Can Low Back Pain Be The Sign Of A Heart Attack?

Can low back pain be the sign of a heart attack? How familiar are you with the symptoms of a heart attack? Perhaps less familiar than you think. When the subject of heart attacks comes up, many of us remember the classic movie stereotype: a man clutches his chest or his left arm and crumples to the ground. But just how accurate is this image?

It may surprise you to discover that lower back pain can predict or accompany a heart attack.

Heart attacks are typically caused by a blockage in one of the arteries that supplies the heart with blood. If the artery is blocked for long enough, the muscle of which the heart is made is starved of oxygen and its cells begin to die off. For such a relatively straight-forward occurrence, the symptoms of a heart attack can be widely varied and difficult to predict.

Slow-building heart attacks are more common than sudden, intense heart attacks like those in the movies. Many heart attack symptoms are subtle, and can easily be confused with everyday occurrences such as indigestion.

In particular women's symptoms tend to vary from those symptoms commonly thought of as the norm. The most common symptoms experienced by women in the month prior to their heart attack include shortness of breath and an unusual level of fatigue. Doctors are concerned that women are not getting life-saving help due to widespread ignorance regarding heart attack symptoms.

During the heart attack itself, many women do not experience any chest pain, instead feeling lower back pain and in such seldom-mentioned places as the abdomen. If during an unusual episode of abdomen or lower back pain, you experience other symptoms related to a heart attack, such as sudden weakness or dizziness, it's important to contact a doctor right away.

Back to the topic of lower back pain and how it can relate to heart attacks, strange as it may seem, there can be an even more direct connection between low back pain and heart attacks. A study performed in 2001 discovered a link between cigarette smoking, cardiovascular health, and low back pain.

According to the study, it appears that certain types of low back pain are associated with poor vascular blood supply, which in turn is associated with poor cardiovascular health - a condition often caused or worsened by cigarette smoking.

Another associated problem, the aortic aneurysm, is a bulge in the aorta, the longest artery in the body. These bulges can occur anywhere along the aorta's length, commonly occurring in the abdomen. Once blood starts pooling into the distended area of the artery, the bulge rapidly expands, sometimes leading to a tear.

Aortic aneurysms commonly lead to heart attacks. Symptoms are diverse and dependent upon where in the body the artery's bulge occurred. The symptoms commonly associated with an abdominal aortic aneurysm include what else but lower back pain.

Clearly, though the link between lower back pain and a heart attack is not common knowledge, it is important to be aware. Of course, when in doubt, contact your doctor!

« Back Pain Articles