Back Pain And Flu

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Influenza, usually referred to as "the flu," is a respiratory and highly contagious viral illness experienced by as many as twenty percent of the United States population each year. Many who suffer from the flu also experience a somewhat mystifying accompanying back pain, often localized in the lower back. This pain can range from a mild throbbing to excruciating and touch sensitive. Flu related back pain typically lasts throughout the duration of the illness, although it often lessens in intensity over time along with other symptoms.

Why does the influenza virus sometimes cause back pain? The answer can be slightly difficult to discern, as back pain is not commonly recognized by many as a flu symptom - usually people associate flu with symptoms such as continuous fever, headache and body aches, fatigue, eye pain, a dry cough, runny nose, and sore throat. While the back pain can be a natural extension of flu related body aches and muscle pain, sometimes the severity of pain in comparison to other body aches makes the pain seem unusual. It is not; severe back pain during a bout of influenza, as well as severe pain in the ...
... arms and legs, is relatively common and often caused by high levels of proinflammatory cytokines as well as chemokines which are made by influenza affected cells. The influenza virus causes tissue damage by attacking nerve endings; this is regularly the source of aches and pain, even the most agonizing back pain.

Even though back pain is a frequent flu symptom, sometimes the existence of back pain during an influenza infection is purely coincidental. This is especially true if the flu sufferer already has a history of chronic back pain; the pain could simply be resurfacing at the same time flu symptoms are appearing or could possibly be aggravated by the aches and pains caused by the flu virus. Both back pain and the flu virus are extremely common in adults so it is unsurprising that they may occasionally intersect without being directly related.

As always, if you are experiencing any symptoms that you may believe indicate the flu or other illness, the best course of action is to visit a physician as soon as possible. Flu treatments usually must be administered within a couple of days of the onset of the sickness, and you also need to rule out other possible sources of your symptoms. For example, individuals describing flu like symptoms with severe back pain occasionally are afflicted not with the influenza virus but actually are suffering from a urinary tract infection (UTI) or the more advanced kidney infection, both which require urgent medical treatment. Untreated flu symptoms can also lead to other, more severe complications such as bacterial pneumonia, sinus and ear infections, and aggravation and worsening of unrelated chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma. In the meantime, treat back pain and fever with analgesics like acetaminophen and control other symptoms as needed through the use of appropriate over the counter medication.