Daily Health News Blog

After the common cold, back pain is the problem that most frequently brings people to a doctor's office. Fortunately, most episodes of back pain -- about 90 percent -- will clear up with little or no treatment in approximately six weeks. However, back pain that that lasts longer than six to eight weeks is usually due to spinal column changes and merits a visit to a physician. To rule out the possibility of a dangerous condition, doctors ask certain routine questions -- for example, whether you can relieve the back pain by changing your position and whether you feel back pain when you're not moving. Some of the best clues to the cause of your back pain will come from your description of the pain. Questions your doctor will ask include: Where is the pain located?  Is it confined to the lower back or does it radiate to the buttocks or legs? (These questions check for sciatica.) How severe is the pain?  For example, is the pain so excruciating that any movement is diffic