serious?
The longer back pain stays for the more serious it can become. The disc will take up more load and this leads it to susceptible to a prolapse which can take anywhere from 6-12 months to recover.
You generally know when it is serious, the occasional niggle that has been there for 10 years on and off is manageable. For example, we have clients that come to see us and say, ‘usually I get some achiness in my low back after gardening, a long walk or picking the kids up, however this episode has lasted a lot longer and is the worse it has ever been’.
When someone describes the pain as the ‘worst it has been’ then we need to be investigating thoroughly as this is serious.
Other symptoms of serious pain are pain in the legs, incontinence of the bowel and bladder as well as any weight loss or prolonged fever. If you have back pain and any of these other symptoms, please reach out to us or a GP.
What does it mean if lower back pain is shooting into legs?
This is neurological pain usually, which means a nerve is being pinched. The other and less likely pain is referred pain from the muscles, for example the piriformis muscle can mimic sciatica, but true piriformis syndrome is less likely.
The sciatic nerve can get pinched by a prolapsed disc, tight muscle or vertebral misalignment which can cause shooting pain, pins and needles, numbness, and a hot feeling down the leg or both legs. It can travel all the way to the feet and needs to be addressed.
If you are concerned about your back pain they you can give us a call on 01932 355529 and we will talk you through your options.
If you do know someone who wants more advice, please send them our details. You can send them this blog and they can request a free copy of our book which has posture related exercises in it as well. Click here for FREE book.
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