Hormones & Back Pain

If you are a woman and have an aching back, it may very well be the result of your hormones. In a study conducted by Dr. Jan Brynhildsen and colleagues from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of University Hospital in Sweden, it was determined that there is a noteworthy association between hormone replacement treatment and pain in the lower back. Women who were taking hormones were found to have a much higher incidence of back pain than those who weren't undergoing hormone treatment.

Expert Insight

• Oral contraceptives have long been thought to increase the chance of a woman having back problems, according to Dr. Brynhildsen. Contraceptives contain estrogen and progesterone, which are female sex hormones. It is believed that these hormones increase flexibility in the pelvis as well as affect ligaments, which leads to low back pain. An expectant woman may especially be ripe for lower back pain because back problems frequently develop during pregnancy. The problems often occur early in the pregnancy, long before mechanical stress from extra weight can be the root of the problem. It is believed hormonal factors are the culprit.

What Happens

• According to Caringmedical.com, a woman's ligaments become lax during pregnancy so that they are loose enough to allow the baby to pass through the birth canal. When a woman is pregnant, she produces a hormone called relaxin, which results in the loosening of her ligaments, tendons and muscles. When this happens, the collagen in a woman's body is remodeled and helps in the relaxation process and results in extra elasticity in these parts. However, even though the collagen is remodeled by this hormone, its mass, in fact, decreases and the collagen becomes weaker. When a woman is deluged with both estrogen and relaxin during pregnancy, her risk of injuring her ligaments increases because the laxity of her ligaments has become extreme. Injury then leads to pain.

Considerations

• Women frequently complain of lower back pain before their menstrual periods and while they are pregnant, according to Medscape.com, which may point to the connection between hormones and back pain; however, studies are inconclusive at this point. It has been noted that women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as well as though using oral contraceptives, complain more of back pain than those who aren't taking hormones.

Changes in Pregnancy

• Americanpregnancy.org points out that the loosening of ligaments as well as shifting in your joints during pregnancy, which are the result of pregnancy hormones, can alter the support that your back normally has and this can result in pain. Of course, other factors come into play, such as added weight, which can also make her back hurt.

Prevention/Solution

• Dr. Brynhildsen reports that nearly one-fourth of doctors in Sweden advise their female patients who are having back problems to stop using oral contraceptives because of their belief that the hormones are causing or exasperating the woman's back pain.