Will my back pain improve with weight loss?

[yuvismahi2]

As you guys can see, I have a lot of weight to lose. I've had back pain for practically forever, but only recently I've experienced the personal hell that is sciatic pain. X-rays and an MRI show that I have spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease. When I spoke with a spine surgeon I asked him straight out if my obesity had anything to do with my condition and he replied that it did. At this point, my back is messed up enough that I'm going to need surgery eventually, but I can't help but believe that getting down to a healthy weight will relieve the burden on my spine, (hopefully) lessen my back pain, and make my surgeon's job a lot easier. When I asked my ortho doc and my pain doc if weight loss would improve my condition, they replied, "It can't hurt."
What has your experience been with weight loss and back pain relief? Hopefully I'll hear some good things. Thanks!

 

[alligatorob]

As you guys can see, I have a lot of weight to lose. I've had back pain for practically forever, but only recently I've experienced the personal hell that is sciatic pain. X-rays and an MRI show that I have spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease. When I spoke with a spine surgeon I asked him straight out if my obesity had anything to do with my condition and he replied that it did. At this point, my back is messed up enough that I'm going to need surgery eventually, but I can't help but believe that getting down to a healthy weight will relieve the burden on my spine, (hopefully) lessen my back pain, and make my surgeon's job a lot easier. When I asked my ortho doc and my pain doc if weight loss would improve my condition, they replied, "It can't hurt."
What has your experience been with weight loss and back pain relief? Hopefully I'll hear some good things. Thanks!

I have found that all of my old aches and pains are less or gone with my weight loss, back included. I am no expert, but I don't think our bones were made to carry a whole lot of fat around, I believe getting rid of it helps.

 

[Llama]

I talk to a lot of people with back pain and extra weight does tend to make things worse, especially if it's enough weight to make moving freely difficult even on a low-pain day. I don't expect weightloss to solve all your problems but I would expect it to help quite a bit.

 

[Omega]

I would say that your back pain is likely to improve with weight loss... I certainly had a lot less back pain after I lost weight compared to before my big project.

An extra consideration since you are looking at eventual surgery - in 2011 my husband needed a series of kidney operations. He was a very big man when the first one was done... The first was done as an emergency... He could not have a general anaesthetic so they had to use an epidural. Apparently it took FIVE goes to get the epidural injection in the right place... He was already in pain and scared and certainly did not enjoy this... He lost a fair bit of weight before the next operation (although still morbidly obese) - and the epidural went to the right place first time on all the other operations.

 

[yuvismahi2]

I have found that all of my old aches and pains are less or gone with my weight loss, back included. I am no expert, but I don't think our bones were made to carry a whole lot of fat around, I believe getting rid of it helps.

I talk to a lot of people with back pain and extra weight does tend to make things worse, especially if it's enough weight to make moving freely difficult even on a low-pain day. I don't expect weightloss to solve all your problems but I would expect it to help quite a bit.

thankyou!!!!

 

[DGraves]

When I first started training, the coach immediately warned me that I have back problems because of work, so I need to fix it as soon as possible. All the exercises were aimed at strengthening my back and only then we added weight. In addition, massage helped me to recover.

 

[Healthy Lifestyle1]

Keeping a wholesome weight or losing weight may help alleviate or protect against spine difficulties, and reduces strain on other joints too. Dropping only a couple of lbs can create a large difference to your spine. For every four pounds you eliminate, you eliminate 16 lbs of strain from your own spine.

 

[Llama]

For every four pounds you eliminate, you eliminate 16 lbs of strain from your own spine.

Yes, being overweight can be bad for your back (changing the natural curvature and putting more strain on the joints) but if you´re a pear shape it´s going to make a lot less difference than when you´re an apple shape, whether gaining or losing. And the 4>16 pound difference you mention really only makes sense to me when you´re doing something high-impact. I´d be interested to hear the context and source of that claim.

 

[overlandflyer]

i can personally attest... achieving a healthy BMI may not cure arthritis, but it sure lessens the pain from inflammation. i haven't taken a pain or anti-inflammation med in almost two years now.