Other accompanying symptoms

A cold with back pain can cause a whole range of other symptoms. Of course, any of the typical cold symptoms can occur, including Cold, sore throat, hoarseness, headache, feeling sick and in the late course often cough. A real fever above 38.5°C is rather rare for a simple cold, so a doctor should always be consulted if a high fever occurs.

If muscle pain is the cause of back pain, general pain in the limbs can also occur. These are often located in the buttocks, but can also be in the extremities (arms and legs). In addition, headaches can occur particularly often in the case of neck or shoulder pain.

This is because the neck or shoulder pain can radiate into the head. Neck pain often occurs together with a cold. Neck pain can occur especially with a sore throat in connection with a cold.Mostly it is a harmless side effect that disappears by itself.

However, it can also be a sign of a more serious disease. In the case of severe neck pain with neck stiffness, it should be checked whether fever and photophobia also occur. This can be an indication of an inflammation of the meninges, which particularly affects people with a weakened immune system.

These can be children and young people, old people, or people with an underlying disease such as AIDS. Meningitis is extremely rare in Germany in immunocompetent adults, but must be treated immediately if it occurs. Toothache in the case of a cold with back pain is not uncommon.

If the teeth hurt when you have a cold, the reason can be quite simple: Before the cold, the immune system had a small carious infection (infection caused by caries) under control, but now it is additionally attacked by the cold and the caries can spread further and cause pain. Sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses) can also lead to toothache and occurs particularly frequently after or during colds. This is due to the fact that with sinusitis, the so-called maxillary sinuses also become painfully inflamed and radiate into the teeth due to their close proximity to the teeth.

Toothache and back pain can also be directly related, so a clarification should be made if the back pain associated with the toothache persists beyond the cold. If during a cold with back pain there is also ear pain, it is often a so-called tube catarrh. Then the canal that ventilates the middle ear (the so-called Eustachian tube) swells up and a painful negative pressure in the ear occurs.

This can occur as part of a middle ear infection, but also on its own. This diagnosis is then ideally made by an ear, nose and throat specialist, but many general practitioners can also perform an otoscopy (examination of the ear). However, it is also possible that uncomplicated headaches radiate into the ear area and that there is no disease of the ear itself.

If swallowing causes pain in the ear, it is usually a radiation from the neck area into the ear. Pain in the limbs often occurs together with a cold. However, these are then usually relatively mild.

If there is severe pain in the limbs, there is a suspicion of a more serious illness, such as a real flu (influenza). Pain in the limbs is caused by the fact that the body releases so-called inflammation mediators during a virus attack. These ensure that the body can better defend itself against the viruses – but also have the disadvantage that the body becomes more sensitive to pain.

This leads to pain in the limbs and muscles, which can also manifest itself in the form of back pain. The symptoms of a flu-like sore throat often occur in connection with a cold, neck pain or shoulder pain. This is often a harmless side effect, the neck, neck and shoulder pain disappears by itself.

In rare cases, however, the pain can also be a sign of a more serious illness. Acute tonsillitis can cause severe pain in the throat, especially when swallowing. In a more severe course with so-called abscess formation, the bacteria can also settle in other areas. This can then lead to pain in the throat, neck or jaw.