Up to one in five cases of lower back pain could be due to a bacterial infection that occurs after patients brush their teeth
Up to one in five cases of low back pain might be due to a bacterial infection of a spinal disc that occurs after patients brush teeth, according to some researchers.
Dr Hanne Albert is leading a clinical trial involving 172 patients at the Back Research Centre at the University of Southern Denmark.
She said: "We think that when the patient with a herniated or slipped disc brushes their teeth, bacteria from the mouth get into the bloodstream, travel to the damaged disc where they thrive, and the body reacts to the infection - resulting is low back pain."
The bacteria enter the blood through tiny holes torn in the gums by your toothbrush.
Results from a small pilot study of about 30 people show that seven out of ten patients who had been in pain for many years benefited from an antibiotic widely used to treat a number of bacterial infections, and that a number were pain-free following the treatment.
It is estimated that nearly twothirds of adults in the UK have suffered from back pain and that 2.5 million people have symptoms every day of the year.
Pain in the lower region - the lumbar - is the most common. From there it can spread to the thighs and upper legs.
Many patients find the pain disappears within three months, but up to 50 per cent continue to have pain and disability.
A herniated disc, where pain is caused by disc material bulging and putting pressure on a nerve, is one of the main causes of back and leg pain.
Dr Albert and her colleagues had noticed that many patients with herniated discs found that the leg pain - sciatica - that can go with it disappeared after three to six months.
However, the patients continued to suffer from low back pain - and when they underwent scans, most patients were found to have oedema, or a build-up of fluid, in the bone where the disc had herniated.
Other research has shown that herniated discs contain bacteria which thrives in tissue with no or low oxygen.
"What was puzzling was why this bacteria was occurring in what is a sterile area of the body." says Dr Albert.
When a disc becomes herniated, the material that slips out is surrounded by new blood vessels and repair cells.
As a result, tiny blood vessels grow into the soft centre of the extruded disc tissue. This tissue does not normally have blood vessels and is one of three areas, along with the outer hair and cornea, which are free of oxygen.
Because they have no blood supply, it is not possible for bacteria to travel through the blood into a healthy disc.
The theory is that the new blood vessels that occur after herniation allow bacteria to get into an area, which had been inaccessible.
Dr Albert says: "We know that ten minutes after you brush your teeth, there is a bacteria in your blood. It gets there through tiny holes in gums made by brushing.
"This is exactly the same type of bacteria that has been found in damaged discs.
"We think that bacteria gets into the disc tissue through the bloodstream. The bacteria finds a place without oxygen where there is no competition from other bacteria, so it thrives."
If the theory is right, antibiotics should be able to stop or reduce the pain for many people with low back pain due to previous herniated discs.
In the trial, the 172 patients will get a daily pill for three months.
Posts: 2824 | From The Back of Beyond | Registered: Oct 2003
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Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
Wow, that is VERY interesting.
Darn - they didn't bother to name the bacteria that they found....
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
wish they named the abx used also
Posts: 132 | From SE Pa | Registered: May 2006
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trueblue
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7348
posted
Hmmm...
Wow, Thanks DLL!
-------------------- more light, more love more truth and more innovation Posts: 3783 | From somewhere other than here | Registered: May 2005
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