Any new symptom that doesn’t go away in a few days can be worrisome. Back pain is no exception. If you pull a muscle while lifting heavy boxes, you know the cause. When the pain appears without an injury or other known trigger and it sticks around for a while, it’s natural for your mind to jump to the worst-case scenario. You might wonder, is my back pain cancer?
Probably not, says Alan Alper Sag, MD, a cofounder of the Adult Cancer Pain & Bone Metastasis Tumor Board at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “Back pain due to cancer is quite rare,” he says. “And the vast majority of back pain is related to musculoskeletal causes.”
This type of back pain, which is typically caused by a muscle or ligament strain, arthritis, or a herniated disc often improves with rest, over-the-counter medications, stretching, and physical therapy.
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“Pain that lingers, worsens, or keeps you up at night — those are things that should raise red flags,” Dr. Sag says. If this is the case, seek medical attention, especially if you’ve had cancer in the past or you’re currently being treated for it.
