Sudden difficulty controlling your bladder or bowel • Numbness between your legs or in the saddle area • Rapidly worsening weakness in one or both legs • Sudden severe back pain after a fall in a man with known prostate cancer. These may indicate spinal cord compression — a medical emergency. Delay can result in permanent paralysis.
Constant back pain present at rest and at night • Night pain that regularly wakes you • Unexplained weight loss • Urinary symptoms: poor stream, blood in urine or semen, frequent night urination • Back pain not improving after 4–6 weeks • New back pain with no clear mechanical cause in a man over 50 • Any new back pain in a man with known prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men. The spine is its most frequent site of spread, making it a critical consideration when a man over 50 presents with back pain that does not have a clear mechanical explanation. Most back pain in men over 50 is still mechanical — but the minority that is not is more significant than in younger men, and failing to identify it promptly has serious consequences.
PSA (prostate-specific antigen) is a blood test that can indicate prostate cancer when elevated. Any man over 50 with unexplained back pain should discuss PSA testing with his GP. The test is not perfect — it can be elevated for benign reasons and can be normal in some prostate cancers — but it is a simple, low-risk first step in investigation.
The myBackPain assessment screens for the features that suggest cancer needs to be considered — and guides you toward the right investigation pathway.
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