Most people with low back pain will not require a special scan like an X-ray, CT scan, or MRI. These scans are usually only done to rule out the possibility of a serious health problem, which affects less than 1% of people with low back pain.

For most people with low back pain, scans won’t usually help your doctor treat your pain.

Even though scans might not change the way your pain is treated, they can show normal age-related changes which are also found on scans of people who don’t have low back pain. In most cases, these changes are not related to pain and don’t need treatment.

A small number of people need a scan to make sure they receive the correct treatment, or because their pain doesn’t go away after trying other treatments.

If you’re unsure about your low back pain, talk to your General Practitioner.

When scans may be recommended for low back pain

It is recommended that scans are performed to further assess back and/or leg pain when:

  • Your doctor suspects a serious underlying condition.
  • You have severe or increasing weakness in specific muscles in your leg or foot.
  • Your doctor believes you have nerve compression related to a disc herniation (pushed outside its normal position) which has been present for more than four to six weeks.
  • Your doctor believes your symptoms are related to pressure on nerves caused by narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal claudication). Scans may then be recommended if your pain has been present for several months.

More information for consumers

Information for clinicians