By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-20 19:46:52 | Updated at 2025-03-21 11:54:57
16 hours ago
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore could suffer from lifelong, excruciating back pain as a result of their nine-month-long space mission.
Studies suggest around a third of astronauts who spend months in space go on to suffer chronic back pain as a result of their spines degrading in zero gravity.
Almost all astronauts suffer acute pain, including NASA's Frank Rubio, who spent a record-breaking 371 days on the International Space Station (ISS).
He has said it took him two to three months of rehabilitation and reclamation to feel normal again once he was back on Earth.
The lack of gravity on the ISS reduces the compressive load on the spine, causing it to straighten and lengthen, doctors told Dailymail.com.
Once astronauts are back on the ground, the spine gradually shifts to its normal shape, but is significantly weaker.
So are the back and core muscles, which protect and support the spine.
Williams, 59, and Wilmore, 62, returned to Earth on Tuesday after their 286-day space saga, and doctors warn they face a long road to getting healthy again.
Based on their ages and the amount of time they spent in space, the astronauts could now have chronic back pain or require extensive physical therapy to reverse the effects of low gravity, Dr Yalda Safai, a public health specialist, told DailyMail.com.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio logged 371 days on the ISS before returning to Earth in September, 2023. He [SUFFERED/SUFFERS] from debilitating back pain as a result of his extended mission
She said is she were their physician, she would recommend nine months of strengthening exercises and a nutritional program to get them back to their pre-flight physical status.
Indeed, former astronauts have found that it can take up to 1.5 times the length of the mission to recover. That means the pair may need more than a year before they feel entirely themselves again.
The severity and duration of pain will vary depending on the health of their bones, experts said, but many astronauts have reported pain in the lower back and characterized it as 'dramatic,' or 'spasming.'
'In space, the spinal column expands due to lack of gravity,' Dr Deena Adimoolam, a specialist bone disease and endocrinology at Summit Health, told DailyMail.com.
'When the astronauts return to Earth, the spinal column compresses due to gravity which can lead to back pain,' she explained.
At the same time, the lack of gravity on the ISS causes bone loss and muscle atrophy, which also affects the back and spine.
All of this reduces the strength and stability of the spine, resulting in acute or sometimes chronic pain.
Dr Michael Eng, an orthopedic surgeon with Hoag Orthopedic Institute, said that Williams and Wilmore 'can pretty much count on a level of muscle atrophy, even at the smallest of levels.
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida on Tuesday, marking an end to their 286-day space mission. Williams have a thumbs-up after emerging from the Dragon capsule that carried them back to Earth
Williams and Wilmore were helped onto stretchers by NASA's medical crew. This is standard practice for astronauts whose muscles have been weakened by their time in microgravity
'The atrophy of the core muscles can affect posture, but depending on the severity of the atrophy can also lead to a risk of disc herniation.
'The weakened core includes paraspinal muscles, that are pretty important to your spine functioning safely.'
Williams and Wilmore logged 286 days in space before splashing down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida Tuesday evening.
The longer an astronaut stays in space, the more difficult it can be to recover from this damage once they return to Earth.
Rubio spent more than a year in orbit, and said it took months to get close to his pre-flight physical status after he returned.
In January 2024, He told Time Magazine that his rehabilitation involved 'lots of exercise, lots of testing, and science.'
One recent study found that 77 percent of astronauts experience back pain during spaceflight, 47 percent report acute pain after they return and 33 percent suffer from chronic pain long after their missions.
Like Williams and Wilmore, Rubio didn't expect to be in space as long as he was.
When he launched aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on September 21, 2022, he thought he would only be on the ISS for a typical long-term stay of six months.
But his mission was extended after Soyuz was hit by space junk while docked to the ISS, causing the spacecraft to leak all its coolant.
A new Soyuz spacecraft had to be dispatched to the space station to bring Rubio and his two Russian crewmates home. They splashed down on September 27, 2023.
Like Rubio, Williams and Wilmore will undergo an extensive rehabilitation program to reverse the effects of their nine-month-long space mission.
This program should last about 45 days and will require them to exercise for two hours per day, seven days per week.
Low gravity reduces the compressive load on the spine, causing it to straighten and lengthen. While in space, astronauts may grow up to three inches taller as a result
NASA astronaut Raja Chari performs strengthening exercises after returning from a 177-day-long ISS mission. Astronauts typically undergo a 45-day rehabilitation program after long-term space missions to reverse the effects that low gravity had on their muscles and bones
While it is tailored to the specific needs of each astronaut, it generally consists of three basic phases.
Phase one focuses on regaining strength, flexibility and the ability to walk. This may include gait training exercises, range of motion exercises and obstacle training.
Gait training exercises are movements designed to improve strength, balance and coordination during walking. Examples include squats, straight leg raises, standing on one leg and seated marching.
To improve their range of motion, the astronauts may perform ankle pumps, which involve sitting or lying down while flexing the feet. They may also do stretches to loosen the calves, quadriceps and hamstrings.
Astronauts may have to navigate an obstacle course or step over and around objects to improve their coordination.
After making some improvement during phase one the astronauts move on to phase two, which adds proprioceptive exercises and cardio reconditioning.
Proprioceptive exercises strengthen the body and improve the mind's perception of its movement and position.
Examples include reverse lunges, banded toe taps and sumo squats with leg raises.
Some of these exercises are more complex. Astronauts may be asked to pick an object up off the floor while standing on one leg, which requires them to hinge at the waist and maintain their balance as they bend down.
Doctors said Williams and Wilmore could be at risk of chronic back pain, or may require months of physical therapy to combat acute back pain as a result of their extended space mission
As for cardio training, the astronauts may use a treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike to get their endurance back to pre-flight status.
Phase three, the longest phase, focuses on returning the astronaut to their optimal level of physical performance through functional development training.
This training helps astronauts regain the skills and abilities they need in order to do their jobs and fully participate in their daily lives with ease and efficiency.
It may include more high-intensity exercises, such as jump squats and jump lunges, mountain climbers, planks and dead lifts.
Most astronauts return to their re-mission fitness level after the 45 days, according to NASA.
But it can take months or even years for some to recover, and research has shown that many astronauts never fully restore their bone density.
Dr John Jaquish, a biomedical engineer, previously told DailyMail.com that they could still recover their pre-flight bone density if they use osteogenic loading, but it won't be easy.
This involves exercises that strengthen bones by putting stress on them, such as squats, lunges or jumping.
But in order to stimulate bone growth, the astronauts' bones will have to bear a load 4.2 times their body weight, Dr Jaquish said.
For reference, 'the world record squat is only four times body weight, so the minimum [weight] you need is more load than the world record holders,' he said.
