You're Not Alone!

If you have lower back pain, you are not alone. This is one of the most common types of back problems. But, how do you know if you are in need of a visit to a doctor, a chiropractor, or some other medical professional, or if you can just treat it yourself at home? The treatments for back pain can be as simple as an over the counter medication or as complex as surgery. In order to decide how to treat your lower back pain, you should consider the cause of the pain and also the severity and duration of the pain.

How Much Pain Do You Have?

If you have injured your back from twisting, falling, or lifting, you should make a visit to your doctor to determine the severity of your injury. But remember that the amount of pain that you have does not necessarily indicate how serious your injury is. Lower back pain from a spasm can be much worse than a herniated disk, which may cause little or no pain. For constant severe pain in your lower back of any kind that lasts longer than a day or two you should visit a doctor-but until you see them, you can take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or use heat or cold packs.

Common Causes

" A herniated or bulging disk can cause some lower back pain but the more telling symptoms are a sudden loss of bladder control and/or numbness or weakness in the legs. This is an occasion where you should visit your doctor immediately.

" If you are experiencing limited movement of your lower spine when you try to twist along with severe lower back pain you may have a collapsed vertebra. It is not usually too serious, but you should be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. This is more common in individuals over 60 or people with arthritis.

" Kidney infections and kidney stones can cause severe lower back pain. If you are experiencing blood in your urine or the pain in your back is mostly limited to one side this is a possible cause. Make a visit to your doctor as soon as possible.

" Shingles is a form of the chicken pox bacteria, usually limited to adults. It can also cause lower back pain in addition to fever and a rash.

Prevent Back Pain

In order to help prevent injury and pain in your lower back, make sure that you exercise, maintain a healthy weight and possibly supplement with Vitamin B12 and Calcium. This will give you a better prospect of preventing lower back pain in the future.