Lower Back Pain
What is it?
Lower back pain is very common and normally gets better over a few days or weeks.
Although the pain may last longer than a few weeks, or may come and go, this does not mean your back problem is serious.
Back pain is rarely due to serious disease or damage.
Your spine is one of the strongest parts of your body and is surprisingly difficult to damage.
The amount of pain felt is not related to the amount of damage.
With the right information, support and treatment, most people can manage their own back pain.
Typical symptoms/features
- Pain in the lower back region
- Pain with bending, twisting or lifting
- Stiffness that may last up to 30 minutes
Management
- Activity modification
- When you first start noticing low back pain, it may help to reduce your activity for a short amount of time to allow the pain to settle
- However, there is strong evidence that says keeping active and slowly returning to your normal levels of activity can actually help the pain to settle quicker
- Ice or heat
- Pain relief
- Physiotherapy including range of movement exercises and a graded strengthening programme
Do I need imaging?
Imaging (X-rays or scans) are rarely required to diagnose low back pain.
Scans correlate poorly with symptoms. Most people without low back pain have changes on scans and x-rays which do not cause any pain at all.
X-rays and scans are most appropriately used after a serious injury.
