Upper back pain - please help!

[jrs567]

Hi, I want to see if anyone can give me advice. I hope you can!

I'm a 31 yo male doing office work.
I get pain between my left shoulder blade and spine particularly when driving and when sitting at work (computer job).
This has been for over a year.
The pain is quite bad - often 4 or 5 out of 5 (i've kept a diary)
The area of pain is quite small. Sometimes it moves around and there can be multiple tender areas. It often feels lumpy or crunchy (sometimes it feels like guitar strings)
I've also had bouts of pain on my right hand side but the left is more frequent.
I have a forward leaning posture which i'm trying to correct but I now sit VERY upright with my head as far back as possible. Definitely no slouching

I've been to see a whole host of professionals: physio, osteopath, masseur, posture guru. I've also tried heat, bakballs, lots of stretching, painkillers, memory foam mattress.
Pain relief has been minimal from all of these.
Doing sport has sometimes made thigns worse so i've stopped.

My questions:
-Can anyone give any advice?
-Do you think a specialist nhs doctor (not GP) be able to tell me any more?
-Since it's likely muscular, won't doing TENS just allow me to damage myself more making things more irreparable?

Thankyou!!

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[rakhi07]

hi,
hope i can help u mith ur problem...
i need to now few more details like..
- r u a computer proffesional
- if yes how long do u use it.
- do u have radiating pain,tingling numbness in ur arms or legs
- does rest reduce your pain
till then what u can do is improve ur posture by trying to sit erect with shoulders retracted backwards..
try to take breaks of 5 min while at work n do few streches for upper back like pectoral strech,arm rotations neck movt etc after every two hours. avoind sustained positions
-do few exercises regularly for upper back strenghtening atleast twice a day.especially retractor stregthening.core stability exercises.
-hot fomentation.
-try putting a small towel roll between both shoulder blades while lying on your back . if painful dont do it

[jrs567]

hi,
hope i can help u mith ur problem...
i need to now few more details like..
- r u a computer proffesional
- if yes how long do u use it.
- do u have radiating pain,tingling numbness in ur arms or legs
- does rest reduce your pain
till then what u can do is improve ur posture by trying to sit erect with shoulders retracted backwards..
try to take breaks of 5 min while at work n do few streches for upper back like pectoral strech,arm rotations neck movt etc after every two hours. avoind sustained positions
-do few exercises regularly for upper back strenghtening atleast twice a day.especially retractor stregthening.core stability exercises.
-hot fomentation.
-try putting a small towel roll between both shoulder blades while lying on your back . if painful dont do it

Hi, thanks for replying - i really appreciate it. In answer to your questions:
- i use a computer in my work for approx 7 hours per day (80-90% of my time at work)
- i dont have radiating pain, tingling or numbness in my arms/legs
- resting does help

[rakhi07]

Thansks or replying to the qestions..
I think ur problem is posture related..Improving ur posture especiaaly during working hour will help u a lot.U should sit erect with both the shoulder retracted backwards. Hsve a proper backrest, Forearm support.the moniter screen should be at the eye level.Remember to avoid sustained position,take exercise breaks,relax yourself and strenghten ur upper back muscles,core stabilisers of back aswell.

[nick1990]

just a suggestion, but have you tried those seat cushion things that are for back support? A friend of mine was having upper and lower back pains and she tried the cushion and was surprised at how well it worked.

[anujajoshi]

hi.i think postural correction will help you in this case.but ill advice you to do some scapular exercise also.like bracing and scapular elevation depression.also use hot pack over that area before exercise.do trapezius steching and rhombodius streching,just sit on a chair and hold the chair from hand laterally and flex your neck opposite.maintain this pose for 20 sec then realax.perform this 7-8 times in twice a day/

[pudding_bowl]

Yes it really does sound postural - you could investigate a posture support brace although you'v said you have good posture so it may not be. ensure regular breaks from the computer where you walk for a bit.

One of the best things you could possibly do is start swimming - freestyle/frontcrawl and backstroke will help to strengthen the muscles around the thoracic spine.

Holding a sustained posture will make you sore and the longer that is held the more the tissue involved becomes intolerant, reducing the time it takes for the pain to come on and the stress involved to bring it in. If you have periods during the day when you have no pain then you have every ability to be pain free all day. We just have to learn how to make that painfree posture the same as your work posture.

With seeing that many professionals I suspect that you would have had this advice before... Try swimming and scap stabilising exercises if you haven't already. good luck and let us know what your doing if it starts getting better.

[bhawananancy]

I was also suffering from back pain. My doctor suggests buying the best firm mattress for lower back pain. I bought it from Refresh Mattress. Today my health is much better. I also suggest you buy a good mattress for back pain.