Try a chiropractor if massage therapy doesn’t fix it. Massage relaxes the muscles but chiro manipulation restores vertebral joint motion, which could also be the problem.
Got a very localized pain in my back. Here’s the symptoms, please let me know if you have an idea of what it could be.
very localized, mid back in the middle and a little to the left side
hurts to put pressure on it or try to massage it
pain when jumping or agitation like that, as well as mildly if I take a very deep breath
it’s causing general muscle soreness spreading to my lower back, not too bad, but annoying
it came on after a 16k run in the rain (off and on rain from almost none to terrential downpour) and SOMEWHAT colder weather (~18 - 20C)
Sounds VERY familiar to me. In my case, it was a “Rib head” that had slightly dislocated (where the rib joins the spinal column). Mine was right between the shoulder blades. NASTY pinch, well treated with by my Chiropractor who specializes in ART. My issue required some gym time to re-strengthen back muscles once the problem had been treated & inflammation had gone.
That could just be a really bad back spasm. I think I had something similar that took forever to heal. The worst part was with all of the tightness in my back, it pulled my hips out of alignment and gave me wicked IT band and hamstring problems.
Once the pain goes away, you’re going to need to strengthen your back and supporting muscles bigtime to prevent this from happening again. I suggest the magical, ancient, full of hotties world of yoga class. Not only will you improve your flexibility, you’ll strengthen the begeesus out of your core, insuring this probably won’t happen again.
I agree with the others as it appears to be a rib head issue. Yes, it can be very painful. Soft tissue massage, rib head manipulation and follow-up strengthening should take care of the problem. In my experience it is a relatively easy issue to fix. Have it checked out by a local Chiropractor.
As Dr. Hibbert said on The Simpsons, the unfortunate fact is that there is relatively little that modern medicine can do for problems of the back. We tend to mostly just concentrate on the front.
x2 on using a chiropractor who also does ART. This way they can figure out exactly what you need, instead of just trying to fix it with the one skill they have. As the old proverb goes, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Bizzy-One of my friends, IMH finisher Jeff Conrad, MD supplied me with the following last year: Back pain results in 15 million visits to the doctor’s office per year and 95% of us will have at least one episode in our lifetimes. It’s the second leading cause of visits to primary care offices.
Pain in the “mid back” is seldom of slipped or herniated disc origin. Tim Deboom’s chances for the trifecta in 2003 in Kona were spoiled by a kidney stone…and that’s where they hurt. Also under consideration could be a sprain/strain, compression fracture, etc. If you don’t see some level of improvement in what you consider a reasonable period, get it looked at. In my office we probably wouldn’t x-ray it on the first visit but it may come to that. Good luck.
Your symptoms sound like a thoracic spine facet joint or rib are locked up. I would agree that you should see a good manual physical therapist who specializes in spinal mobilizations.