Seeking treatment for back pain?
Dr Benjamin Tow looks at the signs and symptoms patients should be aware of that may indicate a more serious spine problem
When a patient experiences back pain, the first response should be to see a general practitioner and let the doctor or family physician assess, Dr Tow says. “Now some of the indications for which a person should seek help would be if the pain is severe, if it affects your ability to function, affects your ability to move from point to point, and if the pain is severe enough that you have difficulty in doing your activities of daily living.”
Furthermore, if the back pain is associated with certain conditions or certain symptoms, for example, pain that goes down the thigh, pain that goes into the leg, pain that's associated with weakness in the lower limbs or back pain that is associated with poor bladder and bowel function, patients should be very aware of this. Poor bladder and bowel control suggests that there is a severe degree of spinal cord injury or spinal cord compression.
Signs that are severe and you should definitely seek a specialist opinion are if the pain is unrelenting despite pain medication, if the pain does not resolve after a week of pain medication or if the pain is escalating. If the patient has severe pain and it affects their ability to move, affects their ability to walk properly, affects their ability to change posture or if there is weakness, numbness, and difficulty in function, these are signs that the back pain is more severe than just a normal back sprain.
Dr Benjamin Tow is a consultant orthopeadic and spine surgeon, with extensive experience in treating degenerative conditions of the spine, deformity-surgery and minimally-invasive spine surgery, as well as treating general orthopaedic conditions in children and adults. He is in private practice at The Orthopaedic and Spine Clinic in Singapore and can be contacted at +65 6235 5774.
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