Back Pain

I've been having this back pain thing between my shoulderblades for about 3 months now.

Its not bad during the day, but I wake up several times at night becasue the pain is so bad. Sometime I have to sit up in a chair for an hour or so before I can go back to sleep.

I've gone to my chiropractor but nothing seems to be working. I have an appointment with my family doctor on thursday, I really hope something can be done about this. My fave passtime is sleeping, and I haven't been able to sleep in months.

My massage therapist says its stress, but no matter what I do to destress the pain is still there.

Any ideas what it could be or any tips to help me sleep at night? Anyone actually have or had the same problem? I'm desperate here!!!!!

Could the pain be coming from your neck???
Several yrs ago I was rear-ended and I did also have pain there also.
Try rolling up a bath towel tightly and stick it in your pillow. That should ease your neck muscles up a bit. Are you taking like aspirin or something like that???

Originally Posted by GailC

Are you taking like aspirin or something like that???

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Last night before I went to bed I took. Tylenol extra strenght, robaxacet extra strenght, and 2 extra strenght sleeping pills.

I got maybe 3 hours of sleep.

Originally Posted by Creepyowl

Last night before I went to bed I took. Tylenol extra strenght, robaxacet extra strenght, and 2 extra strenght sleeping pills.

I got maybe 3 hours of sleep.

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First off, stop the tylenol. The Robaxacet already has tylenol in it, I think 500mg each pill and if you take too much tylenol you can really damage your liver. I would see an orthopedist, since the chiropracter has not helped. Robaxacet in a muscle relaxer, and if it not helping it's best to see someone else to figure it out since it may not be muscle related. Good Luck!

I'd recommend Dr. Sarno's book. It helped me get rid of my back pain

Have you looked into acupuncture? I've heard that some people get amazing results from it.

Sorry to hear you're having back pains. Could it be your mattress needs to be changed? Or perhaps you're straining your back by carrying heavy stuff around? It may also be posture related. I used to have mild aches in the area between my shoulder blades. It turned out my shoulder bag was actually making my upper body tilt. The ache was caused by bad posture.

Originally Posted by yayi

I used to have mild aches in the area between my shoulder blades. It turned out my shoulder bag was actually making my upper body tilt. The ache was caused by bad posture.

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EVERY woman needs to weigh her handbag to see just how much STUFF she's hauling around on her shoulder. I had a friend who's back Dr did this to her on an office visit: her small-med sized handbag weighed in at 23 lbs!!!!!! She was carrying a toddler around on her shoulder! Her Dr ordered her to pare it down to 8lbs or less.

Creepyowl, I hope your family Dr can refer you to a specialist - there is no reason for you to be taking that much medication without relief, and it may be dangerous for you! Good vibes to you for a good night's sleep and a productive visit with your doctor(s)!!!

I hope that you can find out what is causing you problems and get it taken care of quickly.... I have suffered from a bad back for quite a few years, mine is much lower though, and know how hard it is to sleep or function at all when your back is hurting!!! Good luck and let us know what you find out or if anything anyone suggest helps!

Do you have LONG HAIR????

When my hair gets past my waist, I notice it hurts up in my shoulder blade area... neck area... etc. I guess it's cuz of all that hairy weight up there and your shoulder area trying to support it. Anyways if ya have long hair; get it thinned out ( razored layers ), it'll take the weight off.

If you don't have long hair, ignore what I said, cuz I don't have a clue what else causes back pain! Anyways good luck.

I have pain in the same place, from stress. I found a good stretch that seems to help that spot loosen up.
Stand behind a doorframe, with your toes just inside.
Grab the frame at shoulder level and bend slightly forward, bottom out, lean backward, with your weight pulling your arms. That will stretch all those little muscles that get so knotted up between your shoulders.
Also, if you sit a lot, such as at your computer, check the height of your chair. If your hips are higher than your knees, lower your chair. That will have you sitting on your bottom instead of the backs of your thighs. Over a period of a several weeks, this will help staighten your back muscles, take some of the stress off your shoulders, and inprove your posture.
There is also a wonderful product called Biofreeze that you can get from most chiropractors and some massage therapists. I sell it, and my clients live it. I hope this helps.

One more thing! There is a great book called Somatics, by Thomas Hannah. It has very low impact exercises to help strengthen and straighten your back and body.

I used to have a good bit of back pain until I started sleeping with a fluffy pillow between my knees (I sleep on my side). This helped bring my outside knee level - previously the knee was pulling at my back and straining it.

I hope you get relief from the pain soon. One more possibility here.

I suffered from pain between my shoulder blades and in my neck muscles, and my late husband used to give me a massage at least once a day for about 35 years before I found a partial solution, quite by chance. My doctor had recommended that I take magnesium for my nocturnal leg cramps, and it greatly relieved the deep muscle cramps in my back and shoulders, too. Unless you have kidney problems, magnesium supplements are pretty safe. The tolerable upper limit for supplements in the US is set at 350 mg, though doctors do prescribe higher doses for specific problems. Some calcium is needed in the diet to utilize the magnesium, so it might be a good idea to take it with a glass of milk or something. I wouldn't take it long term without talking to a doctor, but usually one can tell if you taking too much, as you'd get diarrhea, so a short term trial period is not likely to present a problem unless you have a kidney problem.

I´m so sorry to heard that Emmett...
Have you ever to Try a 3 doubles Tequila?? maybe the paind don´t dissapair but you forget all about it.. ...just kidding my friend!
Hope you get soon well!

Thanks for all your tips. I hope some of them help. As you can see its nearly 3am and I"m up from the pain.

Aw I feel ya! Hope you get some answers.