Weight Gain and Back Pain: The Link Explained

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Dr David Edis – Blog

Weight Gain and Back Pain: The Link Explained

If you’re overweight, you’re probably already aware that those extra kilos can have an impact on your health and wellbeing. Excess weight increases the risk of many chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Many types of joint pain are also related to weight.

Your joints

Joints are the parts of your body where two or more bones meet.

Fixed joints, like those in your skull, don’t move at all. The joints in your spine move a little, allowing you to bend and twist your torso. Other joints are more mobile. These include:

• Ball-and-socket joints like your shoulder, which allow backward, forward and sideways movements and rotations
• Hinge joints that only allow bending and straightening, like your fingers, knees, elbows and toes
• Pivot joints that allow limited rotating movements, such as in your neck
• Ellipsoidal joints like your wrists, which allow many different types of movement.

Your joints consist of more than bone, though. Those bones are held in place by many different types of soft tissues including:

• Cartilage and meniscus, which covers the bone surfaces
• Synovial membranes and fluid, which protect and lubricate the joint
• Bursas, fluid-filled sacs that cushion the friction
• Strong connective tissues including:
  • Ligaments, that surround and support the joint and limit its movements
  • Tendons on the side of each joint that connect bones to muscles.

What’s the link between weight gain and sore joints?

Excess weight has two key effects on your joints:

1. It puts more stress on weight-bearing joints like your hips, knees and ankles
2. It causes chronic inflammation which can lead to pain in other joints.

Let’s look at each of those in turn.

Weight creates an excessive load on your joints

When you walk, your knees experience a force equal to 1. 5 times your body weight. Let’s say you’re a 168 cm tall, 60-year-old woman who weighs 66 kg. Your BMI is 23.4, meaning you’re a healthy weight for your height. When you walk, your knees experience 99 kg of pressure.

Now, let’s imagine, you’re the same height but now weigh 90 kg. Your BMI is 31.9, which places you in the obese category. When you walk, your knees experience 135 kg of pressure. That’s a big increase.

What about weight and back pain? Well, it’s a similar story. Your spine supports your body’s weight and distributes the loads you encounter during rest and movement. When you’re overweight or obese, your spine has to bear the extra burden, which often results in lower back pain. Added to which, excess belly fat and weak core muscles deprive your spine of the support it needs. Weight contributes to a number of spinal conditions including spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis.   

Weight causes chronic inflammation

As for inflammation, this is an emerging area of research and clinical practice. We know there’s an association between increased weight gain and increased inflammation though we’re still learning exactly how obesity triggers inflammation. It seems to be linked to your immune response.

Your immune system is responsible for fighting off infections, often with a defensive inflammatory response at the infection site which resolves when the infection clears. However, inflammation caused by obesity does not resolve. Instead it becomes a chronic problem. 

Your fat cells keep releasing proteins that travel around your body and cause inflammation. That’s why you’re twice as likely to develop osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand if you’re overweight rather than lean. If you’re obese and have OA in one knee, you’re 5 times more likely to get it in the other knee than someone who is a healthy weight. Furthermore, OA progresses more quickly and more severely in overweight or obese people who are more likely to need a hip or knee replacement.

Sagittal imbalance may exist as a primary condition or may be a consequence of other spinal conditions such as:

• Ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis
• Kyphosis, excessive forward curvature in the spine
• Degenerative disc disease
• Traumatic injury
• A congenital defect present at birth
• Osteoporosis
• Neuromuscular conditions such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or muscular dystrophy
• A previous spinal fusion surgery that disrupts sagittal balance.

What can you do?

If you’re carrying extra kilos and experiencing joint pain then, yes, unfortunately those two things are probably linked.

Losing weight is the best thing you can do. We know that’s not easy. There are complex reasons why people gain weight and it’s not always easy to shift. We suggest you follow the general guidelines for losing weight and talk to your GP if you need more help and support.

Every little bit helps, though. A 2005 study found that every 1 lb of weight lost resulted in a 4-fold reduction in the load exerted on the knees. To put that in Aussie measurements, every half a kilo you lose takes 2 kg of pressure off your knees.

The more you lose, the better it gets. If you manage to shift 10-20% of your bodyweight, you may be able to significantly improve your pain levels, function and quality of life. 

How can the Victorian Orthopaedic Spine Service help?

Orthopaedic surgeons specialise in diagnosing and treating conditions that affect your bones and joints. We’re here to provide you with the advice and support you need to improve your joint pain. That may involve a hip or knee replacement, or it may involve more conservative treatments including medication or injections.

If you’d like help, please contact us today.

Disclaimer

All information is general in nature. Patients should consider their own personal circumstances and seek a second opinion. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks.

About Dr David Edis

Dr David Edis is an Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon. David’s areas of special interest include the management of adult spinal conditions as well as hip and knee replacements. He has extensive experience in all facets of spine surgery from simple to complex, covering cervical to lumbo-pelvic conditions. He is an active researcher and medical educator and believes in lifelong learning. He is constantly updating his skills and helping other surgeons.

Tags: back pain, weight gain

Belly Fat and Back Pain

If you’re 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 you’ll find a large overweight percentage in every group. It’s 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 you’re carrying extra weight, however, every part of your body gets heavier. And your spine bears the burden of that weight, literally.

When you’ve experienced weight gain, your upper spine can’t 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.

Another problem that can lead to back pain occurs in your lower back. Weight gain in your abdomen forces your pelvis to slant forward. It’s under a tremendous strain, trying to carry your weight. Because your pelvis is pulled to the front, your lower back curves forward too. The graceful arch in a normal lower back becomes more rounded, which puts more pressure on the nerves, leading to back pain.

Back Pain Results

A normal back arches up from your pelvis and back, surrounding your vital organs, before curving inward again to your neck and extending up to your head, right between your shoulders. It’s balanced and structured to provide many years of pain-free support.

Once your back is pulled out of normal alignment because of weight gain, your muscles, ligaments and bones have to work even harder to carry the weight. They aren’t in the position they were designed to be. It’s like bending the fingers of a baseball glove back. You can still get your hand in the glove, and you can still catch with it, but it isn’t working the way it was designed.

As a result, nerves exiting your spinal column will become constricted or a disc will bulge or herniate, and you will experience back pain. It won’t happen all at once, but if you are overweight, it will happen eventually. It’s just a matter of time.

Dealing with Weight Gain

There are a host of health complications that result from being obese or overweight. Back pain is only one of the side effects. Diabetes is a disease that can kill you. Heart troubles — your heart has to work that much harder when there’s that much more of you — is another threat to your life. Back pain is a symptom of trouble that could lead to even worse complications.

If you’re overweight and now have back pain, get it checked out from spinal physicians like those at the Southeastern Spine Institute. They can show you X-rays and MRIs of your spine. They can prescribe exercise or physical therapy to help you lose weight. Think of weight gain as a health problem and take steps to beat it. Before it beats you.

Lower back pain when moving, walking: causes, how to treat

The biggest load when walking falls on our lower back, since it is it that connects the upper body with the lower limbs, taking on a lot of weight and softening the shocks. If pain occurs in the lumbar spine, this is a sure sign of illness. Often people do not pay attention to the fact that the lower back hurts when walking, and do not understand the causes of the phenomenon, postponing the visit to the doctor until better times.

Causes of lower back pain when walking

The lumbar region is formed by five large vertebrae, between which there are discs that serve as a kind of shock absorbers. Nerve endings emerge from the vertebrae, creating plexuses of nerves that are responsible for walking and maintaining the vertical position of the body, the functioning of the abdominal organs. If your lower back hurts while walking, you should understand the causes and start treatment as soon as possible.

Heavy physical work

Serious physical activity contributes to premature wear of the structures of the spine, which leads to pain. Sometimes the pain is so severe that the person has difficulty even getting out of bed. This may be a sign of an intervertebral hernia.

Overweight

Since the lumbar region bears the weight of the upper torso and upper limbs, excess weight leads to an increase in the load. Therefore, overweight people are more likely than others to experience lower back pain when walking.

Pain classification

In general, there are several types of back pain. There are only three of them:

If there is a sharp paroxysmal and sharp pain in the lower back when moving, this is called lumbago. Sometimes you can hear the popular name for this phenomenon – backache. Lumbodynia refers to a condition in which there are constant, mild pains that can worsen during SARS, during physical exertion or sudden movements. Lumboischialgia is not just a condition when the lower back hurts when walking, but also the irradiation of pain along the sciatic nerve, as well as a feeling of “goosebumps” and numbness of skin areas.

Diseases and pathologies

To start treating back pain, you need to determine their cause. There are a large number of diseases that provoke the formation of pain syndrome.

Osteochondrosis

It is an overgrowth of cartilage near the discs of the spine and the vertebrae themselves, which causes pinching of the nervous tissue. This significantly reduces the mobility of the spine. The causes of the disease are overweight, low mobility, and malnutrition.

Curvature of the spine

If the spinal column is curved, pain in the lower back appears when walking. Otherwise, this phenomenon is called scoliosis; the disease varies in degrees depending on how severely the spine is curved.

Herniated disc

If the integrity of the fibrous ring, which holds the nucleus pulposus inside itself, is broken, an intervertebral hernia occurs. The tubercle presses on the nerve endings and the spinal cord, which causes severe pain.

Spinal stenosis

When moving, pain in the lower back occurs even if the space of the spinal canal is occupied by growing cartilaginous or soft tissues. Because of this, the nervous tissue is infringed, which provokes a violation of the functions of the limbs and the occurrence of pain.

Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolisthesis is a condition when one overlying vertebra is displaced in relation to the underlying one. Tumors, back injuries, degenerative processes in the spine, etc. can lead to this condition. Gradually, the spinal canal will narrow, and the pain will increase as the disease progresses.

Osteoporosis

If you are wondering “why does the lower back hurt when walking?”, The problem may also lie in osteoporosis. This disease leads to a general decrease in bone density, increased fragility and susceptibility to cracks and fractures even with minor stress and injury.

Injuries

Traumatic injuries are one of the most common reasons why the back in the lumbar region hurts when walking. Only a doctor can exclude the presence of an injury, who will most likely refer you for an X-ray examination. If you have recently hit or fallen, and now you feel pain in your back, you should not hesitate to visit a doctor.

How to relieve pain

If the lower back hurts a lot when standing and walking, it is not enough just to eliminate the pain, since it is only a symptom. It is important to identify the cause of the pain by contacting a doctor. Moreover, without a diagnosis, it is unlikely that it will be possible to prescribe an adequate treatment strategy that will lead to the elimination of the pain syndrome. If you experience severe pain, you can take painkillers that are sold in pharmacies without a prescription, as well as attach an ice pack or heating pad to the sore spot. It is worth knowing that complete rest may not bring positive results. Neurologists recommend that you lead a normal life as much as possible, but you should not engage in activities that provoke increased back pain. For example, if your lower back starts to hurt after a long walk, give up long walks and give yourself time to rest.

Diagnosis and treatment

If your lower back hurts after walking, only a doctor can prescribe the right treatment. He will conduct a survey and find out what kind of pain you are tormented by, when they appear, in what situations there is an aggravation. Frequent research methods are MRI or X-ray , which allow you to determine the condition of the structures of the spine. MRI in this case is the safest and most informative method. Based on the results of such studies, the doctor will be able to say exactly why your lower back hurts when you walk for a long time, and prescribe an effective treatment. It may consist of taking medications, visiting the massage therapist’s office and doing physiotherapy exercises.

You can make an appointment with specialists online or call 8 (812) 901-03-03.

How excess weight kills the spine

Overworld kilos – one of the causes of pain in the back, neck, across. The cartilaginous tissue of the human body is wider, lowering, the spine is forced to adapt to excess weight, shifting the balance point forward, which increases lumbar lordosis (often in the abdominal type of obesity).

In addition, the transverse cross-section of the world suffocates a person, which leads to kyphosis of the breasts. In an hour, at the overwhelmed ridge, there are boils and hives, and other serious illnesses are escaping. Therefore, the most important task is to change the body, normalize metabolism.

How can you lose weight without extreme diet and addictive work in the gym? So, and without the return of spent kilograms.

We change … the plate!

From childhood in this world we were taught to eat everything on a plate.

It’s important to destroy the tsu pіdsvіdom zvichka, and not varto. Just take a smaller plate – for example, dessert and learn to eat less of it. In this manner, you will automatically change the reduced portions.

A kilo of leather, which exceeds the norm, gives 5 kg of additional tension on the ridge. With the addition of 5-7 kg, the back is overwhelmed with 25-35 kg, which will inevitably lead to the illness of the ridge.

Tsikavy fact!

A number of investigations were carried out, after which the stench was established: people who often eat (4-6 meals) with an important portion in the middle are 20% less, lower ones, which are rare (2 times a day) and have a great obyag.

It is not necessary to exercise to lose weight in a month. Expenditure of less than 50 grams per day for 4 months will lead to utilization of 6 kg and a change in the load of the ridge by as much as 30 kg.

Yak Sil does not let you lose weight

Vi, singly, chuli more than once viraz “strength and tsukor – bili enemies. ” Ale yak tse vplyvaє on pribannya zayvih kіlogіv?

Strength stimulates appetite – you will have more, the lower body is guilty of hunger. In addition, after salt water, the homeland calms down more richly, and often the water is not pure, but tea, filled with preservatives, is empty. Moreover, the force also saves my homeland in the body.

Having eaten more strength from the diet, with the same amount of products that you are able to do, you can lose weight by stretching the first day of about 1 kg. Wait, good prospect?

Accessibility

Be it a hedgehog with a high glycemic index (ГІ) you should take some insulin to break down fats. I’ll get better wine, chocolate, you’ll increase serotonin, which will improve your mood, but you won’t lose weight.

Like a rіven tsukru of promotions – vede until the zbіlshennya, it’s like hunger, like a last thing, until the transition. Before the speech, before the products from the high season, one can also see potatoes, canned fruits, porridge for swedish cooked thinly. It is important to make your meal so that you don’t oversee 70 singles (there are tables of products in the merezhі).

Well, sometimes you want some licorice. Ale, to fool your brain, do not trim malt at home. Chi z’appeared stronger bajannya? See the store for ice cream and chocolate. For our brain – the greatness of zusilla (dress up, drink, turn around), reacting to them with a sharp decrease in power. At half of the vipadkiv you won’t go anywhere.

Contagion in children

We have matured richly and know the situation of our childishness, if you don’t want to eat, but your relatives are afraid. “Don’t go for a walk”, “I won’t let cartoons marvel until I’m dead”, “a spoon for mom, a spoon for tata” – all the same, there is no internal compass for hunger in a child. Nezabarom wines already exist, if required, and not if you want.

Virostayuchi, children zі “beaten by a compass” often suffer from the zayvoї vaga.

Dear fathers, grandmothers and children! Children are stroking in your eyes. Such a “turbo” destroys the exchange of speeches. child scoliosis and other curvature of the ridge.

Don’t hesitate, don’t blackmail. If the child is rightfully hungry, there will be soup and salad.

The perfect setting for a zavoi vaga

People with overworld kilograms suffer from serious injuries. Vlasnik of the supra-world vaga pіdsvіdomo want to “grab” yoga. For example, with a great stink coat, one starts to get sick, thinking that the coat is less commemorated.

Paradoxically, this is how the final result is reached: a person with a filthy position looks more like it, lower guilt is true.

Take a look at the photo up to the top of the chapter – how the curvature of the ridge creates the illusion of excess fat on the sleeve.

Navit with a zayva vaga you can look stringent and attached, as if to practice over the post. Swimming and kinesiotherapy are the most effective for the ridge, depending on the methodology of Evminov, vicorist orthopedic simulator (“Yevminov’s doshki”).