For example, call if: You are unable to move a leg at all. You have back pain with severe belly pain. You have symptoms of a heart attack. These may include: Chest pain or pressure, or a strange feeling in the chest. Shortness of breath. Nausea or vomiting. Pain, pressure, or a strange feeling in the back, neck, jaw, or upper belly or in one or both shoulders or arms. Light-headedness or sudden weakness. A fast or irregular heartbeat. After you call , the operator may tell you to chew 1 adult-strength or 2 to 4 low-dose aspirin.
Wait for an ambulance. Do not try to drive yourself. Call your doctor or nurse call line now or seek immediate medical care if: You have new or worse symptoms in your arms, legs, chest, belly, or buttocks. Symptoms may include: Numbness or tingling. You lose bladder or bowel control. You have back pain and: You have injured your back while lifting or doing some other activity. Call if the pain is severe, has not gone away after 1 or 2 days, and you cannot do your normal daily activities.
You have had a back injury before that needed treatment. He treats patients in the orthopedic clinic and also works in the Emergency Department, where he sees patients with a variety of issues including spinal pain, orthopedic injuries, falls, and vertigo. He is involved in research investigating the impact of adding physical therapy services in Emergency, and is working to improve collaboration and pain literacy within his local medical community.
I have been having really bad back pain and was wondering what to do about it. On the check on the checklist at the top of this page for reasons to go to the emergency room one of the answers is unsafe practice like IV drug use. This can be quite dangerous and so severe back pain in someone with a history of IV drug use should be looked at by a physician promptly.
This article came off kind of harsh, especially for someone suffering with extreme back pain and difficulty walking weeks after injury. If I lived alone I would not be able to do anything. This article felt very negative and made me slightly angry that such bad back pain is expected to be tolerated to such a high-level. What is a walk-in clinic or urgent care centre going to do for you? Good help for pain is hard to get. Pain is meant to be a scary feeling, and that worry about it is also a reason that it persists.
Pain is complex, and really hard to write an article about that can be specific — all pain is real, and different for each person. Acute disc injury pain is the worst, I had it myself and it took a year to recover. I treat and coach a lot of people that have them, and this stage of high pain and disability is incredibly hard.
For back problems, the red-flag symptoms and signs that may indicate an emergency typically start suddenly and include some combination of the following:. It is important to evaluate and treat these symptoms and signs urgently to avoid permanent tissue damage and disability. If any of the above symptoms are experienced, visiting the ER right away or calling for assistance is advised.
Certain back pain symptoms may not require immediate attention on the same day of occurrence but may need medical assessment as early as possible. When an appointment with a primary care physician or specialist is not available within a week, visiting an urgent care facility may be recommended to evaluate these symptoms:.
While an urgent care facility may not be equipped for a complete evaluation and diagnosis, the physician can help identify any hidden red-flag symptoms. You need to go to the operating room and get that repaired and treated and the typical symptoms that people have with that are low back pain, and then they say, "I cannot hold it, I can't get to the bathroom quickly enough," or, "When I try to go to the bathroom I just can't urinate, I feel like I have to go and nothing comes out.
In my mind, that really raises concern for that, and the way I diagnose that is an MRI. And that's something you would need in the ER. So those are the two things that would say go to the ER for. There are lots of other types of back pain, maybe you've lifted something, you've got a back strain or a sprain, maybe you've got a herniated disc.
We do see lots of people with chronic back pain where it flares up. These are all things that could probably be treated through your primary care doctor or even through an urgent care. But in terms of the things that are really serious, those are the things I recommend watching for.
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