"To catch a chill/cold in one's back"

[Barb23]

"To catch a chill/cold in one's back."
Can you confirm please if you can use this expression when referring to lower back pain that you can suffer from after you've been sitting in a cold or draughty place?
I'm a Polish speaker and there is an expression like this in Polish ("Przewiało mnie") and I was wondering if there is a similar expression in English.
Thank you!

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, Barb23.

To my knowledge, there is no English version of that expression or any medical condition with that name.

 

[White Hat]

It's used here: "One of the most common complaints we hear when people come in with undefined low back or neck pain is that they think they may have “caught a chill” in the back. The basic idea is that cold draughts or weather will cause a dramatic reduction in temperature of the spine or muscles, and that this somehow stays in the tissues causing ongoing aching and stiffness.". The author is Ben Kewish.

 

[probus]

An interesting experiment was conducted a few years ago at either Harvard or MIT, if mrmory serves. Students were divided into two groups and each group was seeded with one member who had a cold. Both groups were kept isolated from other people in a closed room over a weekend. One group was kept damp and cold and the other warm and dry. After the weekend there was no significant difference in the number of colds in each group.

 

[Skrej]

I have never heard that expression in AmE either. The provider is located in Australia, so perhaps it's an AuE phrase?

 

[probus]

Regrettably we have not heard from our antipodean expert @Raymott since 2021.

 

[5jj]

A sad loss to the forum.