Severe Lower back Pain

Do You Know When You Should Seek Help?

The pain you experience in your low back will affect your day to day life. If however pain is radiating down your leg or even just into your buttock area, you should seek professional help.

Lower back pain can increase and affect various other bodily functions. If pain starts to radiate to the legs in can mean you are having disc involvement in the spine (the disc can bulge, or at worse rupture), or the spinal nerves are becoming involved.

This can lead to other complications such as bowel and bladder problems. So if you are suddenly experiencing pain and constipation, or any change in bowel or bladder function, seek urgent help from your health professional.

Why does this situation occur? The nerve supply to your lower back is the same that sends information to your bladder and bowel. The nerves exiting your lower spine tell your legs to function and also sends the information to your bowel and bladder. How far the pain radiates down your leg is not the issue.

Each nerve root (the nerve exiting the spine) relates to different areas in your leg. The higher joints affect your upper thigh, the lower joints your feet. If you get disc problems in the higher joints you may believe problems are less severe than some else. After all they have pain in their feet, whereas you have it in your thigh … so you must be better off.

In fact – it is just a different nerve root affected. Both of these situations if severe can still cause bowel or bladder problems as the entire lower spinal nerves supplies the nerve supply to these areas.

Severe lower back pain is treatable. Understanding the mechanisms that create your pain (causes of lower back pain) and the 'true' underlying causes of low back pain are essential. The earlier the treatment is given, the quicker and better the results.

There are many simple back exercises, lower back stretches, and lower back pain exercises that can help quickly. Depending on where the problem lies or how severe it is, different options are available.

If the severe low back pain is too extreme, surgery may be needed. In most cases though (only 2-3% of all back pain complaints require surgery), conservative treatment is needed. This requires getting the joints to move better, reducing muscle tension and inflammation around the area.

Progress should be steady and within a few weeks to a month pain should start to subside. With any severe lower back pain, intervention is the key. Delaying seeking help can only make matters worse. So if you think your lower back pain is getting worse, or if pain is migrating away from the spine – seek help now.

The Back Pain Advisor is dedicated to educating you to understand when severe lower back pain is an issue that needs addressing. Do not let your lower back pain affect your day to day life. Address it now and learn ways to help yourself to a pain free life.

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