Have you been living with chronic neck or back pain? You’re not alone. Around 16 million American adults have persistent back pain, while 27 out of every 1,000 people have neck pain. Many of these people have pain due to poor posture, old sports injuries, physically demanding jobs or structural problems with their spines. But your pain may come from a different source — your gut. Learn more about the link between gut health and chronic pain in the back or neck.
How Gut Health Impacts Chronic Neck and Back Pain
You probably didn’t learn this in high school biology, but the gut-spine connection has a big impact on your health. This term refers to the relationship between your digestive system and your spine. Nerves, hormones and immune tissues affect both parts of your body, so poor gut health can cause pain anywhere in your spinal column.
If you’ve been suffering from chronic back pain, chronic neck pain or a combination of the two, it’s important that you understand this connection. Once you know about the relationship between the gut and the spine, you can take proactive steps to improve your health.
Understanding Inflammation: The Common Link Between Gut Issues and Pain
Dysbiosis, the term for poor gut health, leads to chronic inflammation. The inflammatory process includes several steps:
- Blood vessels dilate (get wider).
- Fluid and plasma proteins leak into nearby tissue, causing swelling.
- Your immune system sends white blood cells to the initial site of the inflammation.
- The body adjusts its metabolism, which sometimes causes fatigue, high blood sugar and other symptoms.
Some researchers have proposed the concept of leaky gut syndrome, which may cause bacteria and other harmful substances to leak from the gut. Although leaky gut syndrome is a theoretical condition, scientists have confirmed that some people do have increased intestinal permeability — the medical term for the intestine’s ability to allow certain substances to pass into the bloodstream.
So, what does this have to do with chronic neck and back pain? If you have poor gut health, inflammatory substances can leak out of your intestine. If they reach your back, you might experience pain, limited range of motion and other troublesome symptoms.
Signs Your Neck or Back Pain May Be Linked to Digestive Health
It can be tough to determine if your back or neck pain is due to a gut problem or simply the result of overdoing it at the gym. However, there are a few red flags you should know about. For example, if your pain gets worse after you eat certain foods, you might have systemic inflammation due to an allergic response in your intestine. Your pain may also be gut-related if you also experience bloating or abdominal cramping.
Common Gut Disorders That Can Worsen Spine Pain
Leaky gut isn’t the only thing that can make spine pain worse. These are just a few examples of digestive conditions that can trigger back and neck pain:
- Irritable bowel syndrome: Irritable bowel syndrome, better known as IBS, is a group of related symptoms affecting the digestive system. Common symptoms include abdominal pain, gas, bloating and a change in bowel habits. The nerves in the lower back and GI system are connected, so an IBS flare can contribute to back pain.
- Food sensitivities: Food sensitivities trigger an immune reaction that contributes to systemic inflammation, so they can also cause chronic neck or back discomfort. If you suspect food sensitivities are the source of your pain, consider keeping a food log for a few weeks. You might discover a connection between a specific food and worsening symptoms.
- Inflammatory bowel disease: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases, which means they cause inflammation in the intestines. If you have one of these conditions, inflammatory substances might spread from your gut to another part of your body, resulting in increased neck or back pain.
Georgia Medical Treatment Center’s Integrated Approach
At Georgia Medical Treatment Center, we care about providing comprehensive back pain treatment. If you continue to experience pain even after trying over-the-counter medications and self-care measures, we’ll take time to get to the bottom of it. Our integrated approach allows us to dig deeper into the causes of your spinal pain, ensuring you receive the best possible care.
Schedule a Back or Neck Pain Evaluation at Georgia Medical Treatment Center
If you have chronic pain, a back and neck pain center is the best place to get answers. Contact Georgia Medical Treatment Center to schedule an evaluation with one of our experts. We’ll listen carefully to your symptoms, conduct a thorough exam and help you get on the road to recovery.
