Free, built by spine surgeons
Spine Symptom Checker
Most symptom checkers are built from general health content and ask the same twenty questions whatever you tell them. This spine self-assessment was written by spine surgeons and adapts as you answer, following the reasoning a spine clinic actually uses. You can add your MRI, CT or X-ray report, and the summary will explain what its findings mean against your symptoms rather than leaving you to decode the wording.
Free symptom checker, built by spine surgeons
Answer questions about your symptoms and add your MRI, CT or X-ray report if you have one. You get a written summary of what your answers point toward, and what to ask about next.
Start the free assessmentStart from where it hurts
Each of these covers what the assessment asks for that symptom, the warning signs worth knowing, and the conditions it can point to.
- Back painStart here if the pain is anywhere in your back and you are not sure what is causing it.
- Lower back painPain across the lower back or belt line, with or without pain running into the leg.
- Neck painPain in the neck itself, with or without symptoms travelling into the shoulder, arm or hand.
- SciaticaPain, numbness or weakness running from the back or buttock down the leg.
- Leg painLeg pain, heaviness or cramping, especially the kind that builds up when you walk.
- Arm pain and numbnessPain, pins and needles or numbness in the shoulder, arm or hand.
- Upper and mid back painPain between the shoulder blades, around the ribs, or across the mid back.
How this differs from a general symptom checker
It only covers the spine
General symptom checkers span the whole body and stop at broad answers like back pain. Narrowing to the spine is what makes room for the questions that actually separate a disc from a joint from a narrowed nerve tunnel.
It adapts as you answer
The questions you get depend on what you have already said, in the same way a clinic consultation narrows down. You are not answering a fixed list that ignores your answers.
It reads your imaging report
If you have an MRI, CT or X-ray report you can add it. The summary explains in plain language what its findings mean against your symptoms, including which ones are likely incidental.
It was written by spine surgeons
The questions, the reasoning and the condition library behind it were written by spine surgeons rather than assembled from general health content.
Common questions
- What is a spine symptom checker?
- It is a structured set of questions about your back or neck symptoms that narrows down what is likely causing them. This one covers where the pain is, where it travels, what changes it, and whether there is numbness or weakness, then explains which conditions that pattern fits and how soon it should be looked at. It is free and it produces a written summary you can take to an appointment.
- Is the spine symptom checker free?
- Yes. The assessment and the full written summary are both free.
- Is there a back pain self-assessment I can do at home?
- Yes, this is one. A back pain self-assessment is a structured way of describing your own symptoms accurately before you see anyone: where the pain travels, what changes it, whether there is numbness or weakness, and whether any warning signs are present. Doing that properly at home is worth more at the appointment than trying to recall it on the spot, which is why the summary is written to be handed over.
- Can an online symptom checker diagnose back pain?
- No. A diagnosis needs a physical examination and usually imaging, and no online tool can do either. What a good checker does is work out which possibilities fit your pattern, flag anything that needs urgent attention, and get you to the right appointment with the right information already written down.
- How is this different from a general symptom checker?
- General checkers cover the whole body and stop at broad categories such as back pain. This one only covers the spine, which is what lets it ask the questions that actually separate spinal causes from each other and from the conditions that mimic them. It also reads imaging reports, which general tools do not.
- Do I need my MRI or X-ray report?
- No, the assessment works without one. If you have a report you can add it, and the summary will explain in plain language what the findings mean in relation to your symptoms, including which findings are likely to be incidental.
- What do I get at the end?
- A written summary setting out what your symptoms most likely point toward, what the significant findings in your imaging report mean, any warning signs worth acting on, and questions worth asking. It is written to be handed to a clinician.
Not sure what's causing your pain?
SpineSense walks you through a structured assessment built by spine surgeons, then explains what your symptoms and imaging actually mean.
This symptom checker is general education, not medical advice, and it cannot diagnose you. It cannot account for your examination findings or your full history. Use it to prepare for an appointment with a qualified clinician, not to replace one. If you have any of the warning signs listed on this page, seek urgent care now.