Acute pain · Before you see anyone
It has just gone. What do I do tonight?
You do not need an appointment to start doing the right things. This is what we would tell you if you rang us, for free, whether or not you ever book with us.
First, the ones that cannot wait
Stop reading and get help now if
- →You cannot pass urine, or you have lost control of your bladder or bowel
- →You have numbness in the saddle area between your legs
- →A leg or arm is getting weaker by the hour
- →Chest, jaw or arm pain with breathlessness or sweating. Ring 000
- →A sudden severe headache that peaked within a minute
- →Significant trauma, a fall from height or a car accident
Maroondah Hospital Emergency is on Davey Drive, Ringwood East. Nurse-on-Call is 1300 60 60 24, free, 24 hours.
The first 48 hours
Do
- Keep moving, gently. Get up every twenty minutes or so, even if it is only to the kettle.
- Change position often. The best position is usually the next one.
- Use heat if it helps. Fifteen minutes, a few times a day. It will not fix anything but comfort matters.
- Take simple pain relief if you normally can. Being able to move is worth more than being stoic. Check with a pharmacist if you are unsure.
- Sleep however you can. Side-lying with a pillow between the knees suits most backs.
Don't
- Go to bed for two days. This is the single most common mistake and it reliably makes the second week worse.
- Rush to a scan. It almost never changes what anyone does, and it often finds things that were never the problem.
- Stretch hard into the pain. Gentle movement, not heroics.
- Look for the worst-case explanation online. Fear of movement is one of the reliable predictors of a short problem becoming a long one.
- Panic about the noise. Clicks and pops during normal movement mean very little.
What usually happens next
Acute back pain usually eases a great deal on its own, which is why the first few days are about staying comfortable and moving rather than chasing a diagnosis. They are often the worst of it. If yours follows that pattern, you may not need us at all, and we would rather tell you that now.
Worth booking if it has not started easing after a week, if pain is travelling below the knee or elbow, if it keeps coming back, or if you are avoiding things you would normally do.
Not sure which of those you are? The symptom check takes about ninety seconds and will tell you honestly, including when the answer is a GP rather than us.