Upper Back Pain, Thoracic
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User offline. Last seen 2 days 16 hours ago. Offline
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really tight muscles

i have a disc herniation in my thoracic spine and have been doing massages for it for eight months now.He said that my muscles won't relax even when he's doing the massage they just won't release.Is this normal for people with herniations in there rib area? Does everyone on here have tight muscles across there ribs?

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c4,5 c5,6 and c6,7 ACDF with titanium implants spinal stenosis and bone spurs april 16/08.herniations at T7,8 and T11,12 also L4,5and S1.car accident october 28th/08 whiplash.rearended hit and run. mri 2009 L2-3 posterior bulge,L3-4moderate posterior bulge,lateralizing to the right.Right lateral recess has moderate stenosis and left lateral recess has mild stenosis.L4-5has moderate posterior disc bulge.Moderate left,and right stenosis.Mild bilateral foraminal stenosis.L5-S1 disc bulge touching right S1 descending nerve root in right lateral recess.No significant foraminal or spinal stenosis.

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hi tammy

so sorry about rib muscles. I can tell you i have had trouble with lots of muscles that won't loosen no matter how much i stretch them or have them massaged. with my body and the pressure on the spinal and cervical nerves the pain tightness just wont go away. of course "normal" would be no tightness. if it hasn't eased in such i long time i wonder if it ever will. but best to check with your dr. you and i are both in the same boat. feel free to pm me on this muscle tightness problem.
best...pete

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LadyBug's picture
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Tammy

Hi, I can tell you the only way i found relief from muscles that don't want to budge and relax which was awful and would turn into migraines and more the longer I let it go was klonopin.
I use this as needed not every day. but when i feel it sneaking up on me or wake up feeling it I don't hesitate.
For me my tightness would start in one area and move its way down or up.

This is just my experience.
In my situation Stress is something I have to do all I can to avoid because I live with the symptoms of myeolopathy and M.S. many of the symptoms from these are somewhat alike. but stress,heat will make the M.S very hard to overcome.
and for me after trying several different things the klonopin was the only and almost amazing how fast and helpful for the tight muscles (what comes first I'm not sure.... stress causing tightness or tightness causing stress)(maybe both)
I hope you can find relief...soon

sending you my best....Patsy

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I have cervical problems

I have cervical problems (below) , but I also have really bad tight muscles on my shoulders down to the ending of my shoulder blades. If the shoulder and below muscles get too tight it starts affecting the cervical nerves and head nerves and tortures me a lot with bad head pain. I get this one nerve pain on my head, that doesnt let go for the most part unless I take a muscle relaxer or have someone massage my shoulders. It is really terrible to wake up to or stay up with.

It seems anytime I sit down all the muscles will almost instantly tighten, even if they were loose for awhile from walking or sitting in a high back chair.

Klonopin, Soma work best...I just started neurontin and I believe it is helping with the top of the head nerve pain, but not the one that hurts me the most.

Is this normal?

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Findings:
There are no gross abnormalities at the upper three cervical interspaces or the cervical-thorasic junction. Disc desiccation without disc protrusion is noted at T1-2. The second and third thoracic interspaces are normal.
At C5-6, there is mild to moderate disc desiccation with a 2mm central disc protrusion with slight central stenosis.
At C6-7, there is more moderate disc desiccation with a 3mm central disc protrusion with mild central stenosis but no direct spinal cord compression.
There is no evidence of nerve root canal stenosis or nerve root impingement at any cervical level. All of the facet joints are normal. The cervical cord is normal. There is no fracture or dislocation. There are no intradural or paraspinous masses.

My Cervical X-ray said:
Findings
AP, both obliques, open mouth, and lateral views of the cervical spine revealed very minimal hypertrophic uncovertebral joints at C5-6. On oblique view there is a suggestion of minimal osteophyte formation and foraminal impingement at C5-C6, especially on the left side. No fracture is seen.
Lumbar Xray - L3 Mild Osteophyte formation, indicates : Lumbar disc disease.

Medications: Atenolol 25 mg, Soma 350mg, Lexapro 10mg, Klonopin .25 (when needed), Cymbalta 30mg, neurontin 300mg 1x a day, either tyl 3 or reg vicodin for pain.
Neck Pain on left side, on the back of neck, in between shoulder blade on spine, headaches, left arm and leg pain, sometimes numbness or burning, muscle spasms. Depression and Anxiety.

ChronicPain1's picture
User offline. Last seen 17 weeks 1 day ago. Offline
Joined: 05/14/2009
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I have extremely tight

I have extremely tight muscles that won't release, most likely due to Thorasic Outlet Syndrome.

User offline. Last seen 16 weeks 1 day ago. Offline
Joined: 07/01/2009
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Loosen up a bit

My muscles are really tight too. This causes dizziness when I have turned my head too often. Massage helps me and so does chiropratical adjustments, but I need to relax...easier said than done! *lol*

User offline. Last seen 2 days 16 hours ago. Offline
Joined: 06/20/2008
Posts: 479
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i hear that!!!

i've been getting massages every two weeks for eight months now and my massage therapist can't seem to get my muscles to release. He works on me for an hour at a time and thinks that something else is going on besides the whiplash thats causing the muscles to stay so tight.he thinks i might have a herniated disc in my thoracic spine. i talked to my therapist about it and he said that its very difficult to herniate a disc in that area but he said that who knows what happened to my spine during the car accident.

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c4,5 c5,6 and c6,7 ACDF with titanium implants spinal stenosis and bone spurs april 16/08.herniations at T7,8 and T11,12 also L4,5and S1.car accident october 28th/08 whiplash.rearended hit and run. mri 2009 L2-3 posterior bulge,L3-4moderate posterior bulge,lateralizing to the right.Right lateral recess has moderate stenosis and left lateral recess has mild stenosis.L4-5has moderate posterior disc bulge.Moderate left,and right stenosis.Mild bilateral foraminal stenosis.L5-S1 disc bulge touching right S1 descending nerve root in right lateral recess.No significant foraminal or spinal stenosis.

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