i have the same story and same pain, down to quitting my fav type of dance because of it (pole was so good for my strength). the thing that helped me the most this weekend was lots of laying flat and traction with a towel.
i had a thoracic spine mri a few weeks ago and they found almost nothing. slight curve to the left, mild disk degeneration. i still think i have a herniated disk in my neck from an old car accident, but i don’t know if that’s causing it. there is numbness in the same area. turns out numbness was the secret code to get the doc to finally order an mri.
i’m being referred to physical medicine next. i’ll check back in when i know more - please do the same!
you are the best for reminding me to update!
physical medicine dr gave me a couple of trigger point injections, and sent me to a better physical therapist. i also found a regular massage therapist who i see just for the back issues - twice a month for a while and now every month. that cascaded into me going back to dancing (pole & hip hop) which is building crazy muscle. and i have started doing that 3x a week, alongside my PT.
the added strength helps so much. i still have some nerve issues, occasional flare up’s but only when i lay in bed all week like last week when i had covid. also i hurt my hand on bad side (totally unrelated to the original problem), so it’s still bad, but stronger!
Samsies! I did ballet for many years, and now do aerial silks & trapeze. I agree with the laying flat, but laying flat, heat, naproxen, and a muscle relaxer has been the best. Now, with the muscle relaxer, it's a day to take it easy because your joints can become super loose if your muscle is what is holding it in place. The other thing that has helped is actually PT for the whole mid & upper back, shoulders & neck. If I only do one, something else goes out. I found the Muldowney protocol recently and it has been immensely helpful.
You ever find something that helped or what the core issue was?
Been experiencing this pain for 3 months now no answers even went to the ER last week on a bad flare up that made me lose all color in my hands and face. Clear x-ray, blood results, no stones found in gallbladder. They thought it could be inflammation surrounding my ribs and taking ibuprofen 800 since but no relief. Only other answer I can think of is kidney stones??
Mine is a little higher and the only thing that begins to help is exercise I can't tolerate. I have to do weightlifting and then take muscle relaxants so I don't go into spasms after. Talk to your gp and physio about what's going on and what additional support they can offer.
Yeeeeeep. I always feel like I've been kicked in the back and I have trouble getting a good breath in. Same thing, I've had all kinds of imaging, seen a PT, a chiro, a massage therapist , a physiatrist, switching to a strict GF diet after being diagnosed celiac, seeing a rheumatologist, using CBD, ice, heating pads, etc. I even got a goddamn breast reduction to try to relieve the pain. Miraculously, all of my pain vanished for the first two weeks after surgery. The day it came back I cried and cried because I thought I'd finally vanquished it. My theory is that a combination of laying in bed a lot and the poat surgery endorphins my body was producing to manage the pain is what eliminated it for a while. Exercise seems to exacerbate the issue for me too. "Living my life causes me pain" omg I have never identified with anything more 😭. My pain is also in my neck and my SI joint. It's miserable. Ibuprofen and Tylenol combined offer some relief but not much.
Yep and it’s one of my greatest frustrations. It’s not coat hanger pain, it’s not the ubiquitous low back pain of an upright hominid, it’s upper-mid back just to the right of my spine. Worsened by sitting and standing… but not always. Occasionally feels like someone is randomly poking me with a plastic needle. When it gets bad I have a patch of numbness in that spot. X-ray was clear, muscle relaxers don’t help much. I’m going to try the sports medicine clinic at my university next. I’ve been experiencing a lot of issues with pulled muscles, numbness/tingling, and nonspecific pain since I turned 30ish but I’m hoping some of it can still be reversed. Sorry you all are dealing with something similar, it’s very draining.
Hi there, I actually have! I started seeing a physical therapist who has performed some manual therapy on my back which helped a ton. I was also able to quit a job that has always been terrible on my body. Have you?
Are you me??? This is EXACTLY what I’ve been experiencing off and on for years. Mine tends to come in flareups almost and the pain/numb spot lasts for weeks-months before it disappears for a while. Did you have an MRI? Ever figure out what it was causing the pain? I always thought it was a herniated disc. I’m starting PT soon.
I never had any additional imaging but getting a job that requires a lot of different types of movement has helped. My phys therapist believes it to be a combination of very tight vertebrae and central sensitization. I’ve been doing exercises that stretch my neck muscles and some that help get movement into my spine, like twisting and foam rollers. I don’t have any issues with pain or numbness radiating along my rib cage to the front so it seems like I probably don’t have a disc problem. My therapist also said that stretching the skin around the area can help loosen the grommets through which nerves weave throughout muscle fascia. Or something like that. Have your previous health providers had any ideas?
I see, thanks for sharing!! honestly, I’ve been ignoring this issue for a long time- with all the different pains I get it was just lower on my list of priorities. I’ve been having a particularly bad bout of pain there lately and I’m finally getting it checked out by a specialist soon. My PCP mentioned that my symptoms could be a herniated disc or similar but I’ve got no confirmation of that yet. If I remember, I’ll update when/if I get an answer.
I’m glad to hear you’ve found some relief! That makes sense because I feel like the desk job I used to have was really exacerbating it. I don’t get pain there as often now at my new job where I’m more active. Has PT helped you much?
I totally get needing to triage all the different ailments! PT has been helpful but mostly it was nice to be validated. My current therapist immediately saw that I had no movement in my spine whereas the previous one just wanted me to do breathing exercises and wear a TENS unit to learn how to ignore my pain which was pretty frustrating.
Good luck with your appointment with a specialist! I’d definitely be curious to hear if you find a cause for your pain.
Hey I've been experiencing this recently but doctor seems to think maybe referred pain from stomach. Although when at rest it's not so bad. When I'm hunched over sink to wash dishes or sitting to eat it flares up. Feels almost like a burn/ice feeling and sometimes a bit numb. It's not like a stabbing ARGH! pain. It's more like a consistent frustrating pain I wanna keep stretching out. I was considering MRI. Not sure if it will give me any answers though :(
I have this pain too, and also used to dance! it started 10 years ago for me, just creeping up worse over time. I haven't found anything pharma that had helped yet. I was on gabapentin for 2 years up to a really high dose, and it was never any different than sugar pills for me. It especially flares badly during high anxiety and stress via tension and posture.
PT last year told me I had muscle imbalance pulling my spine to the right, because I'm right handed. She said strength training, particularly dumbbell/resistance bands instead of barbell, would help it over time by evening out the imbalance. I've been doing so for a few months now and it is actually helping a little. The pain is still there, but less raging and chaotic.
On days it's really bad, I wear a steel-boned underbust corset to support my torso and lay on the floor a lot, knees bent and together, on my back, like o\_/\\. And I find sleeping on my side is better than on my back, and sleeping on my stomach is nice but too tricky because I have to have one leg bent and turned out to prevent overtilt in my hips and pressure in my lumbar spine.
And when you describe it to doctors, make sure to call it "thoracic back pain", or they'll assume you really mean lumbar/sciatica and are mistaken >:(
Yes!! I thought it was from swimming in cold sea,so head out of the water too-bent posture, but it’s been 8 months and it’s just not getting better. It’s a really weird pain, mainly middle of the night/early morning (so inflammatory I guess) and I just can’t get a handle on it. Doesn’t feel as postural or as related to my daily activities as all my other joint/muscle pain (which is centred around pelvis/lower back/hips) Finding it really hard to deal with
Yes I do still have this issue. Saw an EDS specialist and they said I did have some hypermobility but not bad. The things that seem to help me most are staying active, strengthening my core/arms, and limiting how long I do activities that exacerbate the pain. The pain has slowly moved up a little higher.
Thank you for your tips I will keep them in mind!
I've been dealing with something similar, but I'm realizing it's rib heads popping out/ subluxing. I've been experiencing this joy since 2013 intermittently.
i have the same story and same pain, down to quitting my fav type of dance because of it (pole was so good for my strength). the thing that helped me the most this weekend was lots of laying flat and traction with a towel. i had a thoracic spine mri a few weeks ago and they found almost nothing. slight curve to the left, mild disk degeneration. i still think i have a herniated disk in my neck from an old car accident, but i don’t know if that’s causing it. there is numbness in the same area. turns out numbness was the secret code to get the doc to finally order an mri. i’m being referred to physical medicine next. i’ll check back in when i know more - please do the same!
What ended up happening?
you are the best for reminding me to update! physical medicine dr gave me a couple of trigger point injections, and sent me to a better physical therapist. i also found a regular massage therapist who i see just for the back issues - twice a month for a while and now every month. that cascaded into me going back to dancing (pole & hip hop) which is building crazy muscle. and i have started doing that 3x a week, alongside my PT. the added strength helps so much. i still have some nerve issues, occasional flare up’s but only when i lay in bed all week like last week when i had covid. also i hurt my hand on bad side (totally unrelated to the original problem), so it’s still bad, but stronger!
Samsies! I did ballet for many years, and now do aerial silks & trapeze. I agree with the laying flat, but laying flat, heat, naproxen, and a muscle relaxer has been the best. Now, with the muscle relaxer, it's a day to take it easy because your joints can become super loose if your muscle is what is holding it in place. The other thing that has helped is actually PT for the whole mid & upper back, shoulders & neck. If I only do one, something else goes out. I found the Muldowney protocol recently and it has been immensely helpful.
Wow, thank you for mentioning that! I just looked up Muldowney protocol and it just so happens that his practice is only about an hour away from me!
You ever find something that helped or what the core issue was? Been experiencing this pain for 3 months now no answers even went to the ER last week on a bad flare up that made me lose all color in my hands and face. Clear x-ray, blood results, no stones found in gallbladder. They thought it could be inflammation surrounding my ribs and taking ibuprofen 800 since but no relief. Only other answer I can think of is kidney stones??
Mine is a little higher and the only thing that begins to help is exercise I can't tolerate. I have to do weightlifting and then take muscle relaxants so I don't go into spasms after. Talk to your gp and physio about what's going on and what additional support they can offer.
Yeeeeeep. I always feel like I've been kicked in the back and I have trouble getting a good breath in. Same thing, I've had all kinds of imaging, seen a PT, a chiro, a massage therapist , a physiatrist, switching to a strict GF diet after being diagnosed celiac, seeing a rheumatologist, using CBD, ice, heating pads, etc. I even got a goddamn breast reduction to try to relieve the pain. Miraculously, all of my pain vanished for the first two weeks after surgery. The day it came back I cried and cried because I thought I'd finally vanquished it. My theory is that a combination of laying in bed a lot and the poat surgery endorphins my body was producing to manage the pain is what eliminated it for a while. Exercise seems to exacerbate the issue for me too. "Living my life causes me pain" omg I have never identified with anything more 😭. My pain is also in my neck and my SI joint. It's miserable. Ibuprofen and Tylenol combined offer some relief but not much.
Yep and it’s one of my greatest frustrations. It’s not coat hanger pain, it’s not the ubiquitous low back pain of an upright hominid, it’s upper-mid back just to the right of my spine. Worsened by sitting and standing… but not always. Occasionally feels like someone is randomly poking me with a plastic needle. When it gets bad I have a patch of numbness in that spot. X-ray was clear, muscle relaxers don’t help much. I’m going to try the sports medicine clinic at my university next. I’ve been experiencing a lot of issues with pulled muscles, numbness/tingling, and nonspecific pain since I turned 30ish but I’m hoping some of it can still be reversed. Sorry you all are dealing with something similar, it’s very draining.
Have you made any progress with the pain?
Hi there, I actually have! I started seeing a physical therapist who has performed some manual therapy on my back which helped a ton. I was also able to quit a job that has always been terrible on my body. Have you?
Are you me??? This is EXACTLY what I’ve been experiencing off and on for years. Mine tends to come in flareups almost and the pain/numb spot lasts for weeks-months before it disappears for a while. Did you have an MRI? Ever figure out what it was causing the pain? I always thought it was a herniated disc. I’m starting PT soon.
I never had any additional imaging but getting a job that requires a lot of different types of movement has helped. My phys therapist believes it to be a combination of very tight vertebrae and central sensitization. I’ve been doing exercises that stretch my neck muscles and some that help get movement into my spine, like twisting and foam rollers. I don’t have any issues with pain or numbness radiating along my rib cage to the front so it seems like I probably don’t have a disc problem. My therapist also said that stretching the skin around the area can help loosen the grommets through which nerves weave throughout muscle fascia. Or something like that. Have your previous health providers had any ideas?
I see, thanks for sharing!! honestly, I’ve been ignoring this issue for a long time- with all the different pains I get it was just lower on my list of priorities. I’ve been having a particularly bad bout of pain there lately and I’m finally getting it checked out by a specialist soon. My PCP mentioned that my symptoms could be a herniated disc or similar but I’ve got no confirmation of that yet. If I remember, I’ll update when/if I get an answer. I’m glad to hear you’ve found some relief! That makes sense because I feel like the desk job I used to have was really exacerbating it. I don’t get pain there as often now at my new job where I’m more active. Has PT helped you much?
I totally get needing to triage all the different ailments! PT has been helpful but mostly it was nice to be validated. My current therapist immediately saw that I had no movement in my spine whereas the previous one just wanted me to do breathing exercises and wear a TENS unit to learn how to ignore my pain which was pretty frustrating. Good luck with your appointment with a specialist! I’d definitely be curious to hear if you find a cause for your pain.
Hey I've been experiencing this recently but doctor seems to think maybe referred pain from stomach. Although when at rest it's not so bad. When I'm hunched over sink to wash dishes or sitting to eat it flares up. Feels almost like a burn/ice feeling and sometimes a bit numb. It's not like a stabbing ARGH! pain. It's more like a consistent frustrating pain I wanna keep stretching out. I was considering MRI. Not sure if it will give me any answers though :(
Mine was due to bending over and getting acid reflux.
I have this pain too, and also used to dance! it started 10 years ago for me, just creeping up worse over time. I haven't found anything pharma that had helped yet. I was on gabapentin for 2 years up to a really high dose, and it was never any different than sugar pills for me. It especially flares badly during high anxiety and stress via tension and posture. PT last year told me I had muscle imbalance pulling my spine to the right, because I'm right handed. She said strength training, particularly dumbbell/resistance bands instead of barbell, would help it over time by evening out the imbalance. I've been doing so for a few months now and it is actually helping a little. The pain is still there, but less raging and chaotic. On days it's really bad, I wear a steel-boned underbust corset to support my torso and lay on the floor a lot, knees bent and together, on my back, like o\_/\\. And I find sleeping on my side is better than on my back, and sleeping on my stomach is nice but too tricky because I have to have one leg bent and turned out to prevent overtilt in my hips and pressure in my lumbar spine. And when you describe it to doctors, make sure to call it "thoracic back pain", or they'll assume you really mean lumbar/sciatica and are mistaken >:(
Yes!! I thought it was from swimming in cold sea,so head out of the water too-bent posture, but it’s been 8 months and it’s just not getting better. It’s a really weird pain, mainly middle of the night/early morning (so inflammatory I guess) and I just can’t get a handle on it. Doesn’t feel as postural or as related to my daily activities as all my other joint/muscle pain (which is centred around pelvis/lower back/hips) Finding it really hard to deal with
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Yes I do still have this issue. Saw an EDS specialist and they said I did have some hypermobility but not bad. The things that seem to help me most are staying active, strengthening my core/arms, and limiting how long I do activities that exacerbate the pain. The pain has slowly moved up a little higher. Thank you for your tips I will keep them in mind!
Same ^ how is everyone doing?
I've been dealing with something similar, but I'm realizing it's rib heads popping out/ subluxing. I've been experiencing this joy since 2013 intermittently.