Survey Determines that Smokers Tend to Suffer from Increased Incidence of Back Pain

According to a randomized telephone survey conducted and analyzed by German researchers of the Robert Koch Institute and reported by the journal Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, smokers are more prone to developing chronic back pain than non-smoking individuals. The survey included 8000 adults, both smokers and non-smokers, who were asked to provide information on their social status, average annual income, smoking habits, and lifestyle. Upon analyzing the obtained data, the study authors determined a link between smoking habits of the participants and their increased proneness to chronic back pain.

Their findings show that both current and former tobacco addicts tend to develop back aches significantly more often than those who never smoked. A direct correlation was also found between the length of smoking and severity of chronic back pain: long-term smokers showed to have a two-fold increase in the incidence and severity of back pain in comparison with those who had smoked for a period less than a decade.  However, no correlation was observed between the frequency of tobacco consumption and chronic back pain, at least in the survey participants.

The authors say that smoking cigarettes may be a contributing factor in developing chronic back aches. However, due to the mild pain-alleviating properties of nicotine, it may also be possible that back pain is a factor that supports the habit of smoking in some people and motivates them against smoking cessation. The exact link between tobacco consumption and back pain is planned to be further revealed in upcoming research.

According to the prestigious Merck Manuals, chronic back pain is a widely-spread medical condition and one of the most common complains of those who visit their health-care providers. Although underlying causes can vary, back aches usually result from chronic tension in the ligaments and muscles that support the spinal cord. In some cases, back pain can be triggered by vertebral dislocations or internal conditions, such as PMS, infections, or diseases of the lungs, liver, prostate gland, and stomach.

Darlene Marlow