Chronic back pain often results from carrying too much body fat. Not only does the weight add increased pressure to your spine, it also changes the dynamics of how the spine functions. Although considerable excess weight can be carried in the buttocks and thighs, the majority of excess weight in most individuals is carried in the abdomen.
In order to keep abdominal fat from pulling you forward, causing you to fall flat on your face, your body automatically compensates for this excess weight by bending your body backwards at the waist. This change in posture dramatically affects how your weight is carried in such a way that it substantially increases the mechanical stress to the cushions between the vertebrae in your spine (called discs), as well as to the joints along the back part of your spine (called facet joints) which control the movement of the bones in your spine (vertebrae).
This extra stress on the discs accelerates the process of aging and can result in disc dehydration, disc bulge and disc herniation, which in their more severe manifestations can press on nerves and require pain control procedures (such as steroid injections, epidural blocks, selective nerve root blocks, etc.) or even spinal surgery.
The extra stress on the facet joints can cause these delicate joints to break down, and suffer from arthritis which can cause severe, debilitating back pain in and of itself, or even grow to the point where it puts pressure directly on the delicate nerve roots as they exit the spine, which of course can also cause severe back pain.
Treatment for severe facet joint arthritis that impinges upon nerve roots may require surgery. Treatment for facet joint syndrome, which in its early stages consists only of arthritic changes to the facet joint without nerve root pressure, can sometimes be treated effectively with injections directly into the facet joints (called facet joint blocks).
When that does not provide enough relief, then another surgical procedure called facet joint rhizotomy is often utilized. The rhizotomy procedure utilizes a very small microwave transmitter at the end of a very large gauge needle, which is placed within the facet joint. Power to the microwave transmitter is then turned on which fries the nerve tissue adjacent to the transmitter. This eliminates pain from those nerves for about a year, after which time the procedure will need to be repeated again, and again approximately each year thereafter.
As you can see, the treatment options for back pain conditions caused by overweight and obesity are not attractive. It is much preferable to loose your excess weight now, before it results in disc or facet joint disease.
No matter how difficult you think loosing your excess fat will be, such difficulty PALES in comparison to the misery possibly awaiting you should you choose not to loose the weight and achieve healthy body composition. And here we’re looking only at the back pain reasons to loose weight.
There are many other equally compelling reasons to loose your excess weight including reducing your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hormone imbalance, auto-immune disease, and many other diseases of aging. Do yourself a favor and find a doctor NOW that specializes in healthy, natural weight loss and healthy body composition. You, your spouse and your children will be glad you did.
