Can Weight Loss Reduce Back Pain?

Back pain can make everything tough. Something as simple as walking through the grocery store can be excruciating. Even sitting and lying down can be painful. However, for many individuals, it’s possible to relieve back pain through weight loss.

In fact, research shows that weight is often one of the major contributors to back pain. A 2013 research study, ‘Weight Loss and Obesity in the Treatment and Prevention of Osteoarthritis,’ published in US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health found, “Obesity induces several pathways that predispose an individual to symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA).”

Why Will Weight Loss Help Back Pain?

The spinal column is the core element of your back. It’s made up of a stack of bones called vertebrae. In a healthy back, there’s a fibrous disc between each vertebra. The fibrous tissue acts as a cushion, allowing the bones to move, while keeping them from rubbing against one another.

Over time, this fibrous tissue breaks down. The natural course of this breakdown happens with old age. However, excess weight can speed up the breakdown process substantially. As an article published by the Harvard Medical School explains, when the fibrous discs break down, they “can press on the nerves in the spinal cord and cause pain.”

Losing weight helps to relieve the pressure placed on your vertebrae and the discs, reducing the pressure on your nerves.

5 Effective Weight Loss Tips for Back Pain Relief

When you’re in the thick of it, battling back pain and weight loss can feel hopeless. Some individuals look for relief and help anywhere they can get it. For some, drastic measures like pain killers or surgery are necessary. But both of these options can put your body at risk. Pain killers are only a Band-Aid to the larger problem. Surgery always comes with the danger of complications.

A holistic approach to weight loss, gives you a safe and sustainable solution to managing your health and wellbeing. The following tips can help you safely lose weight: 

1. Get More Steps

Try incorporating more steps into your day. Even something as simple as parking at the back of the grocery store parking lot can help you burn extra calories.

2. Maintain a Balanced Lifestyle

Does it seem like the yo-yoing never ends? That’s a frequent people for those who have an erratic and unpredictable lifestyle. Maintaining a balanced lifestyle helps reduce the unknown, curb cravings, and cut down on splurges. 

3. Skip Calorie Dense Foods

Skip the potatoes. Research shows potatoes are one of the biggest culprits of belly fat.

4. Stick to a Healthy Diet

Go paleo-vegan with healthy recipes that satisfy.

5. Ask for Help

Ask for help. We can’t stress this enough. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. It takes courage and perseverance to admit you can’t do it alone. Because let’s be honest – losing weight is tough!

Is Losing Weight to Lose Back Pain the Only Option?

Definitely not. A recent article published in the National Institutes of Health explored yoga can ease moderate to severe chronic low back pain. Yoga is impact-free, meaning your spine won’t be exposed to excess pounding. It helps you strengthen your core, helping to relieve pressure from your spine. And, it helps you stretch and loosen tight muscles.

Prolotherapy is another, non-invasive way to relieve your low back pain. Using a saline solution, prolotherapy helps stimulate your body’s natural ability to heal itself.

Start Relieving Your Back Pain

Schedule a consultation with one of our naturopathic doctors to begin losing weight and reducing your low back pain.