Why I Ask About Your Bowel Movements When You Come to Me for Back Pain
Imagine coming to see me because you've been dealing with recurring back pain.
You expect me to ask about your back.
Where does it hurt?
How long has it been bothering you?
What makes it better?
What makes it worse?
What have you already tried?
And then I ask you:
How often do you have a bowel movement?
Wait...what?
You came to talk to me about your back. Why am I asking about your poop?
Because if I only ask questions about your back, I'm missing a huge part of the picture.
Your Poop Gives Me Information
It's not glamorous, but your bowel movements can tell me quite a bit about what's happening with your digestion.
That's why I want to know:
How often are you going?
Is it easy to pass?
Is it hard and dry? Loose? Watery?
Do you regularly experience constipation or diarrhea?
Do you have bloating, gas, reflux, abdominal discomfort, or urgency?
I may also ask about foods that don't agree with you, whether you've had food poisoning, and how frequently you've taken antibiotics throughout your life.
These questions aren't random.
They're giving me information about how your digestive system is functioning.
But What Does Digestion Have to Do With Your Back?
Your digestive system doesn't operate independently from the rest of your body.
It helps break down the food you eat and absorb the nutrients your body needs. It interacts closely with your immune system. And your gut is involved in inflammatory processes that can affect the body beyond your digestive tract.
All of that matters when I'm trying to understand the bigger picture of someone's health.
Eating nutrient-dense food is only part of the equation. Your body also has to digest that food and absorb the nutrients it needs for energy, tissue repair, muscle and nerve function, and recovery.
So if someone tells me they're eating well but they're also dealing with chronic diarrhea, constipation, bloating, reflux, or other digestive symptoms, I'm going to pay attention.
Not because I've decided their gut is the reason their back hurts.
Because those symptoms are giving me information about what else may be happening in the body that's experiencing the pain.
This Is Why I Ask Questions That Seem Completely Unrelated
Bowel movements are only one example.
If you come to me because of recurring back pain, I'm also going to want to know:
How are you sleeping?
What's your energy like throughout the day?
What do you typically eat?
Do you experience energy crashes or strong sugar cravings?
How stressed are you?
How often do you move?
Do you experience bloating or reflux?
Are there foods that consistently don't agree with you?
What medications and supplements are you taking?
What's happened throughout your health history?
At some point you may start wondering:
What does any of this have to do with my back?
That's exactly why I'm asking.
If your back has already received plenty of attention and the pain keeps returning, I don't want to keep looking at the same piece of the puzzle and assume it's the only one that matters.
I want to zoom out.
Your Symptoms Are Clues
You don't need to analyze every trip to the bathroom.
And you definitely don't need to diagnose yourself based on what your poop looked like this morning.
But I do want you to pay attention to patterns.
Maybe you've been constipated for years and assumed that's just normal for you.
Maybe you regularly feel bloated after meals.
Maybe certain foods consistently leave you uncomfortable.
Maybe you alternate between constipation and loose stools.
Maybe your digestion seems great.
That's useful information too.
The point isn't to connect every symptom you experience to your back pain.
It's to stop automatically dismissing a symptom simply because it doesn't seem related to the part of your body that hurts.
Your Back Is Part of a Whole Person
If you've lived with recurring back pain, chances are you've spent a lot of time thinking about your spine, discs, muscles, joints, posture, or movement.
Those things matter.
But they're happening inside a whole person.
A person who eats.
Sleeps.
Digests.
Moves.
Experiences stress.
Recovers.
That's why when I work with someone who has recurring back pain, I don't just ask:
“Where does it hurt?”
I also want to know:
“What else is your body telling us?”
And yes.
Sometimes that means we're going to talk about your poop.
Your bowel movements might seem completely unrelated to your recurring back pain.
But they're another source of information about what's happening in the same body.
And sometimes the clues that seem the least related are the ones worth paying attention to.
If this resonates with you, follow along on Instagram at @alera_functional_health where I share more root-cause health and inflammation support strategies.
If you’d like a personalized plan that fits your life and helps you feel your best, I’m here to help. Interested in learning more about how you can optimize your health and finally find relief from your symptoms? Schedule a free Discovery Call with me by clicking here.
About The Author
Erin Briley is a Certified Functional Nutrition Coach and founder of Alera Functional Health. She helps people with recurring back pain look beyond the spine to identify often-overlooked factors that may be influencing how they feel, including nutrition, sleep, stress, digestion, inflammation, and recovery.
After experiencing years of chronic back pain, multiple surgeries, and a failed spinal fusion herself, Erin understands how frustrating it can be when pain continues to interfere with the things you want to do. Her approach focuses on practical, sustainable changes that support the whole body and help clients better understand their individual patterns, so they can spend less time organizing their lives around back pain.
