Back pain is
pain felt in the
back. Episodes of back pain may be
acute, sub-acute, or
chronic depending on the duration. The pain may be characterized as a dull ache, shooting or piercing pain, or a burning sensation. The pain may radiate into the
arms and
hands as well as the
legs or
feet, and may include
paresthesia (tingling with no apparent cause), weakness or numbness in the legs and arms. The
anatomic classification of back pain follows the segments of the spine:
neck pain (cervical),
middle back pain (thoracic),
lower back pain (lumbar) or
coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) with the
lumbar vertebrae area most common for pain.