Most back pain can be handled with traditional home treatments.  But one problem deserves immediate attention by a physician.  If you can’t control your bowels or bladder, you need to see a doctor right away.  Loss of control can indicate something is compressing the nerves in your lower spine.  I don’t want to scare you, but this can be very serious.  If the nerves are compressed for too long they may be permanently damaged.  Other symptoms of this condition include a loss of feeling in the groin and being unable to urinate.

Fortunately, this condition is not common. The nerves that control your bladder and bowel are in the lower spine.  It just goes to prove once again that a spine problem can manifest itself in unusual ways.   There’s a name for the condition just discussed.  It’s called cauda equine syndrome.  That’s a fancy name for “get thee to a doctor” in my language.