A study published in the December 2012 issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery reported some interesting results regarding smoking and back pain. Previous research has indicated that smoking is associated with a higher risk of surgical complications, and less satisfying outcomes after surgery.
This particular study focused on the relationship between smoking and patients’ self-assessment of their own back pain. Researchers compared over 5,000 patients with back pain, specifically examining their reports of pain over an average period of about eight months. Some of the patients had surgery, but most did not. They found that patients who were current smokers reported considerably more pain, and far less improvement over the treatment period, than patients who had never smoked. In addition, they learned that patients who quit smoking during their course of care also experienced more improvement in their own assessment of pain.
In short, the findings indicate a strong link between the improvement of patient-reported pain and not smoking, even if the patients quit smoking during the course of treatment. There are many reasons to quit smoking. If you would like to stop smoking, perhaps this study will provide the additional motivation to further encourage you toward that goal.