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Upper Back Pain, Thoracic
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User offline. Last seen 27 weeks 2 days ago. Offline
Joined: 11/16/2011
Posts: 1
Points: 2
Back and Shoulder Pain

Hi all, Im new to these sites so unsure what to do. I'll start at the beginning. Ive always had trouble sleeping and always feel the need to fold pillows no matter how many I use or how new the pillows are. One night i woke up with a stiff kneck i (stupidly) did a exercise i learnt in drama school when i was 15 i am now 29 the exercise i did was to drop your head right down and move it slowly around in a circle to the side then right round the back and back to the front i felt something sharp and painfull staight away but it was in the middle of the night and it wasnt too bad a few weeks later i started feelin tight in the chest and a pain in between my shoulders I went to my local A&E in England in the u.k and they done a ECG test all the blood tests possible and a chest x ray all come back clear By the time i had reached the hospital I was feeling sick with worry and had various panic attacks and severe anxiety over it i thought i was losing my mind everyone I saw kept telling me there was nothing wrong but my body was telling me there was. I have been the hospital twice in a week and the doctors twice who all keep telling me that all is ok but I know I am in real pain. The pain is getting worse i get pain mostly in my back my shoulders and my kneck its definatley getting worse i feel like its whiplash but i can move my head a little bit but get pain just above the shoulder in the middle when I do and also slight pains in the side and chest sometimes. My partner last night tried rubbing my back and the pain felt like a big hot ball of tension goin up my back into my kneck making it hard to even move. This is really affecting my mental state i can sit anywhere on any seat because of a tingling and pains in my back/shoulders/kneck Please any advice or idea's i would be very grateful. Thankyou gktll2011 or g.owens09@live.co.uk

User offline. Last seen 1 week 1 day ago. Offline
Joined: 06/04/2011
Posts: 84
Points: 174
Hi fellow english

Hi fellow english person,
Sorry to hear of your problems.
I spent years being told everything was in my mind until it was obvious something was very wrong. Then after being sent up a few blind alleys I eventually ended up having emergency surgery.

I wish I had been more persistent and my GP had done what he should have done in the first place, i.e. taken me seriously and got me to a specialist rather than making up his own mind and sending me on a wild goose chase till it was almost too late.
If things don't resolve themselves soon, or get worse, ask your doc to refer you for a neurological check up which hopefully will result in an MRI scan.
A chest X ray is useless for detecting spine injuries.

Any sort of numbness, limb weakness, extreme pain should be reported and don't be fobbed off!

It's an unfortunate fact of life that you have to be a real pain in the neck to get your pain in the neck taken seriously (clever ol' me to think of that). But it is true. If you quitely go away and suffer in silence they forget about you.

So don't worry about hurting feelings. If you are not happy with what you have been told then keep on until you get proper treatment. That's what you have to do in the NHS. Everything is available but it won't be provided automatically. You have to demand it. I'ts free treatment on demand, for those who demand it, not necessarily for those who most need it.

This is what I have learnt the hard way.

Mick

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2003 - t5/6 herniation - thoracotomy and excision - fused using piece of rib.

User offline. Last seen 21 weeks 4 days ago. Offline
Joined: 08/23/2011
Posts: 2
Points: 4
RE:

Sounds like you have some nerve damage because of the tingling sensations. I'm sure you know that though.

One time, I pulled a muscle in my arm that created a lot of pain. It ran from my heart to my arm. Is it a possibility that you ripped a muscle?

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Arrr