Question: I have a question in regards to my lower back pain. I have had a lower back pain in my lower-left area of my back for around 3-4 years now. The pain is sortof in the "background" as to say. The pain is of moderate intensity, and during these 3-4 years the pain has not gotten worse, but at the same time it has not really got better either. The pain is located only in the lower-left region of my back. The lower right region is completely fine as I dont feel any pain at all over there. The pain varies, when my body is cold (like in the morning) the pain itensity (from a scale from 1-10) could be anywhere froma 3 - 4, however when my body is warm like after an exercise session, the intensity could go down to around 1-2 in intesity.


My health profile:

I am 29 years old
Weight 115 Kg, I am a male, computer engineer by profession. I exercise 3-4 times a week at the gym, I lift weights and for cardio I do some jogging.
I am an otherwise healthy man, I dont take any medications nor have I had any other medical complications before.

I dont have any accopanying symptoms such as weakness, numbness, nausea etc.

I have visited a physeotherapist for 3 months now, and whe have prescribed some lower back exercises to do to see if it will help the back pain. The therapy sessions have had however minimal results.

She said that based on my symptoms she does not suspect anything serious, but just too rule out anything dangerous she has ordered an x-ray image of my lower back, and I have an appointment the 16:th of November.



My question is: once the x-ray is taken, will the x-ray image be able to spot if there is any malignancy such as tumors in my lower back? Or is this something that only can be spotted with an MRI? In other words, will the x-ray image spot if I have spinal tumor or not?

Hello Olgeta,

Thanks for your response.

So in other words, the x-ray is useless for spotting malignancy?

What I want to know is, if I take the x-ray to the lower back, will that x-ray be able to rule out if I have any malignancy or not? I.e, if I take an x-ray, will it rule out if I have "something dangerous" in my back?

Please advise,

Thanks for your answer,

I must say however that I am very confused at this point. After doing some research online, there are many medical sources that say that spinal X-rays can detect tumors, e.g:

If we for instance look at : https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/xrays-of-the-spine-neck-or-back

It says the following:

"X-rays use invisible electromagnetic energy beams to make images of internal tissues, bones, and organs on film. Standard X-rays are performed for many reasons. These include diagnosing tumors or bone injuries."

According to this source, the xrays can detect tumors.

Moreover, when I asked the similar question here on "healthcaremagic" around 3 months ago, another Doctor named "Dr. XXXXXXX BN ,General & Family Physician" told me the following about diagnosing the cause of my back pain:

"A plane x ray Lumbosacral spine will helpful to rule out spine tumor. If there is any signs then can go for CT or MRI."

According to this doctor, an x ray of the Lumbosacral area can rule out a spinal tumor.


And now, you are stating the opposite, that an x ray can't find, detect or otherwise spot a spinal tumor.

As you sure you can realize, I am pretty confused as there are 3 medical sources saying conflicting things.


Can you please help me rid out this confusion? Why are other doctors saying that an x ray can find spinal tumors?