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| Treatment if Low Back Pain Gets Worse or Comes Back |  If you have moderate to severe low back pain that lasts more than a couple of days, back or leg symptoms that have gotten worse or have not gone away after 2 weeks of home treatment, or improved symptoms that flare up again, see your doctor. A physical exam and possibly an imaging test may produce new information about your condition and help direct your treatment decisions.
• If no serious cause of mild to moderate low back pain is visible, as in 85% of cases, your health professional will almost certainly advise you to continue with home treatment. Think about seeing a physical therapist for back-healthy exercises to use on a daily basis, on condition that they don't make your symptoms worse.
Certain medicine to reduce swelling, massage, moist heat application, cognitive-behavioral therapy, learning how to best use your back in a "back school" program, chiropractic therapy or biofeedback may help prevent your symptoms from becoming chronic as well.
• In case your pain is severe, your doctor may advise temporary use of an, epidural steroid injection opiat painkiller or muscle relaxant. These medications have potential harms and side effects, but these may be balanced out if the medicines help you. Speak with your doctor about the expected benefits and side effects of any medicine.
• If your pain is caused by another health problem, such as a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis, cancer, or infection, your doctor will make specific treatment recommendations.
If you have a herniated disc, your doctor may suggest surgery. For the most part doctors will wait to consider surgery until after you have tried non-surgical treatment for 1 to 3 months without improvement, but usually before more than 6 months have gone by. Surgery is ultimately considered for about 1 out of 10 people who have a herniated disc.
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