Obesity back pain can be caused by a significant amount of extra weight applying added pressure to the spine, among other possible reasons. Obesity is rarely the exclusive cause of back pain, but it is often a factor that aggravates existing pain conditions.
Obesity has been cited as the most damaging of all health conditions a person might demonstrate. It predisposes affected people to early deaths and drastically higher risks for disability, severe lasting pain, depression, malaise and chronic fatigue. Worst of all is the simple fact that obesity is often a controllable lifestyle choice. Help is available for people who want it. It is time to take charge of your life and get on the road to better health.
This discussion centers on the dangers of obesity and how this epidemic condition can directly and indirectly cause chronic back pain.
Obesity Back Pain Scenarios
Obesity can be measured by a relatively complicated scale called body mass index (BMI). It is easier to consider obesity to be the condition described as 20% greater weight than normal for a person’s height, body structure and age. Obesity is becoming an epidemic in many regions of the world, especially in America.
Many back pain conditions are aggravated by bearing any weight on the affected area of the back. An overweight individual places much more stress on the painful area, since it has to support all that extra mass. The actual physical weight can be the cause of the increased pain.
FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION
More mass = More force on the spine.
Obese people often have a majority of their excess body fat around the abdomen. This extra frontal weight places additional stress on the lower back. The weight is not distributed evenly and can cause back muscle pain and strain very similar to that experienced by a pregnant woman. The result of this forward weight is often an increase in the lordotic curve of the lumbar spine.
Obese people usually do not exercise as often, or as rigorous, as thinner individuals. This lack of exercise contributes to poor muscle tone and reduced strength in the back muscles. Muscles that are out of shape do not have the same resistance to pain and stress as strong, healthy muscles.
Obesity Back Pain Conditions
Obesity will aggravate almost all types of back pain. It can even be the primary cause of some types of muscular pain, especially in the lower back region.
Extra weight is a contributor towards degenerative disc disease.
People who are overweight have a higher incidence of herniated discs.
Obesity contributes to osteoporosis and is one of the main causes of stress fractures in the vertebrae of older obese individuals.
Obese people have a higher incidence of spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and spinal arthritis.
Read more about weight loss for back pain treatment.
Back Pain from Obesity Suggestions
Being overweight is not healthy. The increased risks for back pain are actually some of the least serious consequences of being obese. Far more serious are the increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, gallstones and many other serious health conditions.
Everyone likes to eat and enjoy their food. Some people just have a difficult time balancing the proper types and amounts of food, exercise and self discipline.
Obesity is a killer; literally.
It will reduce the quality and quantity of your living days. It is important for yourself, and for those who love you, to try to keep your weight in a healthy range. The added benefit will be the elimination of obesity back pain from your life.
