For most back pain there is no serious underlying disease, and an X-ray or MRI in the first few weeks rarely changes treatment. What changes the outcome is how you move in those weeks.
What helps
- Keep moving gently. Complete bed rest beyond two days slows recovery.
- Short walks several times a day, rather than one long one.
- Heat for muscle stiffness; ice for the first day after an injury.
- Sleeping on a firm mattress, on your side with a pillow between the knees.
Come in if
- Pain travels down the leg past the knee, with numbness or tingling.
- There is weakness in the foot, or you trip while walking.
- You lose control of urine or stool — this needs to be seen the same day.
- Back pain with fever, or with unexplained weight loss.
This article is general guidance, not a diagnosis or a prescription. Your own treatment depends on your history and examination — please discuss it with your doctor.