Smoking back pain is one of many terrible health-related side effects of this unhealthy habit. Smokers are 3 times more likely to develop chronic lower back pain than non-smokers. Besides back ache, smoking is a known cause and contributor to heart disease, hypertension, cancer, stroke, emphysema and birth defects. It is truly time to end this epidemic habit, for the sake of everyone on the planet. If you are looking for back pain relief, then quitting smoking is certainly step one in that process, to be sure.
This dialog provides proof positive that smoking is a definite contributor to back pain. If you are a smoker and are wondering why you have back pain, then this essay will be your wake-up call.
Smoking and Disc Disease
Medical research has shown that the ingredients in cigarettes contribute to accelerated disc degeneration. Affected discs will lose height, mass and water content faster than the discs of non-smokers. Although disc degeneration is not inherently painful, it is a known contributor to other spinal pathologies.
Smoking also increases the risk of painful spondylosis in the lower back region.
Smoking may contribute to the incidence of herniated discs and may also make the potential symptoms of these conditions worse in some patients.
In essence, smoking is proven to be bad for the spine and all of its components.
Smoker’s Cough and Back Pain
Coughing is a contributing cause and a perpetuator of muscular lumbar back pain. The constant coughing motion creates soft tissue stress in the lower back and can even lead to muscular back spasm. Persistent smoker’s cough can actually also contribute to herniated discs in the lumbar and cervical regions.
Smokers who cough frequently while sitting put a huge strain on the lumbar spine. This strain can put pressure on a weakened intervertebral disc, setting the perfect scenario for a herniation or intervertebral rupture to occur.
Smoking Back Pain from Oxygen Deprivation
Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide and reduces the percentage of oxygen in the blood. Carbon monoxide is a deadly poison, but that does not stop smokers from happily puffing away on these little doses of death.
Nicotine has also been proven to reduce blood flow and cellular oxygenation. Smoking alone may be a primary cause of some forms of oxygen deprivation back pain. The underlying psychoemotional conditions that drive people to smoke are certainly also contributors to mindbody pain syndromes.
Smoking Back Pain from Hypertension
Smokers suffer from an increased risk of hypertension. Hypertension has also been linked to various forms of back pain including muscular symptoms and spinal arthritis:
Smoking contributes to hypertension.
Hypertension contributes to back pain.
Therefore we can conclude…
Smoking contributes to back pain.
Ending Smoking-Related Pain
Ok, let’s make this really, really, really simple:
Stop smoking. Smoking kills. Smoking will kill you. Smoking will kill your loved ones. Come on people, this is really common sense.
Smoking causes cancer and many other dire health issues.
Smoking in public should be a felony…
Conspiracy to commit murder with a deadly weapon.
Any doubts about my view on smoking?
I didn’t think so.
