What Is It Like to Have Chronic Lower Back Pain

GoodRx Health

Back pain is one of the most common complaints Americans make to their doctors every year. And for 8% of all adults, back pain becomes chronic and limits their everyday activities.

Most people experience back pain at least once in their lifetime. It can feel like a dull ache or a sharp, stabbing, or radiating pain. Some people have stiffness, muscle spasms, tingling, or numbness.

Those who talked to GoodRx about chronic back pain all had unique stories. But they agreed that they needed a mix of lifestyle changes, holistic approaches, and traditional medicine to manage their pain and feel better over the long haul. These are their stories.

When autoimmune issues trigger chronic lower back pain

Claire McKenney, a 44-year-old professional musician living near Syracuse, New York, began her chronic back pain journey when she was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 12. But a host of other health problems cropped up in 2014 after her basement flooded and she had to have moldy carpet removed.

"Within 6 weeks, I was at the doctor because my foot was so swollen that I couldn't wear my shoes," she says.

At first, doctors were stumped. One thought she had frostbite. Another suggested gout. Claire was skeptical. Finally, a rheumatologist diagnosed her with HLA-B27 positive reactive arthritis, an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks its own joints after an infection. Claire thinks the mold set it off.

Claire says her autoimmune condition made her back pain worse. Her rheumatologist prescribed medication, but it gave Claire painful mouth sores. She felt the cure was worse than the condition. Then in 2017, Claire caught a stomach bug and couldn't eat for a few days. She noticed the swelling and pain from her arthritis went down. When she went out to dinner with her husband, her symptoms got worse again. So she began to experiment with changing her diet.

She discovered the "autoimmune protocol," a plan to eliminate foods that might cause inflammation and make her autoimmune disorder worse. She cut out foods such as gluten, dairy and refined sugar to see if her symptoms improved. While her insurance didn't cover the functional medicine practitioner she worked with to make changes, Claire says her new diet made a big difference in reducing her pain, so she persisted.

"All my inflammation went away, and just - my hair was healthier, my nails were healthier, I felt good," she says. "I wasn't in as much pain."

Following the diet was difficult but worth it, she says. Her back was better, but it still bothered her. So last year, she went to see her rheumatologist again.

"That's when I got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It's in my back, as well as ankylosing spondylitis," Claire says. "I just started Humira and methotrexate."

The new medications are having fewer side effects than previous ones she's tried, she says. She takes extra folate to help prevent mouth sores.

Managing her conditions will be a lifelong process for Claire. Her advice for others is not to rely on medications alone.

"Be your own self-advocate," she says. "Don't give up bothering doctors, finding new doctors if you can afford it. Find a doctor who's going to listen to you."

Physical therapy takes some of the pain away

Kenneth Krouner, a 46-year-old account manager for a hydrogen company in Oceanside, California, also experienced his first bout of back pain when he was young.

"The first time I remember having significant back pain was when I was 17," he says. "Then when I was around 23 or 24, I had a very bad back spasm that had me on the bathroom floor. I couldn't move. My roommates had to call an ambulance for me."

He spent 13 hours in the hospital before doctors ordered an X-ray. Then, his doctor prescribed medication, but that still didn't help. What finally relieved his pain was a visit to a chiropractor.

For several years, regular chiropractic care seemed to keep Kenneth's back issues under control - until a new job changed his lifestyle.

"I was sitting half the time, and the other half of the time I was doing heavy lifting in a metal shop," he says. "So, it was a double strain on my back. All my discs were enlarged, and it was just nerves pinching between the disc and the bone on my spine."

Eventually, his back pain got so bad it put him out of work for 6 months. When he returned to do only desk work, the situation was still bad. His pain started to radiate down his leg, and Kenneth was looking into surgery. Before he took that step, he began to work with a physical therapist. It was a game-changer. He learned how to manage his pain enough to live and work normally.

"When I do get pain, I'm able to manage it quickly with the exercises I got from the physical therapist," he says. "Just having more awareness of my spine and what I'm doing with it has helped."

Keeping his stress under control helps, too. "Now that I'm on different psychological medication, I just have a lot less stress," he says.

Kenneth says he knows he's far from alone in dealing with chronic low back pain brought on by work, lifestyle, and stress. And like Claire, he says his advice is that medication alone is not the answer. Prescription pain medication did not work for him. Neither did cannabis or steroids.

"The only things that really ever work for relieving my pain are anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen and certain stretches that my physical therapist gave me," he says. Cutting back on salt and white flour seems to reduce inflammation and help the pain, too, he says.

Finding the healing power of yoga

Danae Kelley's back pain began when she was training to become a yoga teacher.

"I already had a 200-hour certification and began teaching and woke up one day in the most severe low back pain that I had ever felt," she says. "I was in and out of the emergency room without any answers - and very scared."

The 36-year-old Oregon resident underwent many tests and saw many doctors. Still, her pain was a mystery. Doctors offered pain medication, but Danae was reluctant to take medication long term. Others suggested the issue was her weight.

"The first thing that people went to was like, 'You live in a large body.' And I was like, 'I've been doing this my whole life. I move for a living. There's got to be something more here,'" Danae says. "Chronic low back pain is such an epidemic. It is so incredibly common that people that show up with it are kind of brushed aside."

At this point, the problem was having a severe impact on her life. "I didn't have the energy that I used to," she says. "I couldn't be the mom that I wanted to be for my kids. Every day, just doing the bare minimum took more than I had to give. I lost myself in pain. I became quiet. I became angry and had no patience. And I was going to doctor appointment after doctor appointment and being told, 'We're really sorry. You could diet. I dunno.'"

She continued to search for answers, seeing 11 different doctors over 3 years. She also saw a physical therapist and pelvic floor specialist, but neither helped.

Finally, a specialist diagnosed her with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes your connective tissues to be overly stretchy. "My body just sort of slid out of place, and it crushed some really important nerves," she explains.

That diagnosis changed everything. "It doesn't make it go away. There's not a medication I can take to make it better, but there are 50 different things that I can be focusing on at any time to help my connective tissue regenerate and heal itself," Danae says.

She got a mouth guard to deal with teeth grinding that was interrupting her sleep and learned techniques to calm her mind. She also leaned into somatic yoga, which helps the body release pent-up stress and tension.

"Stress and unprocessed emotions live in the hips and the low back," Danae says. "I used to roll my eyes at that stuff and call it 'woo woo.' Like, 'that's not science.' And it turns out it absolutely is that our connective tissues cinch up to support us in emotional stress. It just takes little bits over time to create permanent tension and permanent torsion in the body."

While yoga shouldn't replace medicine, Danae stresses, it has made a huge difference for her. "What used to live at an 8 or a 9 on a zero-to-10 scale now lives at a 1 or a 2," she says.

Her biggest tip for others who deal with back pain is to find a community to support you. "Our medical system in the States is rough," she says. "So having friends and family help you advocate [helps], but also building as much community as you can." Danae also started a nonprofit yoga studio that offers free videos with yoga exercises for low back pain.

Finally, she stresses that it's important that "in the midst of pain, we're also taking moments to find pieces of joy. Maybe it's a pet, maybe it's a hobby. It doesn't matter how silly it is. The sillier, the better. Don't underestimate the healing freeness of joy," she says.

What does the doctor say?

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Senior Medical Editor

Lower back pain is extremely common. In fact, 8 out of every 10 adults seek medical care for lower back pain at some point in their lives. Some people only experience back pain once in a while. But others experience it more consistently and over a long period of time. Those people have chronic lower back pain.

Chronic lower back pain is a painful and sometimes debilitating condition. Back pain might cause you to switch jobs and avoid certain activities that you love. You might also have to change how you do everyday activities, because even something like sleeping with the wrong pillow can worsen back pain. The things you used to take for granted can now become triggers.

Chronic back pain is also an extremely frustrating condition. People living with pain always want to know the answers to two basic questions: "Why is this happening?" and "How do I make it stop?" These are simple questions that modern medicine should be able to answer. But, unfortunately, when it comes to back pain, there is no one single right answer to either of these questions.

People develop back pain for many reasons. It often comes down to the fact that everyone's biomechanics are unique. How the structures of your body work together and change over time and how your brain and nerve system respond to those changes all play a role.

It's often impossible to measure those things. And when it is possible to measure them, it's hard to know what differences in measurements mean. Simply put, people may have differences in muscle strength or alignment, but it's not clear why those differences give some people back pain but not others. And no one knows why certain activities or shoes or foods or illnesses may worsen your back pain, but those same things don't worsen someone else's back pain. What matters is understanding what worsens your back pain. Take note of things that seem to worsen your pain so you can come up with a plan to change those things.

Also, there is no one right answer when it comes to treatment for low back pain. Some treatments can work wonders for some people and do absolutely nothing for others. Often, people need a variety of approaches to get back to their usual activities. These can include medications, physical therapy, and complementary and alternative treatments.

Keep in mind that some of these treatments might not help you. In fact, there's a lot of research showing that many low back pain treatments don't work well for everyone. But it's likely that science will never find a one-size-fits-all solution for low back pain. So instead, focus on finding the right treatment plan for you. Work with your healthcare team and support system to find solutions that work for you.

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