Back pain diagnosis

Back pain diagnosis and forecast 

The majority of people with back pain have a good prognosis. In more than half of the cases, the pain disappeared within a week, after two weeks about 80% are at least improved to the extent that the patient can pursue his usual activities. However, recurrences are common.

Diagnostics
Medical history is used to inquire about the pain characteristics, for example, on which occasion the pain occurs and whether they are movement-related. The clinical investigations will for example, see anatomical differences in lengths of the legs and is derivative thereof of pathological changes and functional deficits (Schreiber Hoffmann / Siegfried 2005). The clinical examination may notice a swollen muscle and a local tenderness. It may involve a rib joint that stands out from the chest.

Diagnostic (radiographs, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) is sometimes necessary, especially in cases of paralysis of the legs and for disorders of the bladder and rectum.

A randomized, controlled study in California by MC Jensen and others using MRI scans of the lumbar spine of 98 asymptomatic individuals, showed 52% of examinees bulging disc(s), in 27% it showed a herniated disc and at 1% a herniated disc with compression of the surrounding nerve tissue. 38% showed abnormalities in more than one disc (a clerk in Hoffmann / Siegfried 2005).