Most back pain comes from muscles, joints and ligaments that are strained, stiff or irritated. Doctors call it non-specific back pain. It hurts a lot, it usually settles within weeks, and heat helps it. But back pain also covers nerve pain, fractures and problems that aren’t in your back at all. A heating pad does little for those, and it can make you wait too long.
Back pain heat helps
| Type | What it feels like | Heat? |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle strain or spasm | Tight, achy band across the back, often after lifting or bending. Worse with certain movements. | Yes. Often helps from day one. |
| Stiffness after sitting | Stiff getting up from the desk or car, eases once you walk around. | Yes |
| Spinal arthritis | Stiff in the morning, loosens through the day, aches after standing long. | Yes, especially in the morning |
| Long-term (chronic) back pain | Months of on-and-off pain, with flare-ups. | Yes, as one part of a plan that includes exercise |
For these, read how to use a heating pad for lower back pain. If it seized up overnight, see back spasm at night.
Back pain heat won’t fix
Sciatica and nerve pain. Burning, electric or shooting pain down the leg, often with pins and needles. Heat on your back may relax the muscle spasm around the nerve and make you more comfortable, but it doesn’t treat the nerve. See a physio or doctor, especially if you notice weakness.
A slipped (herniated) disc. Heat can ease the muscle guarding. It won’t change the disc. What helps most is staying gently active and getting the right exercises.
A fracture. Sudden back pain after a fall, or even after a cough or lifting a light bag, can be a spinal fracture in an older person with thin bones. Get an assessment.
Pain that isn’t from your back
Organs in your belly and chest can refer pain to your back. Heat may take the edge off and hide the warning. Watch for pain that doesn’t change when you move or change position, plus any of these:
- Kidneys: pain in your side or flank with fever, burning when you pee, blood in your urine, or waves of severe pain spreading to the groin.
- Heart: upper back or between the shoulder blades, with chest pressure, breathlessness or sweating. Call 995.
- Aorta: sudden, severe, tearing pain in the back or tummy, especially in older smokers or people with high blood pressure. Call 995.
- Womb and ovaries: lower back pain that tracks with your cycle, or comes with abnormal bleeding.
Pain on one side has its own list of causes: lower back pain on the left side.
Red flags: go to A&E
- Numbness around your groin, genitals or buttocks
- New trouble passing urine, or losing control of your bladder or bowels
- Weakness in both legs
These can mean pressure on the nerves at the base of the spine. It needs treatment within hours.
See a doctor or physio soon if…
- You’re over 50 and this is new back pain
- You have a history of cancer, unexplained weight loss or fever
- The pain is constant and just as bad at night lying still
- It followed a fall or accident
- It isn’t improving after two weeks
Everything else? Use heat, keep moving, and give it a couple of weeks. Most back pain gets better on its own. Not sure between heat and ice? Start here. Wondering whether a pad, a belt or something else suits you: wraps and belts vs a flat pad, heat pad or TENS, heat pad or massage gun.
The heat pad we use
We’ve supplied the Bremed BD7800 since 2010. It holds a steady temperature, covers a whole lower back and has a machine-washable cotton cover. Physiotherapy clinics in Singapore use it with their patients.
Clinically reviewed by: Nigel Chua (Hand Occupational Therapist) & Louise Yow (Physiotherapist). This article is general information, not a diagnosis. electricheatpad.com sells electric heat pads.
