Sorry if this has been covered before (if it has just point me to the resource), but what are the red flag signs and symptoms that suggest you should seek medical attention if you have pain? And, what should you do if none of those flags are set? Just curious on your exact thought process. Thanks!
This is not something that can be adequately discussed in a forum post. It’s also specific to the “area” of pain – for example, “red flags” for headache are different than those for chest pain, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, low back pain, or extremity pain.
There are numerous that get thrown around, but they unfortunately have poor evidence for diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility. See:
When taking a patient history, I still look for things like:
Personal history of having cancer
Traumatic injury, particularly high-impact
New onset back pain associated with recent systemic infection or other high-risk behaviors like IV drug use
Extremity motor weakness / paralysis
History of osteoporosis
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