Torn muscles, ligaments or tissues normally cause severe back pain. Disc herniation, disc slip and disc degeneration could also be the cause for such severe back pains. When you encounter severe back pain, take some anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin and ibuprofen immediately and take a day's bed rest. Apply heat pads if you have them and then ice bags on the portion of the back where the pain is intense. Then rush to the doctor the next day for a thorough check up. He will take necessary tests, conduct a thorough back check and make an informed diagnosis on the actual cause of the severe back pain. Depending on the nature of the back pain and its cause, he may recommend remedial measures as well as the necessary treatment. However, even such severe back pains need not make you worry too much. If you adhere to the instructions of the doctor, you should be cured of the back pain in a few weeks and be back to normal.
Chronic severe lower back pain could be axial back pain or referred pain or radicular pain. Axial lower back pain could be sharp as well as severe and might be constant or intermittent. Such axial lower back pains could worsen either with certain sitting or standing positions or with certain activities. Axial lower back pain rarely extends to the buttock, legs, feet, or other areas of the body. Abstaining from activities that accentuate the pain or correcting the posture normally results in a return to normalcy. Disc herniation, disc degeneration, and damage to muscles, ligaments, and tendons could be the cause for chronic severe axial lower back pain.
Referred lower back pain is usually migratory or rather, the pain moves around. Such pain is intermittent and varies in its intensity. Further, the referred lower back pain normally spreads to the groin, buttock and upper thigh, often shifting places. However, it never extends below the knee. Moderate lower back pain is not serious. However, chronic severe referred lower back pain is similar to its axial counterpart.
Radicular lower back pain is generally called sciatica. This pain would invariably be deep and steady. This pain could extend over the entire area of the sciatic nerve that extends from the lower spine all the way to the bottom of the leg. Numbness, loss of certain reflexes and muscle weakness could accompany radicular lower back pain. Chronic severe radicular lower back pain could be the result of disc herniation, narrowing of the hole through which the sciatic nerve travels because of bone spurs, nerve root injuries or diabetes. Such pain could sometimes be controlled by conservative treatments. However, surgical remedies might also be warranted, if the pain could not be controlled over a period of 6 to 8 weeks.
A neurologist generally does a spinal tap (a lumbar puncture in medical terms) to obtain the cerebrospinal fluid for analytical purposes. Alternatively, injecting a steroid directly into the sac around the nerve roots containing cerebrospinal fluid is called epidural steroid injection. This treatment is quite effective in at least 50% of patients suffering from lower back pain. Severe lower back pains are greatly relieved after this kind of spinal tap injection. Progress is normally quite visible.
Severe shoulder, neck and back of head pains could occur due to different reasons. Shoulder pain is usually caused by rotator cuff tendinitis. Neck pain could be the result of disc herniation, disc degeneration, pressure on the nerves of the neck or injury to neck muscles. Back of head pain is usually an extension of neck pain. Conservative treatments invariably bring a proper cure over a period.
Abstaining from activities that accentuate the condition and correcting the posture normally help to relieve severe back pain