People with persistent back pain or persistent headaches are twice as likely to suffer from both disorders, a new study has revealed. The results suggest an association between the two types of pain that could point to a shared treatment for both.

The researchers led a systematic review of fourteen studies with a total of 460,195 participants that attempt to quantify the association between persistent headaches and persistent low back pain. They found an association between having persistent low back pain and having persistent (chronic) headaches, with patients experiencing one typically being twice as likely to experience the other compared to people without either headaches or back pain. The association is also stronger for people affected by migraine.

The researchers focused on people with chronic headache disorders, those who will have had headaches on most days for at least three months, and people with persistent low back pain that experience that pain day after day. These are two very common disorders that are leading causes of disability worldwide. Around one in five people have persistent low back pain and one in 30 have chronic headaches.

There may be something in the relationship between how people react to the pain, making some people more sensitive to both the physical causes of the headache, particularly migraine, and the physical causes in the back, and how the body reacts to that and how you become disabled by it.

If you suffer from low back pain or headaches, consider chiropractic care. Doctors of Chiropractic (chiropractors) are professionals trained in techniques to reduce back pain without surgery or medications.

Presented as a service to the community by: Union County Chiropractic Clinic, 110 Skyline Drive, Maynardville, TN (865) 992-7000 www.unioncountychiropractic.com.