What might be going on if rest makes your back pain worse

The University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute's Joseph Cheng, MD, was featured in a SELF article discussing situations and strategies when rest appears to be making back pain worse. 

While rest is often the best remedy for an ailing back, in some situations it can make the situation worse. Cheng said whether rest hurts or helps largely depends on the kind of back pain you are experiencing.

For those with axial spondyloarthritis, an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the spine and causes chronic inflammation, the constant swelling can break down the cartilage between your vertebrae until there's "bone-on-bone rubbing," Cheng said. This can often worsen with rest but can ease with activity.

“It’s kind of like when you’re skiing and you bend your knees to absorb all the shock into your muscles,” said Cheng, associate director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and Frank H. Mayfield Endowed Chair and professor in the Department of Neurosurgery in UC's College of Medicine. “If you lock your knees, all the shock goes into your joints.” 

Rest is recommended for those with ankylosing spondylitis, which can cause the spine to start to fuse together. When the vertebrae have locked into a fixed position, your muscles “will still fire and try to contract, but nothing moves,” Cheng said. 

Read the SELF article.

Featured photo at top of a person holding their back in pain. Photo/PeopleImages/iStock Photo.