Back pain does cause high ESR as in low back pain CRP or ESR levels are expected to increase much more than is observed due to inflammatory reactions.
You should worry about your sed rate when the sed rate is high and has a value above 32 mm/hr which entails a faster than normal rate of descent for the red blood cells that suggest inflammation.
The cause of the inflammation can be a wide range of issues such as vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, kidney disease, injury or infections.
Normal range for ESR for people below the age of 50 years is 0-15mm/hr in men and 0-20mm/hr in women and for people above the age of 50 years, 0-20mm/hr and 0-30mm/hr.
The symptoms of high ESR include Anemia, Loss of appetite, neck or shoulder pain, joint stiffness, weight loss, unexplained fever and headaches.
In anemia with the hematocrit reduced the velocity of the upward flow of plasma is altered so the red blood cells aggregates fall faster.
If ESR is low then it means the red blood cells sank more slowly than they normally should which can indicate a blood disorder such as Polycythemia.
A low SED rate entails slow sedimentation.
While this does not always cause any concerns, people with blood cell disorders often have extremely low ESR test values.
These disorders include RBC deformities, sickle-cell anemia, leukocytosis (high white blood cells), and hypofibrinogenemia (extremely low fibrinogen).
The sed rate that indicates autoimmune disease is a sed rate of 150 millimeters per hour and the more elevated it is the higher the inflammation in the body is.
The number that is considered high for sedimentation rate is between 0 to 10 mm/hr and sedimentation rates higher than 100 mm/hr can indicate that a more active disease like diabetes, cardiovascular disease or even cancer is present.
Foods to avoid if your ESR is high are packaged meats, trans fats, sugary snacks, salty snacks, sugary foods and salty foods and cookies as well as processed foods as these foods can increase inflammation.
The four causes of elevated ESR are Thyroid disease, Kidney Disease, Anemia and cancers such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
Even pregnancy can cause elevated ESR.
Medication that is used to treat ESR includes Ibuprofen such as Advil and Motrin and Naproxen such as Aleve and Naprosyn and corticosteroid therapy which reduces inflammation.
The age related ESR rate is ≤10 to 20 mm/hour for children 1 month to 12 years old, ≤15 mm/hour for males >12 years, and ≤20 mm/hour for females >12 years.
After puberty, the normal top value rises 0.85 mm/hour for every 5-year increase in age.
The normal sed rate for males is 0-15 millimeters per hour and for females it is 0-20 millimeters per hour.
In the elderly the sedimentation rate can be slightly elevated.
A low erythrocyte sedimentation rate means that few cells have settled which usually means no inflammation or very little inflammation and a high ESR means a lot of cells have settled that can suggest inflammation.
The alarming level of ESR is (>100 mm/hr) and an apparent cause is usually present such as infection, temporal arteritis or malignancy.
A high erythrocyte sedimentation rate means that you have higher levels of inflammation in the body.
If the ESR or erythrocyte sedimentation rate test shows that the blood cells sink faster than normal then it can mean that you have a medical condition that is causing inflammation in the body.
And the speed of the test result is a sign of how much inflammation you have in the body.
The faster the ESR rates the higher levels of inflammation you have and the slower the ESR rates the lower levels of inflammation you have in the body.
Your erythrocyte sedimentation rate is the rate at which the red blood cells in anticoagulated whole blood descend in a standardized tube over a period of one hour.
It is a common hematology test, and is a non-specific measure of inflammation.
The normal range for erythrocyte sedimentation rates is as follows.
Men under 50 years old: less than 15 mm/hr.
Men over 50 years old: less than 20 mm/hr.
Women under 50 years old: less than 20 mm/hr.
Women over 50 years old: less than 30 mm/hr.
If there exists a suspicion of disease, the ESR may have some value as a “sickness index.”
If the level is extremely elevated (>100 mm/hr), an apparent cause is usually present (malignancy, infection, temporal arteritis).
If your ESR is high you should avoid or limit processed foods, cookies, salty and sugary snacks, and trans fats, packaged meats, as they can contribute to inflammation.
Apart from certain infections, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) & other autoimmune diseases can also contribute to increased ESR.