 Hi, I am Dr Vidyadarayas, head of the department and consultant spine surgeon at Manipalha Hospital, Bangalore. People with back pain or neck pain, I think should have patient, they should wait for at least 2-3 weeks before going to a doctor. Unless there is a significant issue of accident or a trauma wherein they have been completely immobile, they are not able to stand, sit or walk, or if they have weakness or flow length, or if they have urinary or motion incontinence or inability to pass, or if they are known cases of, say, some cancer or known case of arthritis on steroid, wherein there is a bone weakening disease already, we know about this and patients have it, back pain, then they should hurry up and go into a doctor, otherwise rest all can wait for at least 3 weeks. And then, having gone at 3 weeks, you should be aware that you only need an x-ray to diagnose if there is anything wrong with the bone. And the doctor may ask you to do an MRI only if you have symptoms in your leg, because we want to know what is it in the back that is touching your nerves that the pain goes down your leg. And MRI is the gold standard test for any and every problem in this time. Having said that, you should also be careful because it is a very over-sensitive and non-specific tool. In the sense, if you do MRI of 100 normal people, you will see that more than 50% of them have one or the other problem or many problems, not that everything is to be treated. So you need to be cautious before getting the MRI and also once you report it out, because the report always says that something is wrong with your back, which is not necessary to be alarmed about. And left alone, 90% of the problems in the back are met over a period of time and if you wait for 3 months, you will be happier waiting than going to a doctor.