Back Pain Specialist in London
Persistent or severe back pain that hasn’t responded to rest, painkillers or physiotherapy deserves a proper answer. Dr Yasser Mehrez is a Consultant in Pain Medicine and Anaesthesia at 107 Harley Street. He treats lower, middle and upper back pain, sciatica and related nerve pain. Diagnosis and treatment are image-guided, in the NHS and privately.
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Same-week
appointments -
20+ years
experience -
107 Harley Street,
London
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Understanding Your Back Pain
Back pain rarely announces itself politely. It’s the twinge that stops you halfway through tying your shoes. It’s the ache that won’t let you sit through a full meeting. Sometimes it’s the quiet fear that it might be something more serious than a strained muscle.
In any given year, 9.5 million people in the UK experience low back pain. For 5.8 million of them, it is severe. Those are Arthritis UK’s figures; the same report makes it the UK’s leading cause of years lived with disability. For some it settles within a few weeks, and for others it becomes a low, familiar presence.
Lower back pain (lumbago) is the most common presentation Dr Mehrez sees. Back pain can affect any part of the spine, from the neck down to the base of the back. Here’s what to look out for, what might be causing it, and how working together can get you back to doing the things you’d normally do.
Symptoms & When to Seek Help
Signs Your Back Pain Needs Specialist Attention
Back pain rarely shows up as one clean symptom. It’s usually a pattern, and how it’s affecting your day tells a specialist more than how much it hurts. If any of these have been going on for more than a few weeks, it’s worth getting looked at properly.
Pain That Wakes You.
Back pain that stops you sleeping, or keeps waking you through the night.
Sciatica-Type Pain.
Pain that shoots or burns from the lower back down one leg.
Pain That Won’t Let You Sit.
Discomfort that makes a commute or a long meeting hard to get through.
Leg Weakness or Numbness.
Weakness, pins and needles, or a change in how your leg feels.
Morning Stiffness.
A back that’s stiff and slow to loosen first thing.
Movement-Triggered Pain.
Pain that flares when you bend, lift or twist.
Pain That Keeps Coming Back.
Flare-ups that settle, then return every few weeks or months.
Pain That’s Changing What You Do.
Activities you’ve quietly stopped doing because of your back.
Red-Flag Symptoms: When to Seek Urgent Care
A small number of back pain symptoms need emergency care rather than a booked appointment. Some signal cauda equina syndrome, where nerves at the base of the spine are compressed. It’s rare, but it’s a surgical emergency, and the British Association of Spine Surgeons reports better outcomes when it’s treated within 48 hours. Following the NHS’s own urgent-care guidance, go straight to A&E if your back pain comes with any of these:
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Contact your GP urgently if you also feel hot, cold or shivery, or if severe pain starts suddenly or is worsening fast. This is a guide to how quickly to act, not a diagnosis.
What’s Causing Your Back Pain?
Back pain has many possible causes. Identifying the right one is the first step towards lasting relief, rather than treatment that only masks the symptom. Back pain can also have causes specific to women, such as pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy, covered in our guide to lower back pain in women.
Common Causes
- Muscle or ligament strain
- Slipped disc (prolapsed intervertebral disc)
- Degenerative disc disease (wear and tear in the spine’s discs)
- Facet joint arthritis, sometimes called facet syndrome
- Sciatica (pinched nerve, or nerve root compression)
- Poor posture, often worsened by long periods sitting
Many cases of pain are due to these common, treatable conditions.
Less Common but Serious Causes
- Ankylosing spondylitis (an inflammatory condition affecting the spine)
- Vertebral fracture
- Spinal infection
Your specialist will assess and rule out serious conditions when needed.
Some causes of back pain are far less common than others. Still, they matter more, which is exactly why a proper assessment counts.
Back Pain & Life in London: Desk Jobs, Commuting & Stress
If your week looks like back-to-back meetings, a long commute, and a desk you never quite got round to adjusting properly, you’re far from alone. Long periods sitting, whether at a desk or on the Tube, put sustained pressure on the lower back and can worsen existing pain. Standing commutes bring their own problem: hours spent swaying and bracing without proper support.
Then add high-stress, long-hours work, which is genuinely linked to increased muscle tension. It’s easy to see why so many City professionals end up with back pain that a better chair alone won’t fix. Frequent flying and business travel add to this too, with long periods in aircraft seats making it harder for your back to recover between flare-ups.
A better chair, a standing desk, or more movement through the day can all help. But when conservative changes only go so far, it’s worth understanding what a pain management consultant can offer that a desk adjustment can’t.
Why See a Pain Management Consultant for Back Pain?
Most people try a GP, a physiotherapist, or sometimes a chiropractor first, and that’s often the right place to start. For many, that’s enough. For others, pain persists despite doing everything right. That’s when a pain management consultant becomes the right next step.
A consultant brings diagnostic imaging, prescribing authority and image-guided procedures into one place. Here’s how the roles compare.
How We Can Help
Comprehensive assessment
Diagnostic imaging and tests
Prescribing medication
Interventional procedures
Treatment approach
Referral and access
GP
General Practitioner
General assessment, may refer for tests
Basic tests, refers for imaging
Can prescribe basic medications
Does not perform procedures
Medication-first, may refer on
May involve longer NHS waiting times
Physiotherapist
Physical Therapy Specialist
Movement and functional assessment
No direct imaging access, works with existing reports
Cannot prescribe medications
Does not perform procedures
Exercise-based rehabilitation
Often multiple sessions over weeks
Pain Management Consultant
Medical Specialist
- In-depth medical assessment to identify the exact cause
- Direct access to advanced imaging and specialist tests
- Can prescribe a wide range of medications, including injections
- Performs image-guided injections and pain procedures
- Combines diagnosis, medication, procedures and rehabilitation
- Faster access to specialist care and treatment
None of this makes a GP or a physiotherapist the wrong choice. Rather, it makes them a different one, suited to a different stage.
How We Diagnose Your Back Pain
Your first appointment starts with time to talk before any decisions get made. If you haven’t seen a pain consultant before, what happens at a pain clinic walks through it in more detail.
History & Assessment
A detailed conversation about your symptoms, how they affect your daily life, and what you’ve already tried.
Clinical Examination
A physical assessment to understand how and when your pain behaves.
Imaging & Tests
A review of any existing MRI or X-ray. If you don’t have recent imaging, Dr Mehrez can arrange it. You don’t need to organise your own scan first.
Diagnosis Discussion
Dr Mehrez explains what’s likely causing your pain, in plain terms.
Personalised Plan
A treatment plan agreed together, with time to ask questions before deciding on anything.
Back Pain Treatment Options in London
Evidence-based treatment for back pain, tailored to your diagnosis rather than applied as a default. Here’s what each option involves, including what the national guidance does and doesn’t support.
Epidural Steroid Injections
An epidural steroid injection delivers anti-inflammatory medication into the space around the spinal nerves. NICE supports considering it for acute, severe sciatica, meaning pain that radiates down the leg. However, it isn’t a treatment for back pain without leg symptoms. In most cases it’s done without a hospital admission.
Facet Joint Injections
The facet joints run down each side of the spine and can generate localised back pain. NHS’s own urgent-care guidance, The Royal College of Anaesthetists cites evidence implicating them in 15 to 45% of chronic low back pain. A medial branch block numbs the nerves supplying them to confirm whether they’re the source, since national guidance doesn’t support spinal injections as a back pain treatment. A single block gives a false positive in 17 to 41% of cases, so two are more reliable.
Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA)
Radiofrequency ablation uses heat to interrupt pain signals from the medial branch nerves supplying the facet joints, once a diagnostic block confirms them as the source. NICE supports considering it for moderate or severe chronic low back pain that non-surgical treatment hasn’t helped, though it rates the evidence low to moderate. In Royal College of Anaesthetists data, 60% of such patients had 80% pain relief at one year. It’s a half-hour day procedure under x-ray guidance with light sedation, with relief building over two to four weeks.
EXPERT CARE PERSONALIZED FOR YOU
Non-Interventional & Conservative Options
Not every back pain presentation needs an injection. In fact, physiotherapy, activity-based rehabilitation and a review of your current pain medication all have a role. These can work alongside interventional treatment, or on their own, depending on your assessment.
How quickly you notice a difference varies. Find out which option is right for you.
Injections vs. Surgery: Understanding Your Options
The question underneath a lot of back pain searches is a simple one: will I end up needing an operation? For most people, the honest answer is no, not as a first step. Injections and surgery aren’t competing options; instead, they answer different problems. The surgery column below follows the NHS’s published recovery guidance for lumbar decompression.
| Image-Guided Injections |
Spinal Decompression Surgery
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Anaesthetic | Local anaesthetic, usually with light sedation | General anaesthetic |
| Hospital stay | Day procedure, home the same day | Around 2 to 5 days |
| Back to usual activities | Next day for most people, sometimes the same day | Up to 12 weeks |
| Back to work | Usually within days | Around 4 to 6 weeks |
| When the guidance supports it | Epidural for acute, severe sciatica. Radiofrequency ablation for facet-joint pain after a positive diagnostic block | Sciatica where non-surgical treatment hasn’t improved pain or function, and imaging matches the symptoms |
| Commonly used for | Epidural for acute, severe sciatica. Radiofrequency ablation for facet-joint pain after a positive diagnostic block | Sciatica where non-surgical treatment hasn’t improved pain or function, and imaging matches the symptoms |
Still, surgery genuinely is the right route for some people. Progressive weakness, cauda equina syndrome, or imaging that clearly matches your symptoms after other treatments have failed all point that way.
The guidance also rules things out. Spinal fusion isn’t recommended for back pain outside a clinical trial, and disc replacement isn’t recommended for back pain at all. For most back pain, image-guided injections are the lower-risk step to try first.
20+
Year's Experience
Consultant
Since 2007
Meet Dr Yasser Mehrez
Dr Yasser Mehrez has been a Consultant in Pain Medicine and Anaesthesia since 2007, with more than 20 years’ experience treating back pain in the NHS and privately. He has presented his own outcome data on this exact procedure. In 2013 he presented “Effectiveness of Lumbar Facet Joint Radiofrequency Denervation in Treatment of Chronic Back Pain” to the European Pain Federation (EFIC).
He is also GMC registered (No. 5171889), holds FRCA and FFPMRCA fellowships, and is Clinical Lead for Chronic Pain at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust. He is also an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Buckingham Medical School.
What to Expect: Your Treatment Journey
Getting started is straightforward. Every step is explained as you go.
Consultation
Book an appointment and tell us about your symptoms and history.
Assessment & Diagnosis
A detailed assessment identifies what’s actually causing your pain.
Personalised treatment plan
A plan built around your diagnosis, clearly explained.
Ongoing review
Follow-up and adjustment for as long as it’s useful to you.
Ready to find out what’s causing your back pain?
Book your first appointment today.
What Our Patients Say
According to PHIN, the Private Healthcare Information Network, Dr Mehrez’s practice-level patient experience data shows strong results. Of 98 patients surveyed, 97% said they would be extremely likely or likely to recommend him, and 94% felt he definitely met their needs. This reflects overall patient satisfaction with Dr Mehrez as a consultant, rather than outcome data for any specific back pain treatment.
You can also read independently collected reviews on his TopDoctors profile. They’re published by the platform, not by the practice.
I had a complicated issue and Dr Mehrez was thorough and understanding, took the time to explain so I knew the risks, even making diagrams that even I could (mostly) understand.
24 July 2025 A.L.
Excellent service over the last 18 months with clear explanations and continued support with my chronic pain
12 December 2024 J.P.
Incredible doctor. Very easy to talk to, makes sure that you understand the risks of each procedure. I felt extremely confident in his company and with his work. Would highly recommend. Not only that he has worked magic and I am no longer living in pain!
28 November 2024 C.C.
Dr. mehrez treated my longstanding coccyx pain. He was very kind listed to my problems and made me feel at ease. Most importantly I am now much better and couldn’t be happier. Very pleased.
5 September 2024 E.G.
Dr Yasser Mehrez Pain Clinic
By Tube
5 min walk from Oxford Circus (Bakerloo, Central & Victoria lines)
By Bus
Multiple bus routes stop nearby on Oxford Circus
Parking
Paid parking available on nearby streets and car parks
Dr Mehrez also treats back pain at six other sites. These are The Saxon Clinic (Milton Keynes), The Wellington Hospital (London NW8) and Three Shires Hospital (Northampton). He also consults at The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital (Aylesbury), Spire Harpenden Hospital and The New Foscote Hospital (Banbury). For everything he treats beyond back pain, see our pain management page.
Other Locations
Other Locations
- Saxon Clinic
- The Wellington Hospital
- Three Shires Hospital
- Spire Harpenden Hospital
Frequently Asked Questions About Back Pain Treatment
Straight answers to the questions we hear most often about back pain treatment. If yours isn’t here, ask at your consultation.
You can also read independently collected reviews on his TopDoctors profile. They’re published by the platform, not by the practice.
Is My Back Pain Serious?
Most back pain is mechanical and not serious. Certain symptoms do need emergency care, though: numbness around your genitals or anus, difficulty peeing or losing control of it, or weakness and numbness in both legs. Go straight to A&E if you have any of those. Otherwise, pain lasting more than a few weeks is worth a proper assessment.
Do I Need a Referral to See a Back Pain Specialist Privately?
No, you can book directly with Dr Mehrez without a GP referral. Still, bringing any existing scans or GP notes helps make your first appointment more useful.
What’s the Difference Between a Pain Consultant and Other Specialists?
A pain management consultant offers direct access to diagnostic imaging, prescribing, and image-guided interventional treatment. One consultation covers diagnosis, prescribing and treatment, rather than a referral chain
How Long Does Back Pain Treatment Take to Work?
It depends on the treatment and the cause. After radiofrequency ablation, most people notice pain easing within a few days, with the fuller effect over two to four weeks. Dr Mehrez will confirm realistic timeframes for your case.
What Is the Fastest Way to Relieve Back Pain?
This depends on the cause. Generally, rest, gentle movement and over-the-counter pain relief help many acute cases settle within weeks. For pain that persists, a proper assessment identifies the fastest genuinely effective route for you.
Can a Pain Specialist Help With Sciatica?
Yes. Sciatica, pain that radiates down the leg from nerve irritation in the lower spine, is commonly assessed and treated by a pain management consultant. NICE supports considering epidural injections for acute, severe sciatica specifically.
What Is the Success Rate of Epidural Injections for Back Pain?
Success rates vary by individual and cause, and no clinic can honestly guarantee a result. Epidurals also target sciatica rather than back pain on its own. Dr Mehrez will talk through the evidence relevant to your case rather than quoting a figure.
Should I See an Orthopaedic Surgeon or a Pain Specialist for Back Pain?
For most back pain, a pain management consultant is the right first specialist to see, offering non-surgical, image-guided treatment. An orthopaedic or spinal surgeon becomes relevant where a clear structural problem needs surgical assessment. Dr Mehrez can advise which applies to you.
Is It Normal for Back Pain to Last More Than 3 Months?
Pain lasting more than three months is generally classed as chronic and is common, but it’s not something to simply live with. It’s worth getting a specialist assessment for chronic back pain lasting more than 12 weeks if you haven’t already.
Can Sitting at a Desk All Day Cause Back Pain?
Prolonged sitting, particularly with poor posture or an unsuitable chair, is a genuine contributing factor to back pain. It’s rarely the only cause, so a proper assessment still matters if the pain persists.
Will I Need Surgery for My Back Pain?
Most back pain doesn’t need surgery. Generally, image-guided injections and conservative treatment are the right first step. Surgery is considered where there’s a specific structural cause that hasn’t responded to less invasive options, and where imaging matches your symptoms.
Still have questions? Speak to Dr Mehrez directly.
Book Your Consultation
Tell us what is going on and the team will arrange your appointment. If you would rather talk it through first, call the number below.
Expert Pain Management in London for Pain-free Living
- Private pain management clinic in Harley Street, London
- Private pain management clinic in Harley Street, London
- Private pain management clinic in Harley Street, London