Have you ever had back pain like this?

[Remarkableriots]

For over a week, my upper back has been hurting a lot. It feels like pressure from my back through my chest. It goes away sometimes, but the slightest wrong movement and it becomes a sharp pain. I bend over for stuff, and it's hard to straighten up. I'm having problems doing anything without being in a lot of pain. I'm not sure if I should see the doctor or what's wrong. The combination of this and my foot pain has been overwhelming.

[Biggie]

Seek advice on D1P or go see a doctor? I think you know what you gotta do. 

[gamer.tv]

Yes and most of my back pain comes from:

 

Tightness in calves

Tightness in Hamstrings 

When it does happen, I tend to foam roll my back (against all good medical advice, but it feels amazing), focusing on my shoulder blades, then work on flutes, hips, hamstrings and calves. By the end, I usually feel most of the way better.

[Keyser_Soze]

 

42 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Seek advice on D1P or go see a doctor? I think you know what you gotta do. 

 

d1p advice is free and there are nurses like @TUFKAK who can say take a tylenol

going to a doctor costs $100 up front for a visit.

[stepee]

My back pain is usually lower back pain which makes me wish for upper back pain 

[Remarkableriots]

28 minutes ago, stepee said:

My back pain is usually lower back pain which makes me wish for upper back pain 

That's what I usually have issues with, but it's better the next day or two.

[Paperclyp]

Doctor would maybe do X-rays, they wouldn't show much, they'd offer likely muscle relaxant and physical therapy. If you've had no obvious trauma it is most likely a soft tissue strain, just needs time, stay mobile, do some thoracic spine active range of motion exercises. 

 

Monitor for radiating symptoms, numbness / tingling, things like that. 

 

Sounds like potentially intercostal muscle from your brief description. Hurts like the dickens. Problem with a lot of back pain is it's alarmingly painful and people tend to feel like something is seriously wrong with them, which can lead to a spiral of doctor visit, eventual referral to a specialist (typically a surgeon) who can find any number or reasons to cut you open and say this oughta help.  

 

Very common injury, takes time, often reoccurs. 

[Biggie]

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

 

d1p advice is free and there are nurses like @TUFKAK who can say take a tylenol

going to a doctor costs $100 up front for a visit.

Getting medical advice from a guy who uses steroids. Solid.

[Xbob42]

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

 

d1p advice is free and there are nurses like @TUFKAK who can say take a tylenol

going to a doctor costs $100 up front for a visit.

Up front? I've never opened my wallet once for any doctor visit in my life. I've been billed, but never paid upfront.

[skillzdadirecta]

I'd go to a doctor to be honest. That sounds like it could possibly not be a back problem at all and possibly a heart issue. It could also be nothing. GO TO THE DOCTOR.

[Paperclyp]

10 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

I'd go to a doctor to be honest. That sounds like it could possibly not be a back problem at all and possibly a heart issue. It could also be nothing. GO TO THE DOCTOR.

Not likely to be a heart issue given its presentation. 

[Remarkableriots]

27 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

I'd go to a doctor to be honest. That sounds like it could possibly not be a back problem at all and possibly a heart issue. It could also be nothing. GO TO THE DOCTOR.

I'll call Monday and see if I can get an appointment soon.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 minute ago, Remarkableriots said:

I'll call Monday and see if I can get an appointment soon.

Like I said could be nothing but you never know. None of us are doctors and if it's persistent and bothering you, it's worth getting checked out.

[Paperclyp]

Get ready for some flexeril 

[Biggie]

1 hour ago, Paperclyp said:

Not likely to be a heart issue given its presentation. 

Thank you for your diagnosis doctor. That’ll be all for now. 

[Paperclyp]

8 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Thank you for your diagnosis doctor. That’ll be all for now. 

I literally have a doctorate in a field that involves diagnosing musculoskeletal conditions. 

[Biggie]

22 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I literally have a doctorate in a field that involves diagnosing musculoskeletal conditions. 

So are you an actual doctor? Or just play one on D1P to try and stick it to me?

[Paperclyp]

17 minutes ago, Biggie said:

So are you an actual doctor? Or just play one on D1P to try and stick it to me?

I’m a physical therapist, and I’m not trying to stick it to you lol. You were the one antagonizing. 

[silentbob]

I had an excruciating back pain a few months back. I could barely move, turning a tap hurt my back and did travel a bit to the front chest area. Turns out I pinched a nerve or 2 in my back and needed some meds for that. Best of luck in finding a solution to your back pain

[Biggie]

40 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I’m a physical therapist, and I’m not trying to stick it to you lol. You were the one antagonizing. 

[TUFKAK]

As the emergency department worker if you showed up to an ER you’d get basic blood work, including a cardiac enzyme, and a chest X-ray right off the bat. Depending on the doctor there’s a decent chance you’d get a CT study for PE/dissection rule out depending on the rest of your collateral information too.

[Air_Delivery]

I can't speak for all back pain but I have sciatica and getting a new bed has done wonders for me. 

[Keyser_Soze]

7 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

Up front? I've never opened my wallet once for any doctor visit in my life. I've been billed, but never paid upfront.

 

Lucky you!

[SmugPrick]

I was dealing with really bad lower back pain starting around last November. Like excruciating. I assumed it was from lack of stretching, so I took up yoga. That didn’t fix it. Then I went to a chiro for multiple visits…that didn’t help. Got muscle relaxers, that didn’t help. Finally a month ago I went into the doc for an mri- found out I have a fragmented disc in my lower back. Received an epidural steroid and it’s been fine.

 

moral of the story- don’t play self-doctor. Go get seen. 

[Paperclyp]

3 hours ago, SmugPrick said:

I was dealing with really bad lower back pain starting around last November. Like excruciating. I assumed it was from lack of stretching, so I took up yoga. That didn’t fix it. Then I went to a chiro for multiple visits…that didn’t help. Got muscle relaxers, that didn’t help. Finally a month ago I went into the doc for an mri- found out I have a fragmented disc in my lower back. Received an epidural steroid and it’s been fine.

 

moral of the story- don’t play self-doctor. Go get seen. 

 

I hope the steroid shot remains effective for you. 

 

I do want to caution people on, and I know this sounds a little kooky, but to some degree doctors and especially imaging. In your case, smug, imaging wasn't the worst thing in the world and again I hope the shot takes care of it for you. I would definitely be interested if you would check in this thread in like 3-6 months to see how you're doing. 

 

But there's a decent chunk of evidence out there that shows imaging, especially in more acute cases, is actually not a good thing to do. It can reveal longstanding "abnormalities" that have little to nothing to do with the current symptoms being experienced, and the patient then assigns their pain to this diagnosis, and then the plan becomes to "fix" it. This leads to a lot of unnecessary treatment, including surgery sometimes, most of which has low effectiveness long term. Keep in mind it's VERY contextual and I'm not trying to condemn surgery or other treatments outside of context. But I can tell you I see overtreatment CONSTANTLY, like, literally every single day of my work life, and it's very frustrating. 

 

Physical therapists are in no way guiltless in any of this either, most of which will do treatments that are also unnecessary and tell the patient things like "they need to strengthen their core" or "fix their posture" and other quackery. 

[Paperclyp]

One more thing and I’ll STFU, most insurance companies aren’t going to touch an MRI until you’ve at least gone through a few weeks of PT. It’ll usually go: primary care visit, PT + meds, imaging, potential specialist referral. The hope of the insurance company is your pain will have improved enough (most likely by just natural recovery) by that point the MRI won’t be necessary (so they save money). 

[Keyser_Soze]

@Paperclyp Did you ever give physical therapy to Rex Burkhead or Ahman Green?

[TUFKAK]

1 hour ago, Paperclyp said:

One more thing and I’ll STFU, most insurance companies aren’t going to touch an MRI until you’ve at least gone through a few weeks of PT. It’ll usually go: primary care visit, PT + meds, imaging, potential specialist referral. The hope of the insurance company is your pain will have improved enough (most likely by just natural recovery) by that point the MRI won’t be necessary (so they save money). 

Unless tan ER orders it

 

Then it’s covered 

[Paperclyp]

8 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

@Paperclyp Did you ever give physical therapy to Rex Burkhead or Ahman Green?

Are those the first two huskers who come to mind? 
 

Played some pickup with Burkhead here and there… Dude was an athlete… could dunk pretty easy and I bet he’s not a hair over 5’9”. 

[Keyser_Soze]

55 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

Are those the first two huskers who come to mind? 

 

Gonna be honest I was totally going to mention some other players but I looked it up and they weren't huskers, they were badgers (Ron Dayne and Russell Wilson)

So then I had to look up which Nebraska players were pro and I think those were the biggest ones, well ones you could have done PT on unless you're like 70 years old.

[Paperclyp]

37 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Gonna be honest I was totally going to mention some other players but I looked it up and they weren't huskers, they were badgers (Ron Dayne and Russell Wilson)

So then I had to look up which Nebraska players were pro and I think those were the biggest ones, well ones you could have done PT on unless you're like 70 years old.

We’ve had a few good defenders come through in the last 15 years but not much for offensive talent haha. Suh was around for part of my undergrad / second stint. Dude would also play pickup but he had a temper. Lavonte David is probably the most successful pro we’ve had in a while. 

[Keyser_Soze]

Ah yeah, I had my mind on offensive players obviously so that's probably why I overlooked players like Suh and such.

[Remarkableriots]

I have an appointment with my PCP but it isn't until the 11th.

[TUFKAK]

On 9/24/2023 at 1:27 PM, Biggie said:

Getting medical advice from a guy who uses steroids. Solid.

Pfft, I tell everyone not to juice and it’s not worth it. I go into the issues and the pathways aas negatively hurt you and can explain the biochemical processes and have talked several out of doing it. Unless you want to compete, stay tf away from steroids, a five dollar trophy at a local show isn’t worth the damage you’re going to do to yourself by juicing.

 

I make this choice for me and I’m willing to hurt myself for my goals, but I’d never tell anyone to do the same. Cause, to be frank, being able to look in the mirror and not be disgusted is worth a reduced lifespan for me.

[Biggie]

21 minutes ago, TUFKAK said:

Pfft, I tell everyone not to juice and it’s not worth it. I go into the issues and the pathways aas negatively hurt you and can explain the biochemical processes and have talked several out of doing it. Unless you want to compete, stay tf away from steroids, a five dollar trophy at a local show isn’t worth the damage you’re going to do to yourself by juicing.

 

I make this choice for me and I’m willing to hurt myself for my goals, but I’d never tell anyone to do the same. Cause, to be frank, being able to look in the mirror and not be disgusted is worth a reduced lifespan for me.

lol I was just fucking with Keyser. I remember you saying this before about juicing.