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Toggle: English / SpanishLow back pain - acute - Overview
Alternative Names
Backache; Low back pain; Lumbar pain; Pain - back; Acute back pain; Back pain - new; Back pain - short-term; Back strain - new
Definition of Low back pain - acute:
Low back pain refers to pain felt in your lower back. You may also have back stiffness, decreased movement of the lower back, and difficulty standing straight.
Acute back pain lasts for a few days to a few weeks.
See also:
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:
Most people will have at least one backache in your life. While such pain or discomfort can happen anywhere in your back, the most common area affected is your low back. This is because the low back supports most of your body's weight.
Low back pain is the number two reason that Americans see their health care provider -- second only to colds and flu. Many back-related injuries happen at work. But you can change that. There are many things you can do to lower your chances of getting back pain.
You'll usually first feel back pain just after you lift a heavy object, move suddenly, sit in one position for a long time, or have an injury or accident. But before that injury or accident, the structures in your back were losing strength or changing.
Acute low back pain is most often caused by a sudden injury to the muscles and ligaments supporting the back. The pain may be caused by muscle spasms or a strain or tear in the muscles and ligaments
Causes of sudden low back pain include:
- Compression fractures to the spine from osteoporosis
- Cancer involving the spinal cord
- Fracture of the spinal cord
- Muscle spasm (very tense muscles that remain contracted)
- Ruptured or herniated disk
- Sciatica
- Spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal)
- Spine curvatures (like scoliosis or kyphosis), which may be inherited and seen in children or teens
- Strain or tears to the muscles or ligaments supporting the back
Low back pain may also be due to:
- An abnormal aortic aneurysm that is leaking
- Arthritis conditions, such as osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis
- Infection of the spine (osteomyelitis, diskitis, abscess)
- Kidney infection or kidney stones
- Problems related to pregnancy
- Medical conditions that affect the female reproductive organs, including endometriosis, ovarian cysts, ovarian cancer, or uterine fibroids
- Reviewed last on: 6/6/2011
- Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of Medicine; C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
References
US Preventative Services Task Force. Primary Care Interventions to Prevent Low Back Pain: Brief Evidence Update. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; February 2004.
Anema JR, Steenstra IA, Bongers PM, de Vet HC, Knol DL, Loisel P, van Mechelen W. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation for subacute low back pain: graded activity or workplace intervention or both? A randomized controlled trial. Spine. 2007;32:291-298.
Chou R, Qaseem A, Snow V, Casey D, Cross JT Jr, Shekelle P, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of low back pain: a joint clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147:478-491.
Chou R, Fu R, Carrino JA, Deyo RA. Imaging strategies for low-back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2009;373:463-472.
Chou R, Atlas SJ, Stanos SP, Rosenquist RW. Nonsurgical interventional therapies for low back pain: a review of the evidence for an American Pain Society clinical practice guideline. Spine. 2009;34(10):1078-93. Review.
Chou R, Loeser JD, Owens DK, Rosenquist RW, et al; American Pain Society Low Back Pain Guideline Panel. Interventional therapies, surgery, and interdisciplinary rehabilitation for low back pain: an evidence-based clinical practice guideline from the American Pain Society. Spine. 2009;34:10660-1077. Verified as current
Jani P, Battaglia M, Naesch E, Hammerle G, Eser P, et al. A randomised controlled trial of spinal manipulative therapy in acute low back pain. Ann Rheum Dis. 2009;68:1420-1427. Verified as current
Dahm KT, Brurberg KG, Jamtvedt G, Hagen KB. Advice to rest in bed versus advice to stay active for acute low-back pain and sciatica. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 6. Art. No.: CD007612. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007612.pub2.
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