As if we needed another reason to take care of lingering spine pain, a new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine suggests that severe untreated back pain could be linked to an increased death risk.
Interestingly, the link was only found in women who suffered from severe untreated back pain. No such association was found between back pain and mortality risk in men, or in either sex if the back pain was mild or non-debilitating. But for women with severe back pain, treatment could quite literally be a matter of life and death.
Back Pain And Death Risk
For their study, researchers conducted a systematic literature review on the association of back pain and mortality risk, and then followed that up with a meta-analysis of all-cause mortality in 11 studies involving more than 81,000 adults. Interestingly, age was not found to have an effect on the association between back pain and mortality risk, so don’t think that you’re in the clear just because you’re younger.
The driving force behind the association was the fact that severe untreated back pain could lead to a number of related issues that could have negative health effects. For example, severe back pain could limit physical activity and the ability to exercise, which in turn could lead to weight gain. A lack of exercise partnered with weight gain can worsen chronic conditions or lead to additional health problems like cardiovascular disease.
Additionally, researchers said there exists an association between back pain, poor balance and fall risk, which can result in significant fractures. These fractures have also been linked to an increased mortality risk.
“I hope this study will lead to a better understanding of the long-term impacts of activity-limiting back pain on overall health and research to improve back pain treatment over the course of patients’ lives,” said Eric Roseen, DC, MSc, director of the program for integrative medicine and health disparities at Boston Medical Center and an assistant professor of family medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, in a press release. “Proper management of back pain is important, especially as the opioid epidemic has been exacerbated and the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people seeking medical care, stress-levels and the environments in which many Americans are working right now.”
Severe back pain is no fun, and it can lead you to want to just curl up in bed and hope that it eventually goes away. While that may provide some short term relief, it’s unlikely to do anything to solve the underlying issue that’s causing the problem. Over time, if you limit your activity and don’t do anything to actively treat the problem, back pain can become more severe, harder to treat, and according to this study, can actually increase your mortality risk if you’re a woman.
Don’t try to take on severe back pain on your own. Instead, sync up with a spine specialist who can not only help figure out what’s going on, but help you overcome it. It could end up saving your life! For more information, or for help with your back pain issue, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office today.
