One More Reason Not to Smoke

Despite prevention programs in schools, legal restrictions at
restaurants and bars, and repeated health warnings on TV, nearly
one in four Americans continues to smoke. For these people, lung
cancer and emphysema could be lurking in their not-so-distant
future, and evidence now suggests that smoking might also
contribute to other conditions, including back pain.

If you smoke and you have back problems, especially a history of
back problems, smoking might be making those problems worse.
Results of a questionnaire mailed to 1,471 young men and women
diagnosed with adolescent scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and
1,750 men and women without scoliosis revealed that smoking
increased reported back pain not only in men and women with
scoliosis, but also in healthy women. Back pain was also more
frequent and more intense among smokers compared with
 nonsmokers in the study group.

These results suggest that smoking is associated with back pain,
and that the impact may be even greater in people with spinal
conditions. All the evidence shows that smoking is addictive, but
picking up that first cigarette is a choice. Make the right choice
-- it's much less painful in the long run.

Scott SC, Goldberg MS, Mayo NE, et al. The association between
cigarette smoking and back pain in adults. Spine, June 1, 1999:
Vol. 24, No. 11, pp1090-98.