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Back Pain That Wakes You at Night
Pain that wakes you from sleep, or that does not settle with a change of position, appears in the warning-sign lists of several guides in this library. This page collects those conditions so you can read what each one is. Every guide has its own red-flag section — read it there rather than on this page.
9 guides on this page, including 2 conditions that mimic spine pain.
This article is general education, not medical advice. It cannot account for your history, imaging, or examination — talk to a qualified clinician about your own care.
Spine conditions covered here
- GeneralNeeds prompt medical assessment
Spinal Metastasis
Also called: cancer that has spread to the spine, spine metastases, spinal bone tumor from cancer
Cancer that has spread to the vertebral column, causing progressive back pain, risk of vertebral fracture, and, in serious cases, compression of the spinal cord or nerve roots.
Read the full guide - GeneralCan be a medical emergency
Metastatic Epidural Spinal Cord Compression
Also called: cancer pressing on the spinal cord, malignant spinal cord compression
A spinal emergency in which cancer spreading to the vertebrae compresses the spinal cord or cauda equina, causing escalating back pain, weakness, and potentially irreversible paralysis if not treated without delay.
Read the full guide - GeneralNeeds prompt medical assessment
Vertebral Osteomyelitis and Discitis
Also called: spine infection, infected disc, bone infection in the spine
A serious infection of the vertebral body and intervertebral disc that requires prompt diagnosis and prolonged antibiotic therapy, with surgery reserved for neurologic emergencies or spinal instability.
Read the full guide - GeneralCan be a medical emergency
Spinal Epidural Abscess
Also called: infection around the spinal cord, pus collection in the spine
A collection of infected material in the space around the spinal cord that can rapidly compress nerves and cause potentially irreversible paralysis.
Read the full guide - GeneralNeeds prompt medical assessment
Intradural Extramedullary Tumor
Also called: spinal tumor outside the spinal cord
A tumor that grows within the spinal canal outside the spinal cord itself, compressing the cord or nerve roots and causing progressive pain, sensory changes, or weakness.
Read the full guide - GeneralNeeds prompt medical assessment
Intramedullary Spinal Cord Tumor
Also called: tumor inside the spinal cord, spinal cord tumor
A tumor arising within the spinal cord's own tissue that expands the cord from inside, progressively disrupting movement, sensation, and bladder and bowel control.
Read the full guide - General
Vertebral Compression Fracture
Also called: collapsed vertebra, spine fracture from osteoporosis, crumbling vertebra
A structural collapse of the vertebral body, most commonly caused by osteoporosis, that produces sudden back pain and, with multiple fractures over time, progressive height loss and spinal deformity.
Read the full guide
Conditions that mimic spine pain
These are problems elsewhere in the body. They are covered in this library because they are commonly mistaken for a spinal cause, and telling them apart changes who you should be seeing.
- General
Inflammatory Spondyloarthropathy as a Spine Mimic
Also called: ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory back pain, axial spondyloarthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis and related inflammatory spondyloarthropathies cause deep low back pain and stiffness that is often mistaken for a degenerative disc or joint problem until the inflammatory pattern is recognized.
Read the full guide - GeneralNeeds prompt medical assessment
Critical Limb Ischemia as a Spine Mimic
Also called: severely blocked leg arteries, chronic limb threatening ischemia, poor blood flow to the foot
A limb-threatening loss of blood flow to the leg or foot that can be mistaken for severe spinal stenosis or radiculopathy, but requires urgent vascular care rather than spine treatment.
Read the full guide
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