While at a first glance, this may seem unlikely, but certain biological and physiological processes make it possible for a direct relation to be established between high blood pressure and back pain. This puts forth the question: can back pain cause high blood pressure?

Is it really possible that back pain and blood pressure be connected in any way, considering these two don’t even belong to the same class of afflictions (one affects the backbone, part of the skeletal system, while the other one affects the circulatory system). But the simple fact is this: by the virtue of the body’s interconnected system, yes, back pain can end up causing high blood pressure.

Also Read: Should I Go to Urgent Care for Back Pain?

But this isn’t due to back pain, its due to consistent/ persistent back pain, one that is ignored or temporarily fixed by the means of pain killers or a quick trip to the chiropractor. This backache, which persists long enough, can cause high blood pressure, and if left untreated, can deteriorate into further problems; of the spine, the back muscles and even the ligaments that bind the organs together with the spine.

So yes, back pain and high blood pressure are connected and kind of have a causal relationship, though indirect. Back pain can cause high blood pressure, but indirectly, and it takes a long time for the causal relationship to be established, which gives an individual enough time to rectify the back issue and prevent an invasive issue like high blood pressure.

How Can Back Pain Cause High Blood Pressure?

Its simple. The body is a holistic entity, made up of many systems working and reacting to stimuli together. Which means that if one system presents an issue, all will work together, each in their own capacity, to ensure that the problem is resolved.

The same is the case with high blood pressure and back pain; although at first glance, this may not seem like something that might be connected, but again; due to the body reacting as a whole to a stimulus, be it local or foreign, back pain can end up causing high blood pressure. How? We take a look, 

High Blood Pressure and Back Pain: The Connection

The connection can be traced back to basically two bodily processes that occur when persistent back pain starts to cause changes across the body. While this backache may be temporarily fixed by the help of painkillers or simply lying down, a proper and permanent fix is always required, and until it is not given, the back pain will deteriorate into issues much worse than just back pain. But first, lets establish the connection between back pain and blood pressure.

  • Through the Nervous System:

    The nervous system, which is essentially the CPU and a self-diagnostic system in the body, is the first to react to persistent back pain in such a manner that increases the blood pressure. Pain is a stimulus, and the primary receptors that detect and report it is the central nervous system, with the help of nerve endings and the brain.

 

  • As such, when back pain persists for long enough, the brain starts sending out electrical pain signals, which draws a continuous discharge from the sympathetic nervous system, causing hypertension and what is medically known as tachycardia, which means a resting heart rate of a 100 beats per minute.

 

  • which can cause high blood pressure as the heart is pumping more than usual and the blood flow is accelerated, causing wear on the walls of arteries and the veins alike. This is one way by which back pain can cause high blood pressure. As you can see, it is an indirect causal relationship.

  • Through the Endocrine System:

    The endocrine system is a system of glands inside that release their hormones inside the body. A major part of this system are the adrenal glands, located on top of the kidneys, responsible for, you guessed it, adrenaline secretions, the same hormone that drives us to do crazy stupid things that we might end up regretting later.

 

  • How does this hormone relate to back pain or high blood pressure? Well, whenever pain occurs, the central nervous system signals the adrenal glands to release adrenaline, which can drive up both the heart rate, the pulse and subsequently the blood pressure. Persistent state of this can cause a constantly high blood pressure, which can then lead to some more complications of the circulatory system.

Blood Pressure and Back Pain: The Ins and outs

As evident by the two ways back pain can actually cause high blood pressure, you can now understand the implications a seemingly common problem can have on the rest of the body. High blood pressure is not an affliction to be taken lightly, as it can be called the gateway to some pretty nasty complications of the circulatory system.

which is among the most crucial of the body’s systems.High blood pressure can lead to atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis and can also cause myocardial infarction, which is the medical connotation for a heart attack. So, if that pesky back pain or lower back pain does not seem to go away.

you should visit a doctor immediately to ascertain causes of the pain and work out solutions for it. Because consistent back pain can end up causing high blood pressure, which in turn can lead to some pretty devastating afflictions of the heart and the circulatory system.