Are tall people more likely to have lumbar disc herniation?

Rumor: "Tall people have a heavy burden on their bodies and are more likely to suffer from lumbar disc herniation?"

Some netizens said that tall people have a very high risk of lumbar disc herniation, which caused anxiety among tall friends.

Rumor analysis: This statement is not correct.

According to the expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of lumbar disc herniation in my country, there are many risk factors for lumbar disc herniation, but height is not one of them. Tall friends do not need to be overly anxious. They can follow the content of this article to develop good living habits, stay away from risk factors for lumbar disc herniation, and protect their waists.

Being tall is something that many people dream of. When we were young, our parents did a lot to help us grow taller. But recently, I saw a joke in my friend circle, saying that being too tall can easily lead to the risk of lumbar disc herniation. This made many "high altitude" friends sweat. Is this really the case? What kind of disease is lumbar disc herniation? Let's talk about it today.

The picture comes from the Internet

Let me start with the conclusion: Currently, no research has shown that height is causally related to the incidence of lumbar disc herniation. However, tall people may suffer from another hidden harm, which needs to be paid attention to by "tall people".

What is lumbar disc herniation?

Lumbar disc herniation refers to a syndrome with low back and leg pain as the main symptom caused by partial or complete rupture of the annulus fibrosus and protrusion of the nucleus pulposus alone or together with the annulus fibrosus and cartilage endplate after degenerative changes in the lumbar disc. Lumbar disc herniation is a common and frequently occurring disease in clinical practice, and is more common in adults. Foreign studies have shown that the incidence of lumbar disc herniation is about 2% to 3%, while the incidence in men over 35 years old is about 4.8%, and in women about 2.5%.

A more serious case of lumbar disc herniation, picture from wiki

In recent years, with the changes in people's work and lifestyle, the incidence of lumbar disc herniation has continued to rise, and the age of onset has tended to be younger. It has become a common occupational health problem that troubles the majority of workers and has brought a heavy economic burden to patients and society.

What are the symptoms of lumbar disc herniation?

1. Low back pain

Low back pain is often the first symptom. The pain is usually in the lumbosacral region, mostly sore and swollen, and can radiate to the buttocks. It recurs repeatedly, worsens after sitting or standing for a long time or fatigue, and is relieved after rest.

2. Lower limb pain

It manifests as radiating pain in the lower limbs. The symptoms worsen when standing, walking, sneezing or coughing. They can be relieved by bed rest. In severe cases, they may be accompanied by paresthesia or numbness in the corresponding nerve distribution area. Most lumbar disc herniations occur at L4/5 and L5/S1, which can lead to sciatica, manifested as radiating pain in the posterolateral lower limbs. A few patients experience pain in the groin area or the anterior medial side of the lower limbs. The symptoms are mostly unilateral, and a few people may also experience symptoms in both lower limbs.

3. Symptoms of cauda equina

A huge protrusion, prolapse or free disc tissue of the central intervertebral disc can compress the cauda equina nerve, causing pain, decreased sensation or numbness in the lower limbs and perineum, and even urinary and sexual dysfunction. Warm reminder: Although lumbar disc herniation is a disease that occurs in the lumbar spine, not all patients will have symptoms of low back pain.

Are you more likely to have lumbar disc herniation the taller you are?

Height is very easy to measure and count, and its effect on lumbar disc seems to make sense, but what is the truth? Although there was a document in 1987 that tallness seemed to be associated with an increased risk of lumbar disc herniation, at present, authoritative documents in my country in recent years (such as various expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of lumbar disc herniation) confirm that the risk factors for lumbar disc herniation are the following, but height is not one of them. These factors include:

1. Sports and trauma factors

It is the main risk factor for the occurrence and development of lumbar disc herniation. Most patients with lumbar disc herniation develop symptoms or worsening symptoms after excessive exercise and trauma.

2. Obesity

The intervertebral discs and spinal facets of obese patients are under greater pressure. At the same time, obese patients are prone to atherosclerotic plaques and calcification, which cause insufficient blood supply to the intervertebral disc cells and ultimately lead to lumbar disc herniation.

3. Smoking

Studies have shown that nicotine in cigarettes is an important inhibitor of nucleus pulposus cell proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis. It also inhibits capillary blood circulation at the vertebral body-disc junction, blocks the nutrient source of the intervertebral disc, and accelerates degeneration.

4. Asymmetry of facet joints

When the lumbar spine moves, if the two facet joints are asymmetrical, the forces on both sides of the vertebral body will be uneven, and the direction of vertebral movement will change. This stress imbalance may accelerate the degeneration of the facet joints and intervertebral discs.

5. Working posture

Relevant studies have shown that compared with the correct sitting posture, the collagen fibers of the intervertebral disc in the lazy posture are subjected to higher stress, and the water content and tension of the annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus are in a state of continuous decline, which reduces the elasticity of the intervertebral disc, narrows the intervertebral space, and relaxes the surrounding muscles and ligaments, leading to intervertebral disc degeneration.

6. Gender and Occupation

Studies have also shown that men are more likely to suffer from the disease than women, and students, workers and other occupations are more likely to suffer from lumbar disc herniation.

7. Comorbidities

When patients have concurrent diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, it often leads to occlusion of distal arterioles, destroying the nutritional source of the intervertebral disc and easily accelerating disc degeneration. From the above information, we can see that there is no direct causal relationship between height and lumbar disc herniation, so tall and strong friends don’t have to be too anxious. However, “tall people” still need to pay attention to one thing - friends whose heights are far above average, whether in school or in the office area, have a greater probability of being matched with desks and chairs that are not suitable for their height, making them more likely to have poor sitting posture problems, which will indeed increase the load on the lumbar spine. In this case, the risk of lumbar disc herniation may indeed increase, but this is not caused by height itself.

Prevent lumbar disc herniation from small things

Next, let's talk about how to prevent lumbar disc herniation. Prevention is better than cure for all diseases, and the same is true for lumbar disc herniation. Pay attention to the following points to avoid herniated disc:

1. Good waist habits

Avoid bad habits such as sitting or standing for long periods of time, or "Ge You lying down". For workers and students, it is difficult to avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time, so you need to pay attention to sitting upright or placing a pillow behind your waist, or use an ergonomic chair, change your body position regularly, and shorten the time of sitting or standing at a time. Avoid bending over to lift heavy objects, which is the most damaging action for the waist. The correct posture for picking up objects is: walk to the heavy object and squat slowly, pick up the heavy object with both hands and stand up slowly to reduce the load on the lumbar spine.

2. Exercise the strength of waist and back muscles

Such as plank support, three-point support, five-point support, flying swallow, etc. Through the training of waist and back muscle strength, the stability of the lumbar spine can be greatly enhanced and the degeneration of the lumbar spine can be delayed. It should be noted that when the lumbar disc herniation is acute, it is best not to perform the above functional exercises.

3. Lose weight

Weight loss can greatly reduce the load on the lumbar spine and weight-bearing joints of the lower limbs, which is very important both for the prevention of lumbar disc herniation and for physical health.

Other important measures to prevent herniated discs include quitting smoking, keeping warm, and choosing a slightly harder mattress. To sum up, if you are still worried about whether you are too tall, you will know that it is unnecessary after reading this article. As long as you maintain good living habits, you should grow as tall as possible!

Looking in the mirror of rumors

Many rumors in the health field are often not supported by solid scientific research or data. For example, the rumor in the article claims that tall people are more likely to have lumbar disc herniation, but in fact there is no authoritative medical research showing that there is a direct causal relationship between height and lumbar disc herniation. The spread of such rumors often takes advantage of people's fears, leading to unnecessary emotional reactions and behavioral changes. For example, this rumor makes many tall people feel anxious.

References

[1] Consensus of Chinese pain experts on the diagnosis and treatment of lumbar disc herniation[J]. Chinese Journal of Pain Medicine, 2020, 26(01): 2-6.

[2] Feng Lei, Li Wei, Yang Weihao, et al. Risk factors and treatment progress of recurrent lumbar disc herniation[J]. Chinese Journal of Spine and Spinal Cord, 2023, 33(05): 468-472. [3] J. Li, L. Gössel, B. Kunze, etc., Traumatic lumbar disc herniation: A systematic case review and meta-analysis, Brain and Spine, 10.1016/j.bas.2023.102350, 3, (102350), (2023).

[4]Mirza Pojskic, Erica Bisson,etc,Lumbar disc herniation: Epidemiology, clinical and radiologic diagnosis WFNS spine committee recommendations,World Neurosurgery:X,Volume 22,2024,100279,ISSN 2590-1397.

[5] Heliövaara M. Body height, obesity, and risk of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1987 Jun;12(5):469-72.

Author: Deng Ting, attending physician of orthopedics

Reviewer: Ji Gang, deputy chief physician of orthopedics, the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University