Accelerated Recovery of Your Health by Howard B. Cotler

Author:Howard B. Cotler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing
Published: 2016-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

As weight increases, back pain and extremity arthritis increases. There are approximately 125 million adults in America and 65 percent of them are categorized as overweight or obese.

Obesity is defined based on a body mass index (BMI). BMI is closely related to both the percentage of body fat and total body fat. BMI can be found by dividing your mass by the square of your height. Visit www.bmi-calculator.net to calculate your BMI.

A BMI of 18.5–24.9 is normal, 25–29.9 is overweight, 30–34.9 is obese, and a BMI greater than 35 is morbidly obese. Compared to those in the normal category, people with a BMI between 25–29 reported 20 percent more pain, those between 30–34 reported 68 percent more pain, 35–39 reported 136 percent more pain, and those with a BMI over 40 reported 254 percent more pain. It is clear to see that, as size increases, pain also increases.

Extra weight will increase pressure on the spine and extremities, and accelerates the wearing out of discs, ligaments and joints. The wearing out of joints results in osteoarthritis.

The main treatment for obesity is dieting and physical exercise. When starting an exercise program, the general rule is to move as much as you can without pain. Try to do it every day and build up to one hour per day. Low impact exercises like walking or using a stationary bike are a good place to start. But if you are weight-bearing intolerant, then a swimming program is the only place to start. If you are unable to progress via traditional means, then the most effective treatment would be bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery may be either lap band, gastric sleeve, or G.I. bypass surgery, but you should consult a bariatric surgeon for full discussion.

People with obesity are not subjected to increased surgical complications because of their large physical size. However, the obese patient with significant medical comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea, etc.) does have a higher percentage of complications based on the magnitude of their diseases.

Generally, the effects of obesity on low back pain can be reversed, as long as it is addressed prior to doing irreversible damage to your back (eg. spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniations, or radiculopathy). Between 20–30 percent of people who are morbidly obese and have a BMI more than 45 live 13–20 years less than people with a normal BMI. Women of the same age and BMI will shorten their lives by five to eight years. So once you become morbidly obese (or more than 100 pounds over ideal body weight) not only will your life be shortened, you will develop irreversible damage to your spine and other joints, and have more pain. Become committed to life and good health today.

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