We all experience arthritic degeneration to some degree as we get older, and one area that is prone to this degeneration is our spine. Arthritic pain can be physically uncomfortable, but for many people, it is also incredibly tiring. Overcoming the physical discomfort of arthritic degeneration is one thing, but overcoming the feelings of chronic fatigue can be a whole different animal. In today’s blog, we explain why spinal arthritis and feelings of fatigue oftentimes go hand in hand, and what you can do about it.
Why Is Spinal Arthritis So Tiring?
Spinal osteoarthritis can leave you feeling fatigued or drained of energy for a number of reasons. Here’s why your arthritis could be causing you to feel tired:
- Poor Sleep – Arthritic degeneration can lead to pain and discomfort, which is not what you want to be feeling when you’re hoping to fall asleep and stay asleep for an extended period of time. Back pain caused by arthritic degeneration can negatively impact your sleep quality, leaving you feeling tired in the morning.
- Tissues Always Activated – Spinal arthritis can make it more likely that your spine becomes less stable. Joint deterioration means that it’s harder for soft tissues to provide support to the joint and the spine as a whole, so other nearby tissues are constantly stressed trying to provide additional stability to the area. Your muscles and surrounding soft tissues have to work harder to provide support and manage the stress that is placed on your spine, and as you can imagine, this process can be physically exhausting. When your spine is working harder to compensate for natural spinal degeneration, you may tire sooner.
- Constantly Calming Inflammation – A similar problem occurs at the cellular level in your body. Inflammation is a common problem associated with osteoarthritis. As the protective cartilage in your joints wears down, bony structures can rub against one another, leading to pain and inflammation. Your body is constantly working to calm this inflammation, and if your body is regularly expending energy to manage inflammation, you’re going to tire sooner.
- Increased Sensory Relays – Similarly, your nervous system and your brain are also working harder if they are constantly sending, receiving and interpreting impulses related to joint discomfort. Chronic untreated physical symptoms that are the result of osteoarthritic degeneration can overstress our nervous system and cause us to fatigue faster.
Treating Fatigue Caused By Osteoarthritis
You can find more energy throughout the day, even if you’re dealing with moderate to severe spinal osteoarthritis, so long as you understand how to effectively treat the problem. Don’t target the symptoms, focus on the underlying problem, which is arthritic degeneration. And while you can’t turn back the clock and reverse decades of natural stress, you can focus on improving your spinal joint health instead of relying on passive techniques (like prolonged rest or anti-inflammatories) that only target the symptoms.
The best way to calm fatigue associated with spinal arthritis is by gradually taking on more exercise and physical challenges. Exercise can help with all of the causes we mentioned above. Regular exercise will leave you feeling tired at the end of the day so that you can fall asleep and stay asleep, and it will work to strengthen key areas of your spine so that your soft tissues can better handle the stress you put on your body. If these tissues are stronger, they won’t have to work as hard to stabilize your spinal column, which will help keep them from fatiguing as you go about your day. Exercise also promotes ideal joint health and slows the natural degeneration process, working to control excessive inflammation. Finally, exercise leads to the production of feel good hormones and other chemicals in your brain that promote optimal neurologic health.
Exercise isn’t a perfect solution to the symptoms you’re experiencing as a result of spinal arthritis, but it can be a major step in the right direction and its effectiveness can be amplified by pursuing other healthy changes to your daily life. Eating a healthier diet, making changes to your sleep habits so that it’s easier to fall asleep and stay asleep, improving your posture and taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications can all help you fight back against the effects of arthritis and find more energy each day.
Don’t go another day feeling tired or groggy because of constant arthritis-related back pain. Instead, connect with Dr. Jackman and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute. For more information, or for help with a different back issue, give our team a call today at (651) 430-3800.
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