Anyone have back pain relief stories related to weight loss?

Dcioby73 · April 2013

I'm 6'2 225lbs, with an ideal weight probably around 190-200. I've had a bad back for about 15 years now, but I do remember a brief period in 2004 when I was below 210 lbs for about a year or so, and it's if my back pain had magically disappeared.

After I got married, the weight kept creeping back up, and I've been oscillating between 215-240 for the past 7 years or so. With the weight gain, the back pain has started reoccurring, but in my infinite wisdom I didn't really correlate the two.

Does anyone have a success story that involves a bad back that has gotten significantly better once you lost a substantial amount of weight, whereas before massage therapy, PT, stretching, etc only gave you temporary relief at best?

raeleek · April 2013

My lower back used to just kill me all the time. There would be days I couldn't stand up straight. Once I started losing weight it helped but what truly made a difference was core work. I will tell you at first it did hurt especially the next morning but in the last 3-4 months of really working my core I've found that back aches are very few and far between. Nice surprise I wasn't expecting!

knitbytes · April 2013

I'm with Raeleek- my back pain has lessened a lot with weight loss but I think what really helps is core work, particularly (in my case) yoga. I lost about 20lb in the first two months of weight loss, but the back pain didn't start to fade until I started yoga classes last month. Now with my back and ab muscles so much stronger I hardly have back pain at all anymore!

Dcioby73 · April 2013

I'm with Raeleek- my back pain has lessened a lot with weight loss but I think what really helps is core work, particularly (in my case) yoga. I lost about 20lb in the first two months of weight loss, but the back pain didn't start to fade until I started yoga classes last month. Now with my back and ab muscles so much stronger I hardly have back pain at all anymore!

Hm, that's interesting, Yoga has always aggravated me rather than helped.

Thanks for the responses.

nikke25 · April 2013

I have a bulging disk (L4/L5). It was so bad I wanted to cry every day. I did PT, chiropractor, and steroid injections and it did not help. Every doc I saw would tell me that weight loss would help and after doing research I figured it was worth a shot. January 1st 2013 I got serious about weight loss because I just could not live with the back pain and 55 lbs later I can tell you that although it is not gone it is not nearly as bad as before. I plan to lose another 50 lbs and hope that I feel even better then. What I know is that it does not take the pain away depending on what is wrong with your back but it relieves the pain a whole lot.

mattschwartz01 · April 2013

Yes, my back pain was relieved after losing 25 pounds. I also had hip pain which disappeared after 10 pounds. It make sleeping so much easier.

BrennLinn · April 2013

Yep, about 5 years ago I fell down a flight of stairs and chipped my vertebrae and had several herniated discs. I was told I could have surgery, with a pretty long recovery, or I could try and lose weight and do physical therapy. My back would constantly go out to were I could not move an inch. With 2 active kids, failure is not an option so I chose to lose weight. I failed several times but in August of 2012 I got serious and since then have lost 42 Lbs and my back has not gone out or even hurt in several months. It is possible and I couldn't be happier!

kwogni · April 2013

My back pain came from weak lower back muscles. A lighter body weight helped but weight training exercises for the back as well as yoga (especially the downward facing dog pose) helped strengthen it. I haven't had back pain in years since.

concordancia · April 2013

I am in the mixed results camp: it seems to have more to do with more strength than less weight.

sclaibo · April 2013

I have definitely noticed a correlation between my back pain and my weight! When I was over 200lbs, my back pain was intense, but not severe and it mostly hurt when I walked for a long distance. When I was in the 210s, my back pain was intense and it seemed like even the slightest movement would cause an intense spasm to where I couldn't move. Now that I am down into the 190s, I have more stiffness than anything else because of my workouts, but no more spasms and I am walking with ease!

stinasn · April 2013

My lower back pain hasn't been related to my weight at all (highest weight 185 pounds, I'm 5'4), rather it's the lack of exercise and terrible posture (sitting at a computer and on the couch all day long) that's been terrible for it. I also have very relaxed ligaments which doesn't exactly help. What's helped me the most is doing pilates (at home) to strengthen my core and then regular exercise.

Cantaraflor · May 2013

I used to have back pain all the time. I've doing some exercises specially for that. And trying to lose weight. There is some relief when a lose at least one lb. I found some products I was using for pain relief, Tens unit are very helpful. Check this http://bit.ly/16NDTSk

OtiWanKenobi · May 2013

Weightloss has been the best remedy for me. I was 245 a couple of years ago and I had chronic back pain and sciatica. It was so bad the bottom of my foot was constantly numb. Doctor told me that the only solutions were surgery, cortisone shot (which I did twice and DID NOT work! ) and bed rest for a week.

I ignored his other two suggestions and began eating healthier and felt some relief after some of the weight came off. Then once I felt good enough to work out I did, and most of the time fought through the back pain. Most of the time I had to a lot of ibuprofen to fight through the pain. I'm 195 right now and seldom have back pain, but no more sharp shooting pain from sciatica!!! Woohoo! I mostly get an achy feeling only when I'm standing for long periods of time or when there's a quick change in atmospheric pressure. It's improved even more so since I've started weightlifting, yoga and running. I really believe it's because all three have really helped strengthen my core.

I'm almost good as new... :-) Hope you find relief soon!

Anyone have back pain relief stories related to weight loss?

Replies

Categories