Weight Loss Can Improve Back Pain
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:52AM | tagged "back pain", "degenerative disc", "herniated disc", "low back pain", "lower back pain", "weight loss", bmi, exercise, idaho falls, nutrition, physician, sciatica Share Article | Email Article
I had and experience in the office last week where a patient called me an #%$ for bringing up the subject of weight loss in relationship to back pain.
This kind of conversation is always complicated and I try to be sensitive to the complicated situation of being in pain and having someone tell you to “just lose some weight.” I understand that the cycle of pain often perpetuates issues of weight and I want to be helpful to facilitate change.
Still smarting from being called an #%$, I found this recent article published in the Spine Journal interesting.
At study by Roffey et al[i] looked at the efficacy of a pilot, multidisciplinary, medically supervised, nonsurgical weight loss program on the severity of low back pain.
The program was not for the faint of heart but does highlight the potential for a person that is committed to decrease severity of back pain symptoms by working on this issue.
The program considered in this study was 52 weeks in duration and was administered by a team of physicians, dietitians, exercise specialists, and nurses.
- The initial phase of the program involved liquid meal replacements for 12 weeks.
- Then the participants transitioned into a phase of supervised caloric restriction diets for 13 weeks.
- The participants attended weekly group therapy and educational meetings for the first 26 weeks.
- All participants were instructed to continue the caloric restriction diets after the initial supervised portion.
- Finally, the participants were instructed to engage in 60 to 90 minutes of daily physical activity.
Results:
The study participants were 46 obese adults (mean body mass index [BMI] 44.7±7.6 kg/m2).
In this study, the participants all reported having back pain at baseline. About 60% reported mild back pain, 30% reported moderate back pain and roughly 10% reported severe back pain.
By week 14 in the study the researchers found significant improvement in pain scores, weight loss and disability. Reduction in BMI during the course of the study was significantly associated clinically important improvements in pain and disability.
Don't be an #%$. Talk about weight loss. There is good data supporting the fact that in lifestyle and activity can translate into real improvements in pain and function.
[i] Spine J. 2011 Mar;11(3):197-204.
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