Why Does My Lower Back Hurt When I Cough?

Coughing, an involuntary response to clear the airways, often causes pain. The food, fluid, irritants, or other particles in the airways trigger the coughing response, which moves these irritants along with the mucus up your throat.

Pain from coughing also travels to your chest and back and may leave you questioning, “Why does my lower back hurt when I cough?”

Coughing makes you change your posture. For example, you may lean forward with hunched shoulders when you cough. This posture puts pressure on your lower back and displaces the vertebrae, causing pain.

Some other underlying problems could also be causing pain in the lower back when you cough. Let’s look into the causes and how to treat lower back pain from coughing.

What Causes Lower Back Pain When You Cough?

If you can’t find an answer to why does my lower back hurt when I cough, here are all the possible causes that best explain your condition.

Strain or Injury

The lower back is responsible for being the center of balance. What this essentially means is that our lower back also supports the weight of the upper body.

A strain or injury to the muscles or associated structures, such as ligaments or tendons in the lower back, causes pain. A sudden coughing reflex puts pressure on the muscles and ligaments, causing lower back pain from muscular strain.

Increased Intra-Abdominal Pressure

The diaphragm is a muscle sheet that helps us inhale and exhale. The diaphragm with the intercostal muscles contract during coughing. This increases the pressure within the abdomen.

The increased intra-abdominal pressure pushes against your lower back spine and vertebrae. If the lower back muscles are not strong enough to support the pressure, you experience pain from coughing.

Moreover, if you have had a recent injury in the lower back, the intra-abdominal pressure can make things worse by aggravating the conditions, leading to more pain during coughing.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia, an inflammatory condition, is an infection of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi.

Persistent coughing due to the inflammation puts a strain on the back muscles, making your lower back hurt.

Besides lower back pain, you will also have a fever, shortness of breath, and chest pain. You need proper diagnosis and treatment for treating pneumonia and lower back pain.

Herniated Discs

A herniated disc is an intervertebral disc injury. Discs sit between each vertebra in our spine and act as a cushion for shock absorption. The soft-gel-like center of these discs has a firm outer layer.

When the inner gel-like substance pushes through the crack, the leaked material presses on the surrounding spinal nerves, causing numbness.

The inflammation and pain in the lower back worsen when you cough due to the increased intra-abdominal pressure that presses onto the structures in the lower back.

Acute Infectious Rhinitis

Acute infectious rhinitis is one of the most common upper respiratory tract infections. This condition congests the nasal passage, causing itching and sneezing.

If you’ve had an allergy with nasal congestion and cough attacks and you’re wondering, why does my lower back hurt when I cough? The answer is quite simple: coughing has strained the muscles in the back.

When the nasal passage is congested, you cough more forcefully to clear the throat. The extra pressure from forceful coughing strains the back muscles in the lumbar region, causing lower back pain.

Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis refers to a narrowing of the spinal canal. The spongy intervertebral discs separate each vertebra, providing a cushioning effect to reduce friction.

With age, these spongy discs lose their elasticity and shrink. The ligaments also swell up, narrowing the spinal tunnel.

When you cough, the increased intra-abdominal pressure pushes against the lumbar region. This irritates the spinal nerves, which are already residing in a narrowed spinal canal. Pinched or compressed nerves cause intense lower back pain.

Intercostal Neuralgia

Intercostal neuralgia is a type of neuropathic pain affecting the muscles between your ribs. This condition occurs when the ribs slip out of their place, pressing against a spinal nerve. The increased pressure from coughing pinches the nerves more, causing intense lower back pain.

Costochondritis

Your ribs and breastbone are joined together by cartilage. Costochondritis is an inflammation of this cartilage.

Strenuous activities make the inflammation worse, causing pain in the chest and ribcage. Coughing increases the pressure in your chest, which worsens the pain as it radiates to the lower back.

How to Treat Lower Back Pain From Coughing?

If you have found an answer to ‘why does my lower back hurt when I cough?’, it’s time to look into the treatment options. Cough suppression, reducing inflammation, and correcting your posture are some solutions to treat lower back pain from coughing.

Cough Suppression

The pressure from coughing strains the muscles in the back. If you’ve had an injury that causes back pain, coughing is only going to make the pain worse. Therefore, suppressing cough reduces the pressure, which treats back pain.

The first step in cough suppression is looking for a medicine. Cough drops or suppressants such as camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus oil work well.

You should also follow home remedies such as gargling with warm salt water to reduce inflammation of the muscles in the throat.

Drink herbal teas with honey. Keeping a humidifier in your room also helps as it adds moisture to the environment, which proves helpful for dry cough.

Reduce Inflammation

Most often, coughing does not primarily cause lower back pain, as other underlying problems, such as inflammation, are the culprit.

The pain from inflammation gets worse due to coughing if you’re already living with conditions that strain the back muscles.

The inflamed tissues make it difficult for your body to heal. Anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen reduce both inflammation and pain.

Correct your Posture

Coughing puts a strain on the back, making it contract more than usual. Maintaining posture relieves the pressure on the strained muscles.

When you cough, you may lean forward and hunch your back, which aggravates the pain. You should keep your back straight or support it with a pillow during a coughing attack.

Wrap Up

While coughing isn’t primarily causing lower back pain in most cases, sometimes, the pressure from a cough attack strains the back muscles.

Certain underlying conditions, such as spinal stenosis, compress the nerves. When coughing puts pressure on the back, the pain gets more severe.

You should always look for symptoms such as inflammation, radiating pain to the legs, fever, and numbness in the back. If home remedies fail, you should consult a doctor for prompt treatment.