According to the NHS, back pain – and particularly lower back pain – is fairly common in the UK.
It is also the single most common cause of disability in the region, with lower back pain accounting for around 11 percent of cases of disability.
Back pain can have many causes but this. is not always exactly clear. One common cause of back pain is an injury such as a pulled muscle or strain.
But medical conditions like a slipped disc, sciatica (a trapped nerve) or ankylosing spondylitis can also cause back pain. In very rare cases, back pain can be a sign of a serious problem such as a broken bone, cancer or an infection.
And in the majority of cases back pain usually improves within a few weeks but can sometimes last longer or keep coming back.
With this in mind an expert took to social media platform TikTok to reveal some other symptoms that when coupled with back pain should prompt an urgent visit to your doctor.
Doctor Jen Caudle, from the US, revealed 11 signs your back pain is “an emergency”.
“Number one is not being able to control your bowels or your bladder, loss of bowel or bladder control,” she said.
Incontinence could be a result of nerve compression due to a condition known as cauda equina syndrome (CES).
The most common cause of CES is a herniated disk although it has also been linked to abscesses or spinal tumours.
Back pain alongside incontinence can also be a symptom of kidney stones, a burst artery wall in the abdomen or a spinal cord injury.
Dr Caudle continued: “Number two, saddle anaesthesia. That means numbness in tingling in your private area.”
This is another potential sign of CES. She listed number three as weakness in your legs and four as a history of cancer.
“Number five, a history of trauma,” she said. “You were in a car accident, somebody hit you or you fell down stairs.
“Number six, if you have low back pain, along with associated fever, or other signs of infection.”
This could be caused by a spinal infection, something which needs immediate medical care.
She added: “Number seven, if you have numbness or tingling in general in your lower legs or elsewhere I’m concerned.
“Number eight, if the pain is really, really bad, I’m worried. Number nine, if your pain is getting worse or won’t go away.”
Dr Caudle was also concerned about back pain coupled with weight loss.
“Number 10, if you have unexplained weight loss with your low back pain – shoot if you have unexplained weight loss with anything I’m worried,” she said.
“And number 11, if you have low back pain that comes in the middle of the night.”
If you experience any lower back pain she recommended speaking with your doctor “to make sure you know what’s going on”.