Acute back pain is short termed, where symptoms tend to last no more than twelve weeks. Adults who range from the ages of 35 -55 carry the most risk of acquiring acute low back pain. The causes for acute back pain are often difficult for doctors to detect. Symptoms include stiffness, muscle aches, and shooting pain. Acute back pain can be diagnosed through means of x-ray, CAT scan, MRI, Bone scan or Myelogram. To best prevent the occurrence of acute back pain, it is essential to learn how to keep you spine and pelvis aligned. It is also crucial to keep muscles flexible and strong. This can be possible through yoga, pilates, or other core strengthening exercises. If acute back pain becomes an issue, it is important to take proper measures and get medical attention as soon as possible. Seeking help early on may greatly help prevent the possibility of acute back pain escalading into chronic back pain.
Chronic back pain is defined as long lasting and recurring. It often prevent s one from comfortably going about their daily activities or even causes one to call out from work. Chronic back pain is usually defined as deep, aching, dull or burning pain that can be felt in one area of the back or can transcend from one area in the back, down to the legs. Sufferers of chronic back pain may experience sensations in the leg such as numbness, tingling, burning, or a pins-and-needles feeling. With chronic back pain, many find it difficult, or agonizing to work even if the task does not require manual labor. Chronic back pain is not easily relieved by standard types of medical management. It can be a result from previous injury/injuries long since healed, or it could have causes that are consistent, such as nerve damage or arthritis. Fibrositis, inflammatory spondyloarthropathy, and metabolic bone conditions are also cited as causes.