Do weight or height influence back pain?
When no definite cause is known for back pain, then people will blame almost anything they can imagine. Weight and height are common scapegoats I have been told that it’s because I’m too tall, too short, too fat, or too thin. Yet, from my experience, these factors are rarely to blame. Overweight people are often told that the excess poundage is the cause of their back problem, but this is not often the case. After all, most of us know very overweight people who have no trouble with their backs. Being overweight is not a cause of back pain in itself but if you already have a troublesome back then it may aggravate the situation. The extra weight may alter the curve of your back, thus stretching the muscles. This would increase their workload and also make a cramp more likely. Attacks of pain may occur more easily and with greater frequency. It is possible that back packs, which are often heavy compared with the strength of the person carrying them, may subject the facet joints to a load
