Weight

Weight can play an important part in back pain. That is not to say it can be blamed for every back pain. However if your ideal weight is 8 stone and you are 15 stone, then that is similar to you walking around carrying a 7 stone person in front of you. This would be expected to cause at least some back discomfort in most people.
Also, size plays a part in other aspects of management such as:

• the MRI scan can only be done up to a maximum weight of 20-22 stone depending on the scanner;
• operative risks increase significantly with increased body mass index;
• general health is impacted (such as risk of diabetes or cardiovascular problems such as angina and heart attacks);
• the actual act of performing an operation is more difficult due to the need for special long instruments and retractors and it may be impossible to perform “keyhole” surgery due to size.