Teenager with back pain

[Cocopogo]

My 15 yo DS has back pain and has on/off for a couple of years. Yesterday in an argument about him needing to get out more and exercise (he’s skinny but does a lot less since lockdown) he replied I asked you to take me to a doctor but you won’t! I don’t remember him ever asking and yelled back your old enough to call yourself you know! This morning I’m wondering whether I should speak to Gp. I assumed back pain was common in teens, growing and stooping etc.

YANBU it’s common it’ll pass he’s just making excuses
YABU speak to Gp and see what they say!

Please share your stories of your teens

@NeverDropYourMoonCup

Many doctors won't see under 16s alone.

He's also still a child so might not have the confidence to make the call.

Back pain can be common. But then again, so is scoliosis and arthritis.

At 15 he would be deemed to have Gillick competence so nothing to stop him seeing a GP alone BUT the OP should definitely have taken him to see someone long before now.

A couple of years?! I’m really shocked.

Please take him to the GP.

In theory, yes, he's competent - but in practice, many doctors won't see them. There's also navigating hold systems when they may not have enough call time on their phones, dealing with reception, etc.

I've got a whole load of additional irritation reserved for the multiple pharmacies that refused to dispense my then 15 year old's prescription for the Pill (prescribed for heavy and extremely painful periods) without a parent present as well - competence is very vulnerable to the opinion/beliefs of the adult the child is in front of at the time.

Anyhow, the OP's son is 'skinny' but not exercising because of back pain. He needs an adult with him to not accept the bullshit 'well, you're a lazy, slouching teen' and actually look into what is causing the pain, whether it is a lack of core strength and poor posture, chronic and untreated injury, a progressive deformity such as scoliosis, EDS or an autoimmune disease such as Ankylosing Spondylitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis.

Unfortunately, it appears that his genuine pain has been ignored for two whole years, so the chances of him getting help other than a 'it's growing pains' sounds pretty low, as anything he says will be minimised or rejected during the consultation.

I hope his GP is better than that, however.

I also doubt the OP will come back and say 'Shit! He's being referred for blood tests/x-rays/physio/the hospital' - it'll be 'nothing wrong, just growing pains and needs to exercise more/stand up straight' if anything.

@Cocopogo

Thanks, I’ve got a telephone consult for the morning. Will keep you posted. Those saying poor child he does actually have a mobile and can navigate Google. He’s more than capable of getting the number and calling himself and walking the 5 min walk to the Gp, he’s not a baby, he’s just a typical lazy teen who expects everything to fall from the sky and hit him on the head. Sorry you think that constitutes poor parenting but I prefer raising a functional adult who gets off his arse and sorts things himself. However I have made the appointment and told DS now he’s out of bed.

You said a couple of years when talking about the pain... waiting since he was 13 and in pain is awful. You are the parent. The GP would need you there at his age. Why have you left it so long.

I should have posted this in health then I could have got more specific help as it seems most people on here have never had back pain and don’t understand that it comes and goes and twinges a bit then goes so that when I went to ring the doctor the next day it had gone for a few weeks and so on.
They also seem to have forgotten that it’s been over a year since covid started and appointments for things that weren’t an emergency were unheard of until quite recently.

@Cocopogo

I should have posted this in health then I could have got more specific help as it seems most people on here have never had back pain and don’t understand that it comes and goes and twinges a bit then goes so that when I went to ring the doctor the next day it had gone for a few weeks and so on. They also seem to have forgotten that it’s been over a year since covid started and appointments for things that weren’t an emergency were unheard of until quite recently.

I have had back pain for about 20 years, some days it's so bad I can barely walk and other days I can function pretty normally. I understand fully what it's like. I still wouldn't wait 2 years to see a GP or force my child to. I am also fully aware that we're living through a pandemic but I've been able to speak to a GP when I've needed to throughout the last year and even seen one face to face a couple of times.

This started when he was 13 and you have been down playing it so of course your Son isn’t going cal the docs himself. Give your head a wobble and call the docs ASAP. This could be serious!

@Cocopogo

I should have posted this in health then I could have got more specific help as it seems most people on here have never had back pain and don’t understand that it comes and goes and twinges a bit then goes so that when I went to ring the doctor the next day it had gone for a few weeks and so on. They also seem to have forgotten that it’s been over a year since covid started and appointments for things that weren’t an emergency were unheard of until quite recently.

You wouldn't have got an 'oh well, he's obviously faking it/should have thought to make the call himself' from there either. You would have got information upon the multiple diagnoses/potentially serious conditions that can present in teens - and a 'don't dismiss his pain'.

Back pain doesn't always come and go. Not even in teenagers. It was also already a year your DS had been in pain before Covid started.

It will be absolutely relevant in the consultation that you tell the GP the pain has been there for two years, by the way; if you say it's a new thing, that could lead to ineffective/inadequate investigation.

Is your DS noticeably eating less whilst being less active and staying skinny? Weightloss can be associated with autoimmune issues. Does he have particularly mobile joints? Could be EDS related. Does he have pains shooting down his leg? Does he have to rush to the bathroom because he hasn't noticed he needs to go or has no ability to hold it? If he stands upright, is one hip or shoulder blade higher than the other or does he appear to have more of a waist on one side? Any of those are relevant.

He is a child not an adult. You should not have expected him to book the appointment.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup the only one out that list is he’s double jointed in places

Of course you should have called the GP. After 3 years of dr appointments, hospital scans etc, we finally had our teen's back ache diagnosed and now they are able to start treatment. Will be a life long condition and they will always be in pain.

They had to give up the sport they loved and have really struggled to study due to the pain, so it's affected their whole life.

I can't imagine not trying to help them - it would have only taken you 30 seconds to call the GP and surely you should have done that without them even needing to ask.

I love the naive and touching faith that all you need to do is phone a GP and they'll give you an appointment (I suspect in the unlikely event that they would see him, they'd give him a once-over and send him away with pain-killers).

You'd probably be better taking him to a osteopath/sports massage therapist actually. They'll actually have a feel around and might be better placed to tell you if you need more investigation. Not sure GP is the best port of call to start with, even if they do see him in person eventually.

it would have only taken you 30 seconds to call the GP ha ha

meanwhile, in the real world...

OP, double-jointed = hyper mobile.
If he's spending a lot of time on his phone, that could easily be a cause of upper back and neck pain.

[quote Cocopogo]@NeverDropYourMoonCup the only one out that list is he’s double jointed in places[/quote]
Ok, possible EDS. Only potentially fatal if left undiagnosed in some cases, dependent upon the variant and severity. Oh, and carries a risk of dislocations of neck or spine resulting in paralysis in others.

Also tends to cluster with autoimmune or autonomic dysfunction. Might include getting dizzy if he stands up quickly or for too long, bowel or digestive issues.

I had back ache in my teens and turns out it was ankylosing spondylitis.... it only took 8 years to diagnose!

DD2 had back/neck pain when she was about 13/14 took her to the GP who referred her to the physio at the hospital. Lo and behold it’s being on her iPad too much, she draws a lot on it, it’s not all gaming. Apparently they are seeing loads of teens with neck pain, for every so many degrees you dip your head down to look at your phone you put an extra 5lbs force on your neck. I think we will end up with an epidemic of young adults with sore necks/backs.

Anyway I digress, I think you should still have gotten him checked out OP 2 years you never know.

Aw never mind eh, he'll be 18 soon enough and you can sling him out.

Yes , real world. 2 years ago when the pain started.

My sister’s teen back pain turned out to be a tumour on her spine. My parents repeatedly called the GP, who kept prescribing painkillers for their slipped disc and pulled muscle guesses. Eventually my parents took her straight to hospital and they scanned her. Almost immediately into surgery.

A teenage brother of a school friend had back pain. His parents dismissed it at first, saying he was trying to get out of studying. It turned out it was cancer and he died before finishing school.

Back pain in teenagers is not normal. He’s had it on and off for 2 years and you’ve just dismissed it. Awful.

I really want to know if this boy was ok!

@WinoLino he was in hospital around 3 months ago with the back pain. They kept him in for around 10 days, kept doing tests and found nothing.
At one point they had a possible diagnosis of arthritis but a follow up rheumatoid appointment ruled that out too so we are none the wiser.
He’s generally fine, and fit and well, doesn’t go on screens a lot and walks 20 miles without breaking a sweat but every now and then has this back pain.

Bless him. Thanks for the update and hope he gets to the bottom of it!