What's wrong with my back?

[hamster]

Motherhood, amiright?

For a couple of months now I've been having back pain, primarily when/after sleeping.

When I lay on my right side, I just wake up stiff. When I lay on my left side, I have a bit more pain. When I lay on my stomach I wake up and literally cannot move. It hurts SO bad and I'm practically paralyzed and have to mind over matter to roll over. All of this is focused on my upper back between my shoulder blades.

We have a bed that is a year old, and I did not have pain previously. I thought maybe my pillow and have switched that up as well without success.

During the day I have some lingering stiffness and general mom pains, but nothing alarming.

What gives? Pinched nerve? Slipped disk? (I have no idea what this is, just that it's a thing).

[lifetaketwo]

This is my life. I’m sorry, it’s really painful. It’s a chronic thing on and off for me, and I’m trying PT again for it. My triggers are stress and anything that makes me tense my neck. I can’t do planks or push-up or lift any weight over my head. Right now it’s so bad I can’t ride a bike either. The only thing that help when it spasms is dry needling (or pressure point acupuncture). Massage helps to a much lesser extent. PT has told me my scapula area muscles are very very weak, which I believe because I baby the area at this point. The trigger point acupuncture really did change my life though. A normal recovery from a spasm event would typically last a week with most of it being severe pain. Usually now the severe pain only lasts a day or so after I can get in to see her. Some people have luck with chiropractic care, but my muscle are far too reactive and I get immediate relief followed by even worse rebound pain.

[lifetaketwo]

It is worth getting a spine MRI. Mine was pretty normal when I had it a few years ago. I think they said average degeneration for my age and not necessarily linked to the pain.

[joy]

Sigh. This is my life. Pre-kid, I slept all ways. Post kid? My right side only. I miss so very much lying on my belly but neck and back do not allow such positions anymore.

Now that I have time and am looking down the barrel of 40, I’m going to see a personal trainer for a bit to build up core strength again and learn to exercise all parts of my body appropriately. I realized that while I could start running again (or bike, etc) that I wasn’t doing a full body work out anymore. Sitting in the car, carrying kids, lugging bags around, more sitting at a desk, etc. in addition to pregnancy have all taken a toll. I prefer to believe that it can be reversed with proper care (rather sleeping on my right side with neck soreness and stiffness that only gets worse for the next 40 years).

Lol. This is my great thesis of 2020. I’ll report back.

[hamster]

So I'm just old?!

[namasteak]

What part of your back?

[hamster]

Jan 15, 2020 13:19:38 GMT -5 namasteak said:

What part of your back?

Upper, between my shoulder blades.

[Patsy Baloney]

I did PT for neck issues (pinch nerve that I let go on way too long) many years back, and I feel like those exercises have helped me work out those "how did I hurt myself in my sleep?" aches and pains that seem to be becoming more numerous as I move through my 30's. You might try YouTubing the McKenzie Method. There is a lot of information out there, including a little book my physical therapist gave me, for the many parts of the neck/back that ache along with targeted exercises. The exercises that I did were focused more on my neck/posture, but with my pinched nerve I had massive shoulder pain, hand numbness, horrendous stiffness, etc. My sweet angel physical therapist got me to work and I was released about a month or a month and a half later with full range of motion and really minor pain that resolved as I continued the exercises.

I'm a firm believer that PT is a total miracle because it was for me, lol.

[dcn]

It is probably due to nursing and carrying kids. So common in moms with young children and likely due to weakness in your back and shoulders and possibly core - resulting in poor posture and then pain.

A physical therapist could help you figure out what the issue is and give you exercises to strengthen.

I have a rib that slips out that causes a lot of aches and pains. Luckily my husband is a pt and pops it in back in for me and then scolds me for my posture and poor form when dealing with children. It was worse when I had babies and toddlers.

[hamster]

Ooh, I didn't even think about my nursing posture and how it's related. That's probably a major factor. 4.5 months to go...