Extra body fat is placed in strategic storage areas throughout the human body. This storage plan is a throwback to cavemen ancestry. In times of starvation, the body pulls fat from these locations and uses it for energy and nutrients to survive. Fat pockets occur anywhere on the body and are the precursors of heart disease and diabetes in the obese.
Fat Storage
The least elusive, most straightforward explanation for back fat is that this area is being used as a storage depot. Human DNA, or genes, is imprinted with an individualized road map that tells the body where to store fats. These fat storage locations are predetermined and cannot be changed. Men typically gain fat pockets in the lower abs, sides of the waist and lower back first. Women tend to gain in the hips, thighs and back of the arms initially. After fat is deposited in these locations, it can be dropped off anywhere in the body, including the back.
Adverse Drug Effects
Many respiratory and inflammatory diseases require the frequent use of steroids for comfort. These potent anti-inflammatory steroid drugs, such as prednisone and cortisone, can lead to a fat pocket on the back near the neck after extended use. This area of adipose collection is referred to as a fat pad or buffalo hump and is one of the major cosmetic complications of long-term steroid use. Certain medications used to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, can cause a deposit of fat on the back of the neck as well.
Aging
Body fat distribution and muscle composition will change with advancing age. Lean muscle can break down and fat distribution may tend to gather in the midsection. This central obesity affects the appearance of the back by thickening the entire torso, or trunk of the body. Unfortunately, there is no variance in gender for this predicament -- women and men alike are susceptible to fat redistribution on their backs. A scientific correlation between increased back pain and centralized weight gain exists in controlled studies, reports the American Medical Association.
Cushing Syndrome
People who suffer from Cushing syndrome have a systemic disease influenced by the excessive release of cortisol, a hormone intrinsic to weight control and fat distribution. A signature sign of this disorder is the development of a pocket of fat between the shoulder blades on the back. Paired with a backache, bone pain and fatigue, the back fat symptom is a diagnostic sign but not treatable. Several tests identify the presence of Cushing syndrome including blood, saliva and urine tests for abnormal cortisol levels.
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