{"id":32240,"date":"2026-04-13T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?p=32240"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T18:21:59","slug":"your-chronic-back-pain-began-with-your-unhealthy-gut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/13\/your-chronic-back-pain-began-with-your-unhealthy-gut","title":{"rendered":"YOUR CHRONIC BACK PAIN BEGAN WITH YOUR UNHEALTHY GUT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chiropractors and naturopaths have been yammering about \u2018leaky gut\u2019 to conventional physicians for years, receiving blank stares or charges of \u2018quackery.\u2019  I was once told by the Medical Director of a very large insurance company that if I ever used \u2018intestinal dysbiosis\u2019 as a diagnosis, WholeHealth Chicago would be subjected to a chart review, and we would have to return any payment we\u2019d received anytime we used this diagnosis. This, by the way, is termed a \u201cclawback,\u201d and keeps hospital administrators and directors of large medical groups from sleeping at night. Moreover, he was unimpressed when I quoted Hippocrates from 2,000 years ago that \u201cAll disease begins in the gut.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I was quite pleased to see an article in Medscape<\/a>, the online medical journal for healthcare professionals, written by a pair of orthopedists specializing in spine surgery, explaining the link between an unhealthy gut and the slow development of chronic spine disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, you Health Tip readers know a lot about leaky gut already, but just in case you want to discuss your microbiome with your orthopedist before he exits, you might want to hand him the Medscape piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2014leaky gut, the end result of an unhealthy diet, an overuse of alcohol, NSAIDs, or antibiotics, and you start killing off the good bacteria (Lactobacillus, Bifidobacter). The subsequent chronic low level of inflammation from the leftover bacteria can thin the lining of your intestine, setting the stage for permeability of the spaces between the cells, also known as \u201cleaky gut.\u2019 The molecules of what will be leaking through are immediately picked up in your blood and carried throughout your body. Think of them as \u201cmolecules of inflammation\u201d and when they land in cartilage, the normally smooth surfaces at the ends of your bones, or your discs between the bones of your spine, this inflammation dries out the surfaces and prevents repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists have also been quite busy with something termed the \u2018gut-brain axis,\u2019 namely how the 100 trillion bacteria in our intestines affect our thoughts and how we respond to pain. One truly fascinating study<\/a> found that a disproportionate number of patients with chronic back pain had the same twenty strains of dysbiotic bacteria in their intestines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s summarize:<\/p>\n\n\n\n