Junior Member

Posts: 15
From:Winchester, VA, 22601
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-11-2003 07:33 PM            

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About a year ago I injured my back. Apparently I lifted too much at the gym on a machine that I hadn't used before. My whole back and the sides of my arms were sore. Over the next few months the pain in my lower back and arms went away but my upper back was still hurting. It ended up being just pain in the nerves but it was very bad. It was pain from the muscles directly under the rhomboid muscle and the nerves that hurt were along the edge of the scapula (I think that is what it is called). About 9 months after the injury some of the nerves on the lower part of the scapula stopped hurting, before that it was the same amount of pain for the 9 months. Now it only hurts in one nerve which is the one that caused me the most trouble the whole time. I also have pain in the other side of my back (right) in the exact same area only not as bad. It has been a year now since the injury and even though I've started to recover I am still worried it won't ever completely go away. Though the pain comes from only one spot on each side it can still be just as strong as ever. Doctors have given my only vauge explanations and I didnt even know it was a pinced nerve until my 3rd doctor visit. I still have problems with certain activities like sitting and homework. I am worried because I am going to a 4 year school in 2 months with alot of homework! I wish I could get rid of this in the next 2 months but I'll be happy if i can just get rid of it. I get occasional muscle twitches in my back too. I haven't lost any strength but the muscles under the romboid have no feeling on the worser side(hasn't since I started treatment). I can still fully use the muscles but they crack alot when I move around. What is weird is that the nerve pain dosn't always come on by the same activities and sometimes starts by just thinking about it! It is very difficult to control and will often vanish after hurting to an extreme! I take perscription medicine and use ice as well as rotation exercises. I'm just wondering if these things can heal even past a year of the injury. Please give me some advise. Will I fully recover and get my muscle feeling back?

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Senior Member

Posts: 108
From:USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 06-14-2003 02:34 AM            

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I'm not an expert, but if your upper back pain lies between your spine & your shoulder blade on both sides, you might have active "trigger points" there that are causing you the pain. (trigger points are knots, ususally as a result of injury or muscle stress or strain that can cause either local or referred pain because the blood supply can't get through & oxygen is cut off). A non-drug remedy for this could be very deep massage against a wall vertically with a tennis ball or, even better, a hard rubber ball of about the same size for about a minute several times a day over a period of at least a couple weeks. I will warn you if you have these trigger points (& it sure sounds like you do), this area will be very very tender & this massage will hurt, but less and less as you keep doing the massage & the knots continually disintegrate from the deep rolling pressure & the pain eventually leaves.

I used this massage therapy just a few days ago on a painful lower backache I developed & the pain went away within several hours, whereas before learning about this self-therapy, it would take my almost semi-annual backache at least three days (together with an over-the-counter pain killer) to run its course. Your situation is more chronic since its been going on for a year, so results might take a little longer,though you should get at least some immediate pain relief.

I suggest you might do a web search to read up on "trigger point therapy" & how it works. There's a few helpful books out there geared to the non-professional with pretty explicit illustrations & directions on how to use this "remedy" for pain in almost any part of the body.

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Junior Member

Posts: 15
From:Winchester, VA, 22601
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-14-2003 02:14 PM            

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Actually, to tell you the truth, I tried this early on in my injury. Sometimes it made it feel better and others it made it feel worse. When I found out the real problem was a pinched nerve I stopped using the tennis ball for fear that I was further damaging the nerves. Now I use it rarely, mostly to feel how the muscle is. I used to have several really tight muscles in the area which I worked out with the tennis ball but the muscle itself no longer seems to have any of those. I will take your advise but I want to avoid putting preasure that is too direct onto the area. I guess at this point anything is worth a try. A little while ago i went to a family doctor that used some chiropractic moves on me and my back cracked 6 times! I did notice a bit of relief and I find that cracking my upper back on my own helps too though I never thought my problem had anything to do with my spine.

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Senior Member

Posts: 108
From:USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 06-16-2003 01:07 PM            

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The other possibility is that the pain you have in your Rhomboids muscle is actually coming from your Scalenes muscles, which are a group of three or four small muscles on each side of the neck. Have you checked into that yet? These muscles can refer pain to your chest,upper back, shoulder, arm & even hand.

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Junior Member

Posts: 15
From:Winchester, VA, 22601
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-18-2003 09:30 AM            

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Yeah, those were the muscles I was trying to describe. It used to hurt in all those areas now it is just in one spot on either side, though i get painless twitching in my whole upper back and down to my triceps. It usually happens when I sit and i think it is my injury telling me not to do it. The tennis ball helps 100%! As long as I do it 2 to 3 times a day I have no pain and it has worked the past 6 days that i tried it!

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Senior Member

Posts: 108
From:USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 06-18-2003 03:04 PM            

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I'm happy you're getting good response from the "tennis ball massage" (though I still prefer a harder rubber ball---I don't think my dogs have missed their toy yet!)

The "correct way" for this massage is to go deeply only in one direction & very slowly, rather than back & forth, maybe one massage stroke per a couple of seconds. It's easier to control the ball if you put it in a longish sock slung over your shoulder. But whatever works I always say.

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Junior Member

Posts: 15
From:Winchester, VA, 22601
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-19-2003 04:06 PM            

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Just a little curious though. Does this mean I will have to use the tennis ball everyday or will it eventually completely clear up. I am also concerned with the numbness in the area. Is the numbness because of the knots? Back in January I went to a physical thearopist who did these messages but at that time my spasms were so bad that the problem would come back right when I was done! Now, the tennis ball message stuff seems to have a greater effect and I have been able to control the pain but I am really hoping to eliminate it and return to my normal self again. I understand what causes the knots to form which is things such as sitting but I will eventually be doing these things very often so I need to get rid of the knots entirely.

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Senior Member

Posts: 108
From:USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 06-19-2003 09:33 PM            

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My understanding is that these knots tend to come back again if you don't do at least minimal maintenance. In fact it's quite likely you have other knots from your injury that will flare up again later in life & cause problems that you're not even aware of. At least the tennis ball therapy is cost effective & not particularly time-consuming to keep your pain at bay. You certainly can opt to "leave it" & see what happens.

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Junior Member

Posts: 15
From:Winchester, VA, 22601
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 07-07-2003 10:44 PM            

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I don't get it. Does this mean I have perminent nerve damage? Even if it isn't spine related? Every doctor seemed pretty condfident I would make a full recovery. I have another appointment in a few days so maybe I can get the doc to clear up the confusion. Hopefully, I can get her to be honest with me! I just wish their was a way out of this mess.

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