Does your back hurt? You might think it is because you slept wrong, or because you lifted something incorrectly. But there’s another possible culprit, one that can fire up soreness.
“Smoking cigarettes can lead to increased back pain based on multiple different levels,” said Anand Navarasala, DO, FAAPMR, a rehabilitation specialist with Franciscan Physician Physician Network in Indianapolis.
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The Link Between Smoking And Back Pain
A study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases drives the point home. British researchers asked 13,000 people about their lifestyles, including their smoking habits, jobs, activity levels, and history of pain. After adjusting for the demands of strenuous jobs and other factors that might cause back pain, the scientists concluded that smoking – by itself – raised the risk of debilitating back pain by about 30 percent. Smoking also seemed to make people slightly more vulnerable to pain in the neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, and knees.
Scientists aren’t sure why some smokers are prone to back pain. According to the report in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, nicotine from cigarettes “could affect the manner in which the brain processes sensory stimuli and the central perception of pain” – in other words, cigarettes affect the way the brain sends its pain signals. Smoking may also damage tissue in the lower back and elsewhere in the body by slowing down circulation and reducing the flow of nutrients to joints and muscles, according to the journal.
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Here are three ways your smoking habit is hurting your back.
Smoking Hurts Your Blood Flow
Often, concern about smoking and blood flow focuses on its impact on the heart, but the rest of your body is impacted as well.
“Because nicotine can alter the size of the blood vessels and the ability for the body to adapt, that can cause increased damage to the ligaments as well as muscles within the spine region,” Dr. Navarasala said.
Smoking Hurts Your Spine
The disks of the spine, which provide cushion to the spine and offer ranges of motion, are impacted by smoking as well.
“Smoking can actually cause breakdown of the disk because there’s lack of nutrient exchange, specifically where the bone meets the spine disk,” Dr. Navarasala said. “In terms of the disk itself, the presence of nicotine in the blood stream actually can decrease not only the healing but also the regeneration of the cells within the disk.
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“Additional mechanisms of action include lack of blood flow to the muscles that surround the spine. These can include muscles on the back of the spine here that can lead to increased pain and discomfort.”
Smoking Hurts Your Healing
In addition to causing multiple diseases, cigarette smoking has many other adverse effects on the body, such as causing inflammation and impairing immune function.
“In terms of back pain, a lot of the progress that you potentially might make during physical therapy and the treatment plan that we outline can quickly be negated if smoking continues,” Dr. Navarasala said. “That’s very important to understand early on in this process.”
As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, smokers who suffer from back pain have every reason to kick the addiction. Giving up cigarettes probably won’t immediately banish back pain, but it just might help. Of course, quitting smoking will also dramatically lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, emphysema, and a host of other diseases. Back pain or no, that’s a great comfort.
Learn more about smoking cessation programs in the new year.
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Category: WHY
