People who suffer from chronic back pain also seem to suffer from memory problems. Very specific memory problems, actually: short-term prospective memory problems. Prospective memory is the memory of future intentions, like appointments and other things on your to-do list. Individuals with chronic pain had significantly higher "memory failure" rates than those who were pain-free.

Experts think it could be due to the well-known links between pain and stress, and stress and cognitive function. It could also be related to the steroid and pain-medication treatments that the majority of people with back pain undergo.

On a separate, but somewhat related and surprising note, memory may actually be enhanced by a different kind of pain: migraines.