Questions Your Doctor May Ask - and Why!
During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Back pain.
These may include a physical examination or other medical tests.
Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing
your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information
you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
- When did the back pain start?
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
- Did the back pain start after any injury or lifting?
Why: helps to determine cause of back pain e.g. dysfunction of intervertebral disc , back muscle strain, compression fracture of the spine, spondylolisthesis.
- Nature of the pain?
Why: may reveal its likely origin e.g. aching, throbbing pain can indicate inflammation such as spondylitis; deep aching diffuse pain can indicate referred pain such as painful menstruation; superficial steady diffuse pain can indicate local pain such as a muscular strain; boring deep pain can indicate bone disease such as bone tumor or Paget's disease; intense sharp stabbing pain superimposed on a dull ache can indicate sciatica.
- Where is the back pain worst?
Why: is it central or peripheral, thoracic area or lumbar area.
- Is your back pain worse when you wake in the morning or later in the day?
Why: Inflammatory pain is worse at night and in early morning; mechanical back pain due to injury is worse at the end of the day and after activity; Continuous pain present day and night is suggestive of infection or bone tumor.
- Aggravating and relieving factors?
Why: inflammatory back pain causes pain at rest , relieved by activity ; mechanical back pain due to injury is exacerbated by activity and relieved by rest ;osteoarthritis causes pain with or after activity and relived with rest; pain aggravated by standing or walking and relieved by sitting suggests spondylolisthesis; back pain due to dysmenorrhoea is worse at start of menstrual period.
- Recent history of gastroenteritis?
Why: may indicate reactive arthritis.
- Past history?
Why: osteoarthritis (a common cause of back pain is spondylosis (synonymous with osteoarthritis and degenerative back disease) ankylosing, spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis.
- Past cancer history?
Why: of cancers that may spread to bones e.g. breast, lung, prostate, thyroid, kidney, bladder, adrenal, melanoma and colorectal.
- Sexual history?
Why: can determine risk of Reiter's syndrome.
- Risks of Osteoporosis?
Why: early menopause , premenopausal estrogen deficiency e.g. amenorrhea , cigarette smoking , high caffeine intake , high alcohol intake , low calcium intake , physical inactivity , chronic corticosteroid use, Cushing's disease , hyperthyroidism , chronic renal failure.
- Medication?
Why: e.g. warfarin may cause cauda equine compression due to hemorrhage; corticosteroids can lead to osteoporosis.
Questions your doctor may ask about related symptoms:
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse
your condition. These may include:
- Back stiffness?
Why: if severe, prolonged and worse in the morning indicates inflammation e.g. Rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis; Osteoarthritis causes stiffness at rest.
- Pain, swelling or stiffness in any other joints in the body?
- Leg pain?
Why: may indicate compression of spinal cord or nerve roots from a disc prolapse, narrowed intervertebral foramina or bone tumor.
- Leg paresthesia?
Why: may indicate compression of spinal cord or nerve roots from a disc prolapse, narrowed intervertebral foramina or bone tumor.
- Bladder symptoms?
Why: should consider the possibility of a spinal cord tumor, cauda equine tumor or kidney disease.
- Fever?
Why: may occur in acute vertebral osteomyelitis or tuberculosis.
- Skin rash?
Why: psoriasis can cause psoriatic arthropathy.
- Symptoms of Reiter's syndrome?
Why: e.g. conjunctivitis, urethritis (painful urination, penile discharge, vaginal discharge).
- Symptoms of Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis or gastroenteritis?
- Symptoms of Urinary tract infection?
Why: may cause loin pain.
- Symptoms of depression?
Why: Chronic back pain can increase risk of causing or aggravating depression; Depression can continue to aggravate or maintain the back pain even though the provoking problem has disappeared.
» Next page: Types of Back pain
Rate This Website
What do you think about the features of this website?
Take our user survey and have your say:
Website User Survey
Medical Tools & Articles:
Next articles:
Tools & Services:
Medical Articles:
Forums & Message Boards
- Ask or answer a question at the Boards:
