Lower back pain in 18 year old

[Chubbybum]

My (just) 18 year old DD has been complaining of a bad back for several months now. She has not (to our knowledge) done anything that could lead to an injury. Over the last few weeks the back pain has got increasing worse and I’m currently watching her pace the living room with tears streaming down her face. She is taking the maximum dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen every day and using heat but this doesn’t seem to help. She can’t sit, stand or lie down for any length of time and is starting to miss a lot of school. The pain either stops her getting to sleep or wakes her up most nights too. She has had a couple of telephone appointments with her GP and has another scheduled for tomorrow but they don’t seem to be very helpful. Can anyone suggest anything that may help or have any idea what this could be?

Sorry your poor dd is still in such pain but glad to hear that the gp is taking it seriously and has been appropriately thorough. Did they give you any sort of timescales / plans of how to manage the pain in rhe meantime?

Blood tests scheduled for next week and he will call as soon as the results are in. He was reluctant to start her on anything stronger until the results are back though he did say he would check with another GP about the possibility of her taking some Naproxen. She’s asleep now after another dose of paracetamol and a hot water bottle

Hi, i am currently suffering with awful lower back pain, under ortho & chiropractor, my bit of advice whilst you're awaiting blood tests is, using heat (hot water bottle) although it gives relief it actually causes inflammation to get worse, so I had actually made my back worse & more inflamed by using heat. The chiropractor & ortho reg both suggested using ice packs for 5-10 mins every 90 mins. This may be worth try? I really hope she feels better soon, I completely sympathise

Does she have stiffness when she wakes up OP? If so how long does it last? Can you self refer to NHS in your area? A lot of places can. Physio would be a good starting place for her.

@CherryLeaf no stiffness in the morning. Sometimes she wakes up in pain and sometimes she doesn’t.