What health problems affected Alexander Pope throughout his life?

Alexander Pope suffered from significant health challenges throughout his life that profoundly influenced his physical development and daily experience. He developed a curvature of the spine and a tubercular infection, likely Pott’s disease, which limited his growth and resulted in a final height of 4 feet 6 inches (1.4 meters).1

These conditions, which he attributed to excessive study during his youth, left him with a fragile physique and made him abnormally sensitive to both physical and mental pain. In addition to his spinal deformity, Pope was a lifelong sufferer of chronic headaches. While he was able to ride a horse and enjoyed traveling, his health issues precluded him from engaging in much normal physical activity, leading him to focus his energy primarily on reading and writing.1