Can Alcohol Help Your Back Pain?

A lot of people report that they feel more relaxed or numb once the "buzz" of a few drinks hits their system. But does this mean that alcohol can help relieve back pain? Others report that they actually experience an increase in back pain when they enjoy an alcoholic beverage. What's really going on here?

To be honest, it really depends on what the cause of your back pain is. If the pain is due to a tense or contracted muscle that is putting pressure on the Sciatic nerve, for example, drinking alcohol may actually help.

For example, I used to suffer from Piriformis syndrome, which is a tense muscle in the pelvis that cause pain by crushing the Sciatic nerve. I found that an occasional drink would actually help to relax the muscles in my body and release the tension in my Pirifomris.

Now, this isn't an excuse to abuse alcohol. If you are suffering from pain caused by muscle tension, then you need to address this by naturally loosening the muscles and releasing the tension. The best way to do this is by stretching out the muscles and helping them to relax.

Relying on alcohol to treat back pain in this way is like using painkillers to treat back pain. You don't really deal with the underlying problem, you are just temporarily getting rid of the pain. Never use alcohol as a "solution" to your back pain problem.

However, some people also complain of back pain that occurs when they drink alcohol.

Alcohol can also cause inflammation in your body too, which in turn can promote back pain. In this way, alcohol can be a double edged sword. On one hand, it can help to relax muscles, but at the same time, it may promote inflammation.

The story doesn't end there though.

Now, I'm not a medical professional, so you should probably talk to your doctor about this. However, I do know that people can develop kidney stones which can cause pain like this.

Your kidneys are located in your lower torso and pain in your kidneys can easily be mistaken for a general pain in your back.

Alcohol acts as a diuretic, which means that it makes you have to urinate. When this happens, your kidneys produce more urine. But if there is an obstruction in your kidneys such as a kidney stone that might interfere with the production of urine, then you could experience pain.

If this is the cause of your pain, then other fluids such as coffee should also cause back pain to present itself.

There could be other causes to your pain as well. It can be difficult to diagnose the cause of back pain without knowing more about you and your lifestyle and overall health. It is important to seek the advice of your doctor to get a better understanding about what is behind the pain. Again, alcohol should not be used as a way to treat pain or to cope with any sort of health condition you may be suffering from.