What is Back Pain?

Acute or short-term low back pain generally lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is the result of trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house or in the garden, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. Symptoms may range from muscle ache to shooting or stabbing pain, limited flexibility and range of motion, or an inability to stand straight. Chronic back pain is pain that persists for more than 3 months. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.

Currently, researchers are examining the use of different drugs to effectively treat back pain, in particular, chronic pain that has lasted at least 6 months. Other studies are comparing different health care approaches to the management of acute low back pain (standard care versus chiropractic, acupuncture, or massage therapy). These studies are measuring symptom relief, restoration of function, and patient satisfaction.

Smoking Causes Lower Back Pain

Are you looking for a reason to quite smoking but can't find one to convince yourself that you really should. You don't care about the fact that our hands, hair and clothes smell when you smoke. It doesn't bother you that smoking yellows your teeth and your fingers. You aren't'; afraid of lung cancer because everyone in your family are smokers and they all lave lived long lives. Even the fact that there are fewer public places that you can smoke doesn't seem to bother you. So, if you need a reason to consider stopping smoking how about that fact that studies are tying smoking to lower back pain? Would you stop if you realized that the back pain you experience way to often could be tied to this habit?

The first thing to understand is why smokers more likely to suffer from back pain. The answer is not conclusive. After many studies researchers have concluded that there is a high incidence of people who suffer from back pain who are smokers, but the reason remains unclear. Its thought that its possible that something in cigarettes affects the messages sent to the brain and so causes the brain to misinterpret pain messages. Others suggest that smoking damages tissues in the body, more specifically in the lower back, and so weakens this area allowing for pain to creep in. Still another theory is that smoking interferes with blood flow. If this is true then it could diminish the amount of nutrients that are reaching the muscles, bones and joints. This could account for the back pain that smokers are experiencing.

At one time researchers felt that it was just a matter of coincidence that smokers seemed to have more back pain than non-smokers. They tried to look for other things that smokers had in common. Was it possible that depression was a factor of both conditions? Those who suffer from depression are more likely to smoke, but that could not account for the back pain.

Can forty studies be wrong? There are at least that many that see a correlation between smoking and lower back pain. They still cannot pinpoint its cause but they can prove without a doubt in their minds hat there is something that gives smokers lower back pain. Researchers wonder how the smoking may be connected to this back pain. Some wonder if smokers universally have similar habits that may contribute to back pain. Do they cough more, perhaps making sudden movements that strain their backs? Are they more likely to bend over to pick up a dropped cigarette or stretch to reach an ashtray?

It does not matter that researchers have not yet found what the connection is. What is important is that they are certain there is one. So, if you experience a lot of lower back pain, and you are a smoker, this may be the reason you have been looking for to finally kick the habit thus improving your health in two ways.

Written by: Scott Parat