Do you like grabbing a cup of coffee with friends or camping out at your favorite little coffee shop in town to catch up on work and emails? Is coffee a social aspect for you, or are you someone who relies on that caffeine boost to get you up in the morning, and keep you going throughout the day? I personally am the latter! However, something so trivial and helpful throughout the day can actually be causing harm. If you drink coffee regularly and also experience back pain, it is possible that there may be a connection.
Although drinking coffee won't physically injure you, it can cause back aches and enhance previously existing aches and pains. According to The Healthy Home Economist, caffeine specifically places stress on the adrenal glands. These are round disk shaped organs that sit atop each kidney on the posterior side of the body. “Stressing out the adrenals all the time with an unchecked caffeine habit weakens not only the adrenal glands but the entire area around them which includes the lower back,” reports the publication. Weak adrenals can also take vital nutrients away from the ligaments and tendons, which can then affect the joints. This can include the sacroiliac joint which supports the weight of the entire body.
Aside from causing lower back pain, caffeine has a few other negative aspects that can affect the body and ultimately contribute to chronic pain. Caffeine can make the muscles in your body more tense and also affect your sleep pattern, potentially leading to insomnia and more back pain and stiffness. Massive amounts of coffee can also at times cause depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety can then lead to stress and tension which builds up in soft tissues of the body over time, causing pain.
Although it is hard to determine whether or not your back pain is from caffeine, the best test is to stop the caffeine intake or reduce it immensely. Lowering the amount of coffee and overall caffeine intake, can greatly reduce the amount of pain and stress in the body. Enjoy a coffee beverage every once in a while and continue to camp out at your favorite coffee spot, but change your order to tea! This in time will likely impact your body and overall wellness in a positive way.
Recovia is a functional flex-care program that aims to maximize recovery for individuals suffering from chronic pain, injury, or dependency. The mission is to provide a compassionate, comprehensive, cost effective, and individualized functional rehabilitation program. For more information, please contact us at 480-364-4009 or visit our information page.
The advice and information provided herein is for educational purposes only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites.
