After waking up today, I have severe upper back pain. It gets worse if I move in the slightest and even coughing is excruciating. What could this be?
It is possible it is a muscle spasm (cramp) or pulled muscle. Such is usually sudden, can certainly feel excruciating, and are generally no fun to live through.However, no one here on Quora can diagnose you; those who do are not doctors; those who are doctors will not do so. If you ever have a specific question about your health, please don’t waste your time asking strangers on the internet- instead, go to a doctor.
Why does my back hurt every morning when I look down?
I can’t be sure without examining or at least seeing you, but many times this is because of bad posture. As a result, all sorts of things can happen like herniated discs or pinched nerves.My guess is that your head is forward of your shoulders and/or your shoulders are rounded. Try the following: stand up straight with your shoulders back and your feet pigeon-toed (toes turned a bit inward) and try to keep your head above and between your shoulders. Now look down (using just your head and hinge at the neck vertebra, don’t bend your whole neck forward). Does it still hurt?I advise you to rule out any serious medical issue and go see a doctor. Then go see a postural specialist to help you with getting back to good posture. A good posture helps with prevention and cure of issues like you mention. I am trained in the Egoscue method myself and can recommend that. I can hook you up with a therapist near you if you want. Some will even do free evaluations or you can at least call them.Good luck, let’s do what we can to stay our of pain, and that’s more than most people think.PatrickPostural Alignment Specialist certified by Egoscue University
How can I prevent upper back pain when sitting at my computer for long periods of time?
Getting rid of back pain is very simple. And becasuse it is simple, it’s treatment has always been complicated. Because human beings don’t like simple things. They want everything hifi. They like machines, fancy treatment names etc etc.There are three pillars of painless back.correct postureReasonable strong back and core musclesStress free mindLet’s dwell into each of them;Posture: when God created human being, he may not have fathomed computers, video games or a concept of couch potato. With time, our occupations got comfortable. with that our backs got overburdened and finally she gave up. Erect posture, like God intended it to be, is the most important aspect for a healthy back. Get up every 20 minutes and stretch. keep your screen at eye level, keep your back upright with pillow or a support. Stop using mobile phone for more than 15 min at a time.Healthy back muscles: it doesn’t take much to keep your back muscles strong and healthy. You don’t need fancy machines at gym. Just few simple exercises like Back extension exercises, planks, stretches of important muscles like hamstring, calf, glutei goes a long way to keep back healthy. Most important thing about exercises is consistency. Be regular, twice a day. Go for regular walks. That’s the best way to keep not only back but the whole body healthy.Stress free mind: In a huge majority of patients, back pain reflects state of mind. Lot of stress gets converted to pain in some or the other part of body and the back is the commonest part to eat the brunt. Stressfree mind is the best analgesic for back pain. That can come from regular exercises, involvement in some form of physical or mental exercise which is without screen in front of eyes. Constant work at screen like computers can cause a lot of stress to build up.So simple steps taken with due diligence can get you out of your problems related to back. 90 percent of back pains would not need a help of health care professional, if we followed some simple steps.
Why do my ribs hurt when i wake up every morning?
When I wake up everyday my side/rib area is always hurting. I tried adding more padding to my bed and it didn't help. It's extremely uncomfortable and I just want to understand what it could be. Or should I just talk to my doctor about it all??
How do I relieve muscle pain in my upper back?
When looking at muscle pain, it is always important to start by understanding where the pain is located. Upper muscle pain is often due to the muscle trapezius (see below). The main task for the trapezius is to hold stabilize and move the scapula, thus your shoulders (this is important information for the avoidance analysis below).There are a few stretches, that will help you loosen and relax your trapezius. The first and best move is to stand up straight (see below), relaxing your shoulders, and pulling your head to one side with your hand. You can do this without your hand on your head, just tilt your head to one side. A simple trick to improve this stretch is to push down your hand on the opposite side your head.The second stretch for upper back pain is shown below:Grab your hands behind your back, push out your chest and pull down on your hands (towards the floor). This stretches your trapezius in a different way to the first stretch.The last method of helping your back pain is simply applying heat. This can be done with a heating pad (pretty cheap and a good investment). The reason for this working is, that muscle pain is due to the muscle being broken / injured. Applying heat to the muscle helps the blood flow to the muscle, increasing the transport of lactic acid away from the muscle, helping the healing process. The second plus is, that heat is increasing the flexibility and looseness of the muscle tissue. This will help you with your pain straight away and help in the long run, better than pain medicine, which doesn’t help your back, only you and your nervous system.If this doesn’t help, you should off course consult a doctor to get further and professional treatment.
I got a new mattress and my lower back pain in the morning is actually worse. Do I need a harder or softer mattress?
No one can tell you how you feel and which mattress is best for you. You only can do that. You are special that way.You need to check with a doctor if your pain is not the result of some kind of underlying condition he should be treating.Here is what I do when I feel back pain. It happens to me once every couple of years. I roll out my 7″ neoprene belt. Wrap it around the pain area. Keep it on until the pain is over. Yeah I also sleep with it. Doctors do not recommend you wear a neoprene belt during your sleep. I use it because it helps me.When I put it on the pain seems a lot duller even without pain killers. It allows me to move better with less pain.I learned however that when someone has chronic pain, his body in unable to fix the underlying cause for the pain. This is why despite any treatment, the pain is still there.The reason treatments do not remove the pain is because most conventional treatments focus on keeping the patient comfortable. They do not medicate the reason for the pain relying on the body to fix it. When a patient is chronic his body cannot fix the underlying cause of the pain.Let us focus on why chronic patients feel pain. It is simple: muscles have pain points that are most of the time latent. Once these pain points are activated they translate in pain patterns.An active pain point results in a very specific pain pattern. This means that if you know your pain pattern, you can pinpoint the pain point that is responsible for the pain and hence treat it.This is good news because unlike other ineffective treatments pain point treatments are effective, free and take almost none of your time to apply.All you need is a map to help you locate the pain point to treat.Check with your medical professional that your pain condition has no other underlying reason.Download the free app. that will show you how to get back pain relief regardless if your condition is acute or chronic.Pain Point Therapy - Android Apps on Google PlayWe are developing the IOS version which we will make available shortly.Follow us on Twitter '@mdcure2 to get the download link when the IOS version of the app is available. Do it now before you get distracted and forget about it.If you liked this post please share it on your social network. You may help someone today who may return the favor tomorrow.Learn about us visiting our site Back Pain Relief Products, Lower Back Muscle Pain Relief Solution - MDcure by Aerotel
Is it normal for my upper back to feel tight?
~ hi ~! It sounds to me that it could be that while you're in your classes your carrying a lot of the tension in your upper back. It may not even be a posture issue as much as an issue of where your carry your stress. I know I have good posture as well but by the end of some days my shoulders can feel like they have knots in them. Some things to consider would be: - When you don't have class (like on the weekend) are you noticing the same thin? Right there is an indicator of just how your carrying your stress as you from class to class. Some things that might help would be doing stretches in the morning that target the area you tend to carry the tension and try to do some slight stretches during the school day in between classes. Even taking up an activity like Yoga is a great way to loosen up at the end of the day and it really benefits your muscles and stress level (with learning wonderful breathing techniques). At the end of the day you could try applying a heat pad or hot water bottle to the area. This will help relax your muscles. I hope you get relief soon and good luck with your classes. =)
Upper back pain?
hey cmz, it sounds like you have some muscular instability in your thoracic spine or soft tissue damage in the t-spine. So when your sleeping... your body will relax to the point when the complex contraction of muscle no longer stabilizes your spine and within a few hours the muscles go into spasm inflaming the nerves of your spine. You probably have an acute susceptibility towards weakness in the muscles that support your mid-back...which creates the pain. And let me guess... after you get out of bed and you get on with your day... a few hours later the pain starts to subside, right?? If the answer is yes... that just means that you have activated the stabilizers to contract and the spasm subsides because the back is doing what it supposed to do... stabilizes. You may not think that there is a pattern but usually there is. What would help is if you created a pain journal... that way you write down everything you did before having the pain and you will probably notice a general pattern... such as going grocery shopping that day and lifting cases of water.. did you play some sport etc. You also have to take into account what you do?? Career wise do you stand most of the day... do you sit most of the day... Do you have bad posture etc. Having this information will help you understand your habits and you can correct them 1 at a time. Lastly having a new mattress is a good thing however it will not correct the curve of your t-spine but what you can do is grab a large bath towel fold it into quarters and try sleeping on your back with the towel under your back below your shoulder blades. This way you will alleviate some of the arch that is placed on your spine. Try also not to place too many pillows under your head. That causes more flexion in your spine. Try these things and let me know, okay?? If you need to get more information go ahead and email me if you like. good luck.
Upper back pain when taking a deep breath. ?
Sounds like pleurisy. That is where the 2 linings of your lungs get inflamed and they rub together when they expand with each breath and it can be quite painful. I had that several years ago and I was pissed when my Dr told me to go home and take 2 aspirins every 6 hours and since aspirin is an anti-imflammatory it will get rid of the imflammation within 24 hours. I tried it just for the heck of it and sure enough 24 hours later after doing the 2 aspiriin therapy every 6 hours the pain was all gone. I have had those same symptoms maybe once or twice in the years since that and I remember what the Dr said so I do the same thing again and it always works. Try it, I think you will find that it will eliminate the pain. You can also use ibuprofen such as Motrin or Advil, both are anti - inflammatory producrts as well. PS ... since some people's stomach is sensitive to aspirin or other meds it is always reccommended to eat food with aspirin or most any other med.