Back problems are incredibly common in the world, and there are millions of people who have issues with their spine. From slipped and ruptured discs to sciatica, stenosis, and infections, there are numerous issues that people can have with their spinal column. Unfortunately, these issues are not always localized to the spine. When you have issues with your back, some of those issues can spread throughout the body and cause other issues. It’s a terrible thing, but it’s true and so you need to understand how spinal issues can affect the rest of your health.
Increasing Your Stress Levels
The first way that an issue with your spine can spread out and attack your overall health is by increasing your stress levels. Levels of increased stress can help to influence a much higher heart rate, high blood pressure, and even issues with processing glucose properly, potentially leading to insulin resistance. As time goes on, these issues can pile up and lead to diabetes, heart disease, and potential heart attacks and strokes. It is not an exaggeration to say that an injured, unhealthy spine could eventually help contribute to many more issues and even death.
Increasing Your Pain Levels
No one feels their best and at the peak of their health (mentally or physically) when they’re in pain. Pain is something that can just suck the joy out of your life. Chronic pain can lead to depression, substance abuse, and more. Your spine bears the entire weight of your body, and if an issue with your spine is causing pain, that’s something that will only increase as the problem persists and worsens. To be in chronic pain is to be in poor health, and there’s no way to sugar-coat that fact.
Interrupting Your Sleep Cycle
Another way spinal issues can negatively affect your health is to interrupt your sleep pattern. Poor sleep can lead to increased stress, which can bring about a host of issues (see above). Poor sleep can also cause poor performance in many other areas of life, as well as mental cloudiness and irritability issues. If you have a spinal issue, it’s imperative that you have it looked at. Luckily, most states have very qualified specialists. Arizona, for instance, is a state where you can find a highly qualified back and spine specialist in Phoenix and surrounding areas. The same holds with most states.
Interrupting Your Metabolism
Spinal issues can affect your nerves and even your digestion. Over time, this can lead to bloating, stomach problems, excessive weight gain, and more. You might not even change your diet yet still end up packing on the pounds because your metabolism has drastically changed due to a spinal issue. You can do a range of spinal exercises to help you relieve the pain, but if there’s a real issue that needs to be corrected, then only a specialist is going to be able to assist you. You owe it to yourself and your health to get your spine back to normal.
Causes Potential Muscle Issues
Another way an injured spine can affect your overall health is that your muscles may start acting up. A slipped or ruptured disc, for instance, puts a lot of strain on the direct muscle groups. Those muscles seize up and stop working properly, and so your other muscle groups nearby kick in to bear the brunt. Since they’re not the right muscles, they start hurting too. Before you know it, your entire body is just sore and not functioning properly at all. This can also cause inflammation that compresses nerves, and then you’re in for a world of trouble and some truly freaky and scary symptoms.
In Conclusion
Spinal issues are certainly not to be ignored. If you think there’s anything wrong with your back, you should immediately go have it checked out. The last thing you want is for your back to get worse, and to have these health issues spread across your body as a result. Go get the help you need when you need it.
