Belly Fat Interferes With Ankylosing Spondylitis Treatment
If you have ankylosing spondylitis , youre no stranger to chronic back pain. The inflammatory disease can cause vertebrae to fuse over time. Your back might be super stiff, or you might have a permanently hunched posture.
Disease-modifying medications can improve symptoms and slow the disease process. However, being overweight can reduce the drugs effectiveness. Belly fat in particular has been singled out as a problem for drug absorption.
For a study in Clinical and Investigative Medicine, scientists set out to discover if visceral fat not BMI independently predicted diminished response to the disease-modifying drug infliximab. They found that it did. In fact, they found a significant correlation between visceral fat tissue and disease activity in people with AS who received this treatment.
Extra Weight Can Overload Your Discs
In addition to postural changes, obesity can damage shock of absorbers of the spine. It can lead to increased disc pressure, annular tears and herniation, as well as neurologic impingment by compressing the disc space and pinching the exiting nerves. The spare tire in your belly can shorten the height of your intervertebral discs like a flat tire in an overloaded car.
Does Excess Weight Cause Back Pain
Dr. Garima Anandani, 3 years ago
People, who are overweight are at greater risk to experience chronic back pain. We want you to watch your weight, especially, when you are overweight. Every pound that you gain increases the stress on your spine. The ideal BMI is 25 and any value more than that is a red flag. Overweight people often experience sciatica and patients with spondylosis have experienced their pain to worsen with weight gain. warned Dr. Garima.
How extra fat aggravates your back pain
- More fat equals to more pain
- When you gain extra weight it stains the musculoskeletal and your spine get stressed
- Excess weight around the waistline starts pulling the pelvis forward which puts stress on the lower back
- Excess weight also impact the muscles and tendon which can also cause back pain
- It can lead to pinched nerve syndrome
What to do when you are overweight
When you are overweight the best approach is to take notice of that and start working on losing it. There is no alternative to an active lifestyle and healthy diet. You need to check with your doctor if you are the risk of any other health problem due to weight gain. At QI Spine we treat patients with complaints of sciatica, lower back pain, and spondylosis. And, we help them to manage their weight with holistic lifestyle improvement solutions. If you are overweight and in pain, do not waste time and seek professional help at once.
Visit our nearest clinic for your first consultation
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Supporting Your Spine When Youre Overweight
Naturally, losing weight can help reverse weight-related back pain. You can exercise. Cardiovascular exercise and weightlifting can help strengthen the muscles that support your back. And activities such as yoga and pilates can stretch muscles and make them more flexible.
Smart eating can also help your spine. Choosing foods that are high in calcium and vitamin D, such as dairy foods and leafy green vegetables, can help prevent osteoporosis, a condition in which bones, such as those in your spine, become thin and brittle.
You can also protect your spine by quitting smoking and improving your posture.
Dr. Kuznits shares, “Many patients express frustration about not being able to lose weight by exercise because they are in too much pain to work out. I ecourage those patients to jump-start their weight loss with a diet, and add exercise when they feel that they can do so without discomfort.”
“Fortunately, weight-loss programs have evolved in recent years from crash dieting and calorie-counting to mindful eating. The focus has shifted from rapid weight loss results to offering better guidance while supporting accountability necessary for lasting behavior change. Another positive trend is that nutritional counseling and therapies are now covered by most insurance plans,” Dr. Kuznits notes.
Why Is Weight Loss So Important For Reducing Back Pain
Weight loss and exercise are wonderful ways to prevent back pain, but did you also know that healthy movement could reduce existing back pain? Its true. Researchers at Stanford University found that overweight people who increased the amount of time they spent moving by just 20 minutes daily reduced their risk of back pain by 32%. Weight loss has also been tied to a reduction in back pain. Shedding pounds through diet and exercise supports your back health in numerous ways. Heres why, and later, how to lose weight in a healthy way.
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How Weight Gain May Cause Pain In Your Back
Why does the location of your excess weight matter when it comes to back pain? Because while weight gain doesnt cause back pain in and of itself, it may cause various traumas or postures that lead to back pain.
Excess weight around the stomach, for example, needs to be carried by the body. If an overweight person is not being cautious of their posture, their body may carry their weight by pulling the pelvis forward. This demands more work from the lower back.
This work may only result in minor strain, but the problem could also become much more serious. In fact, this rearrangement of the low back may cause damage to the actual structure of the spine. This is why people who are overweight may experience a herniated disc, in which the disc bulges out of its spot between the vertebrae of the spine.
If the disc comes out of its place, it could place pressure on the surrounding nerves. If the lumbar nerve is pinched, a patient may experience sciatica pain.
As these changes occur, the body may try to reduce pain through inflammation. Unfortunately, excess inflammation can lead to other types of back pain, including ankylosing spondylitis and other forms of spinal arthritis. Persisting inflammation can cause lasting damage, including joint fusion and other damage.
Belly Fat And Back Pain
If youre overweight, you are in the majority in America. According to the National Institutes of Health, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Black, white, young, old, even rich and poor the numbers may change slightly, but youll find a large overweight percentage in every group. Its considered an epidemic in some circles.
But for the spinal doctors at the Southeastern Spine Institute, weight gain means one thing: back pain. Added weight can and does cause back pain in patients. The excess weight especially in your belly strains your back muscles and ligaments, causing back pain. One of the first solutions to back pain that doctors advise is to lose weight.
Spine Problems from Weight Gain
With proper posture, you stand upright with your chest out and your chin up. You stomach is tucked in and the sight curve of your lower back keeps your hips straight. If youre carrying extra weight, however, every part of your body gets heavier. And your spine bears the burden of that weight, literally.
When youve experienced weight gain, your upper spine cant straighten out properly. Over time, you may develop an unnatural curvature, so that your neck is always bent forward and your head leans over your chest instead of upright between your shoulders. Because it happens incrementally, you may not even notice until your spinal doctor shows you your X-rays.
Back Pain Results
Dealing with Weight Gain
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Why Weight Gain Can Increase Back Pain
If youve noticed a correlation between weight gain and increased development of back pain, youre not alone in your discovery. As a patient gains weight, they tend to develop more aches and pains in various parts of their bodies, especially their lower backs. Ive always wondered why this is the case, and what exactly the correlation is between the two. Now that Ive read a great post by Chiro Nexus that examines the association between weight and back pain, Id like to share what I learned with you, so our understanding of this issue becomes a little clearer.
As it turns out, the main factor behind the back pain and aches that obese and overweight patients tend to experience lies in the height of a patients spinal discs.
In patients who are clinically obese, there is an actual loss of height in the spinal discs that occurs in certain areas of thelumbar spine, also known as the lower back, area of the body. When a discs height has been reduced, you can be sure that this means that there has actually been deterioration within the cushion of the spinal column. This can allow a disc to bulge or protrude in a manner that creates stiffness, pain, and immobility in the area. There is often a correlation between obesity and reduced spinal disc height, which more than explains the issues faced by many overweight patients today.
And What You Can Do To Avoid Weight Gain And Back Pain
Turkey. Green bean casserole. Ham. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, custard pie. Sugar cookies, candy canes, chocolate. Wine, eggnog, hot cocoa with whipped cream.
What’s not to love about the holiday season? Well, how about the weight you put on, thanks to all that festive foodand the possible back pain from that extra weight?
In a survey conducted by SpineUniverse in several years ago, 69% of people estimated that they typically gain up to 8 pounds during the holiday season. And 9% put their weight gain at over 8 pounds.
It’s what some people call the “Seasonal Seven.” Or the “I’ll-start-my-diet-in-January” month-long celebration. Or the “But-when-else-can-I-eat-gingerbread-men” attitude.
But before you start filling your second plate at the office Christmas party, think about this: according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, most people struggle to lose their holiday weight.
In the SpineUniverse survey, 11% of the people can’t shake that weight until the next falljust in time for the Halloween candy. And another 11% say that they don’t ever lose the weight. So year after year, they add on weight during the holidays, and in the long-term, that holiday weight gain really adds up.
Thinking about back pain isn’t exactly full of holiday cheerprobably right up there with eating fruitcake and pretending to like that sweater with appliquéd reindeer on it.
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Excess Weight And Sciatica Pain
Sciatica pain is often caused or worsened by pressure on the lower back and pelvis. When you carry excess weight, thats exactly where much of the pressure is placed, particularly if you have a tendency to carry your excess weight in your abdominal area.
In fact, one studyfound that every extra pound of body weight adds an extra four pounds of pressure and weight on your joints and back. Additionally, if youre obese, it can take you longer to heal from sciatica because of the physical strain on your body.
Belly Fat Can Damage Your Bones
Your bones constantly renew themselves, but body fat can interfere with the process potentially leading to osteoporosis over time. Visceral fat, which is fat deep inside the abdomen , could have a significant role.
Belly fat aka visceral fat is usually considered the most detrimental to your health, but don’t forget subcutaneous fat either.
Several studies associate visceral fat with lower bone mineral density, as well as increased risk of some types of fractures. However, its worth noting that not all scientists agree that visceral fat is the problem. Some say the damage occurs with high body mass and excess weight, not just high levels of visceral fat.
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Lower Back Pain When Walking Or Standing
It is not uncommon for people of all ages to experience lower back pain while standing or walking. This kind of pain can be extremely frustrating as it limits you from being able to perform simple tasks that are heavily apart of everyday life. Most often someone who is having back pain while he or she is walking or standing has an issue with degenerative discs. Like we stated early, suffering from degenerative disc issues becomes increasingly more likely with the more excess weight youre carrying on your body. The excess weight stresses out your body’s muscles, joints, etc ultimately causing them to deteriorate faster.
Exercises That Help In Back Pain
The first thing to do is to reduce your belly fat, which puts pressure on your spine. You need to reduce excess belly through controlled diet and targeted exercise.
Walking can help in putting a positive impact on your back pain.
Start with simple yoga asanas to stretch your spine and reduce the pressure, then look for simple ab-reduction exercises that can tone down your belly.
Asanas like Bridge pose, Tree Pose, Boat Pose, are all helpful in reducing belly fat and improving your spine health.
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Can Being Overweight Cause Back Pain
Debilitating back pain that keeps you from being active can contribute to weight gain. But does it also happen in reverse? Can weight gain cause back pain?
In a word, yes.
Several studies show a high incidence of low back pain related to a body mass index over 25 as well as a relationship between obesity, low back pain, and conditions like lumbar disc degeneration.
Nearly 80 percent of people experience low back pain at some point during their lifetime. People who have a higher BMI, who have had rapid weight gain, who are mostly sedentary, and/or who carry their weight around their middle, have a higher chance of developing back pain.
Higher BMI and lower back pain
Study after study shows youre more likely to suffer from low back pain if you are overweight or obese.
There is a relationship between elevated BMI and degenerated disks, as well as a greater severity of degeneration. Degenerative disc disease is common among an aging population, and is, in many cases, unavoidable. The discs, which live between the vertebrae, naturally lose their water content as we age. As the water content is reduced, so too is the discs ability to act as a buffer.
The lack of cushioning from the desiccated or dried out disc puts stress on the adjacent vertebrae and joints, causing pain or weakness. You can experience everything from numbness or a pins-and-needles sensation to cramps down the legs and even into the buttocks that worsen when sitting or standing.
Belly fat
Are You Carrying Some Extra Pounds Around Your Middle
If youre struggling with weight gain, youre not alone. Struggling with weight loss is one of the most common shared human experiences. Nearly three out of four Americans are overweight or obese, according to the CDC. Its frustrating to weigh more than you want. Excess pounds can keep you from feeling and looking your best.
You probably know that being overweight can raise your risk of health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer. The CDC has warned that obesity is also linked to COVID-19 complications. But you may not realize that weight can affect your spine, too. Dr. Kuznits of Neurosurgical Care would like you to understand more about the connection between weight and spine health.
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Weight Loss Could Help Or Hurt Your Lower Back
Weight gain can lead to lower back pain by compressing the lumbar spine in the lower back, which often results in a pinched nerve that leads to pain and other symptoms. People who are overweight and currently experiencing lower back pain may find that weight loss achieved by exercising regularly and healthy eating habits, may relieve some of the lower back pain.
In some cases, a new exercise routine may increase lower back pain. Exercising improperly or too vigorously may irritate the pinched nerve in the lower back, causing the lower back pain you are experiencing to increase. Various aspects of your routine such as your posture while lifting weights, how you stretch, or even the frequency and intensity of your workout program can all be factors when it comes to arising back pain.
Because it is important to keep your momentum going when you are trying to lose weight, you should contact a physical therapist to help you find an appropriate exercise regimen that will help you lose weight and treat your lower back pain simultaneously.
Increase In Low Back Pain With Weight Loss
I know this sounds weird whenever I tell people but the more weight I lose, the more my lower back hurts. I have degenerative disc disease and some herniated discs in my lower back and arthritis as well. I also have some herniated discs in my upper back and in my neck. The pain is getting worse throughout my spine as I lose weight, but I notice it the most in my lower back. I have lost 20 pounds since the beginning of June and I have always found that in my own personal experience, the less I weigh, the more my back hurts. I know it doesnt make sense doctors look at me like Im nuts but the pain I feel is very real and it is getting worse.
I feel better otherwise I have more energy, my leg and knee pain has decreased but the back pain is worse. I am hoping that someone will read this and will be able to tell me that they have heard of this happening to someone else they know or something. Any thoughts?
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