Understanding Back Pain Symptoms

Back pain presents itself in many different ways. There are different causes and symptoms, which may vary from person to person. Each patient we see at Back Clinics of Canada has a unique and personal back and/or neck pain experience.

A closer look at the symptoms and causes of back pain will help us to better understand what is happening to our bodies, how our bodies respond, and what is the best course of treatment for our particular pain.

Understanding Causes
Back or neck pain often has two origins.

  • Neuropathic pain: felt when there is nerve tissue involvement. Often presents as a sharp, burning or stabbing pain. An example of neuropathic pain is a “pinched or irritated nerve.”
  • Nociceptive pain: pain caused by a mechanical injury or disease to the spine or soft tissues. Often feels like a constant dull ache or pressure. Sprains, strains and arthritis pain are examples of nociceptive pain.

Sometimes, a person’s pain can be the symptom arising from a combination of both nerve involvement as well as injury or disease.

Chronic vs. Acute
These terms really describe the length of time the person is suffering. Acute pain by its very nature can be short term — a few days, even a week or two, is considered acute. Chronic pain is experienced anywhere from a few months to several years.

Symptoms and Effects of Chronic Back Pain May Include:

  • constant pain that lasts for months or years
  • deep, aching, dull or burning pain in one area of the back or traveling down the legs
  • possible numbness, tingling, burning, or a pins-and-needles sensation in the legs
  • daily activities are difficult or even impossible
  • work may be difficult or unbearable, even a desk job
  • pain may be neuropathic or nociceptive

Symptoms and Effects of Acute Back Pain May Include:

  • sharp pain or dull ache
  • often felt deep in the lumber part of the back (5 lowest spinal discs)
  • pain can be more severe in one area, such as the right side, left side, center, or the lower part of the back
  • pain can be intermittent, but is usually constant, only ranging in severity
  • even when the pain is severe, it can often improve or completely recover in a number of weeks
  • pain can be caused by trauma or something mechanical in the body gone awry
  • if acute back pain occurs more than three times in one year, each episode of pain may become longer-lasting, and pain significantly interferes with basic daily activities (like sleeping, sitting, standing, walking, bending, riding in or driving a car) then it can develop into a chronic condition

The Traumatic and Mechanical Nature of Back and Neck Pain
Trauma: Many patients experience pain because of some kind of a trauma. Trauma is usually the result of a sudden injurious event such as a slip and fall, car accident or sports injury. This event initially creates an insult to the body.  In the early phases of trauma there can be sprain/strain type consequences to the soft tissues around the spine. This can cause the vertebrae to lose their normal position, leading to facet compression or nerve irritation.  These nerve irritations are capable of causing local pain as well as interfering with normal nerve function. This can lead to muscle and organ problems (depending on which nerves are irritated).  Unresolved traumas can evolve into damage of soft tissue supportive elements of the spine, including muscles, ligaments, tendons, discs and cartilaginous joints called the facet joint, and even nerve tissue. Patients with pain of trauma may usually exhibit pain, muscle spasms (carisoprodol), and decreased functional activities.

Mechanical Causes of Back and Neck Pain: Other patients experience pain due to more subtle mechanical origins stemming from long-term repetitive strain, poor posture, or bending while lifting and twisting. When such activities occur over a long period of time they develop into torsion strains to the spine which can lead to injury of the soft tissue supportive elements, especially the discs of the spine. This will cause serious back pain, which can be either episodic or chronic in nature.

Mechanical back or neck pain may be aggravated by movement and worsened by coughing, especially if the injury has affected the integrity of spinal disc. Mechanical back or neck pain can result in herniated discs, degenerative discs and stenosis. For patients with bulging discs, often forward flexing spinal movements, and sitting or prolonged standing, can aggravate their condition.  Posture, coughing, sneezing, and movement can all influence pain coming from the spine.

Summary: back and neck pain often occurs when there is nerve tissue damage, or when there is some injury or trauma (i.e., something in the body, external to the nerves themselves, has been compromised.) Pain can be acute or chronic. Acute pain can develop into chronic pain.

So how does one begin to heal? There are two important things you should know.

First, it’s frustrating and upsetting for back pain patients to not know why they have pain. With four out of five adults experiencing pain in their lifetime, there must certainly be a good reason. Pain does not come about without reason. Knowledge and understanding are very much needed. When you know why something is happening in your body, you can manage it better and be able to make the best decisions for care. Pain can be debilitating, it can cripple sufferers not just physically but emotionally, too.  Non-surgical Spinal Decompression is a non-invasive, non-surgical, drug-free treatment that addresses the root cause of pain and starts healing there. It gives patients an opportunity to heal faster and more robustly than with conventional back pain treatments. Patients are freed from pain and can resume an active life sooner.

Second, it’s critically important that the doctor conduct a thorough examination and interview with you to determine the exact nature and cause of your back pain. Only when the doctor has done a full assessment, including a review of available current X-rays, MRIs or CT-Scans can the doctor diagnose the patient properly and recommend the correct treatment course. Back pain is not some unsolvable mystery. A qualified doctor can certainly learn why you have pain, sympathize with how it is manifesting itself in your body, and likely set you on a course for relief.

Most of the patients who come to Back Clinics of Canada have been suffering with severe back or neck pain for months to many years. The fact that these patients have usually tried several different forms of care, and are still not getting desirable results, speaks to the lack of success conventional approaches are having with addressing and healing the real problem that is causing their pain. All the more reason we strongly encourage patients to consider non-surgical Spinal Decompression — not as a last resort but as a first mode of treatment for their pain. It continues to show remarkable success in treating serious back and neck problems, many of which are chronic in nature.

You deserve a pain-free life!

Dr. Ron Nusbaum