Caffeine & Back Pain

Caffeine is a white alkaloid that also acts as a stimulant in the body. This stimulant is found in coffee, tea and other foods consumed on a daily basis. In double-blind studies conducted by a number of researchers, caffeine has also been found to have the potential of acting as a pain reliever similar to acetaminophen or aspirin but without the same side effects.

Significance

• In a number of studies conducted on patients with various forms of back, muscle and oral pain, caffeine has been used to reduce or eliminate pain. Caffeine has been found to work well when blood flow is reduced, and caffeine was used to help block adenosine receptors that could also work to block muscle pain. Adenosine receptors in the brain may cause negative pain-relieving effects when it comes to caffeine withdrawal and migraines.

Size

• Moderate doses of caffeine have been used successfully in many trial studies, including one study in the "Clinical Journal of Pain" looking at chronic lower pack pain and caffeine. This study used 131 patients with chronic back pain to measure the severity of pain in low, moderate and high caffeine users. Moderate doses (equivalent to 200 mg, or two to three cups of coffee) showed the best results, while a high dose of caffeine was ineffective in relieving back pain.

Effects

• In the same study conducted by and published in the "Clinical Journal of Pain," the positive effects of caffeine on the chronic pain of the patients provided them with a short-term analgesic effect. This reduced the pain they felt while caffeine was present in the body. Various other studies on headaches and general muscle aches have concluded that caffeine can work just as well to relieve pain in some patients as acetaminophen or aspirin.

Side Effects

• Caffeine itself causes side effects in some people that may negate the positive impact it has on back pain. In some, moderate amounts of caffeine can cause heart palpitations, jitteriness and disturbances in sleep patterns. Studies conducted on caffeine and pain have not yet determined whether the positive effects still apply to regular caffeine users who may have built up a tolerance to the effects of caffeine.

Warning

• Caffeine will not have a positive effect on pain in all people. Once a person begins to use caffeine regularly, he may suffer from acute caffeine withdrawal if he stops using it. A study conducted on subjects with somatic dysfunction during caffeine withdrawal concluded that withdrawal was significant in some patients who were given at least 300 mg of caffeine per day for pain and then abstained from caffeine for four days. Caffeine can reduce transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in some patients, causing the positive pain relief effects to be minimal.