In the medical world, back pain used to be a fairly rare complaint by patients to their doctors. Typically, those who experienced back pain did so as a result of manual labor, such as dock workers who lifted heavy objects as part of their job each day.
However, in recent decades the number of complaints of back pain has increased with more members of the general public to see your doctor about the pain they feel in their backs.
Some experts believe that this could be due to the continuous increase in obesity we have experienced in recent decades, and that if obesity continues to increase, the number is growing back pain.
Some doctors have estimated that the number of people suffering from back pain is actually much larger than what is actually reported that many people feel that back pain is not something that should be reported and only see as a minor problem.
Therefore, cases that are reported are usually composed of people suffering from severe back pain and probably suffered from pain for an extended period of time the problem has progressively worsened until it becomes unbearable or affect their daily activities.
How Can Being Overweight Cause You Pain?
A person who is overweight is carrying around more weight than a person who is not overweight. As a result, greater strain is placed on the joints, especially those in the legs and hips, and also on the lower back which tends to support the majority of your weight as your stand upright or when you are sitting.
Excess weight can compress the spinal discs and makes them become misaligned, or even cause them to rub against each other when it happens; excruciating pain is very often the result. Being overweight can also strain the muscles that support your back and spine, making it very painful to move or rotate the body.
Being overweight can also indirectly influence the outcome of back posture and your lifestyle. For example, many people tend to slouch when sitting. In a person of regular weight this places strain on the lower back, and will eventually cause them some degree of pain if they are sitting down for large periods of the day. With overweight person slouches, the lowest pressure yet to set a pain cause pain, often occur earlier and more severely.
Another factor in the way, applies to those who are not physically active throughout the day. Exercise helps end the spine, to improve the flexibility of the spine and to strengthen and tone the muscles supporting the spine. Therefore, the overweight person who has, behind them will not receive any of these benefits and much more susceptible to injury and pain.
Lose weight to lose your back pain
For anyone who is overweight and now back pain, one of the best things you can do to reduce or eliminate the pain of losing weight. This will involve a gradual improvement in their condition over time, and also the advantage of drawing the whole body not just your back.