What should you do when a child's back goes out?

Answer 1

Pediatric spinal problems don't happen that often unless there's been an injury, the child was born with a spinal problem (e.g., Scoliosis, etc.), etc.

If by "going out" you mean the child has extreme pain and can't walk, stand or bend over without difficulty, then it's usually attributed to a disk herniation. Again though, it doesn't happen as often in kids unless they've had injuries or have other problems, either known or unknown, of a hereditary nature or caused by severe disease.

Any disk problem will cause extreme pain, and the nerve path that has the pain will tell you which disk is causing the problem, or at least which nerve is being affected. There is an animated chart on the 'net that you can use to determine which disk is causing the problem. See the link below.

Move your cursor over the rectangular boxes on the left side which are marked with an S, L, T or C and number respectively. These stand for Sacral, Lumbar, Thoracic and Cervical - the numbers indicate the vertebrae / disk in question. Note that when you click on a box, the animation shows how pain flows down the affected nerve path.

The type of pain can also give you a clue as to what kind of problem it is:

1 Sharp, stabbing, needle pain is from a nerve or nerves.

2. Tingly, pins & needle pain is a nerve path being cut off, like when you lay on your arm for too long and cut off the nerve and pinch the artery in your arm, giving you that feeling.

3. Burning - usually muscle or tendons

4. Aching, throbbing, dull pain - can be deep tissue, muscles, ligaments, etc.

5. Cramping (severe and mild) - cramping can be caused a nerve being compressed for long periods, but is usually due to the person not having enough potassium in the body. Bananas are great potassium sources, but you probably need more than just that. Gatorade/Powerade are both great for restoring your electrolytes quickly.

However, all that aside, the first thing you should do is take the child to a Neurosurgeon or Neurologist ASAP, because as I've said several times, it's not a very common problem in kids.