BURNING SENSATION IN UPPER BACK

[tballentine]

HELLO, NEW TO FORUM, HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP ME WITH THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING. I HAVE SEVERE BURNING IN MY UPPER BACK,BETWEEN MY SHOULDER BLADES THAT TO ME IS GETTING WORSE AS THE DAYS GO BY. I HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS BUT THAT HAS NEVER BEEN THIS PAINFUL. I AM ONLY 38 YEARS OLD AND CAN BARELY FUNCTION DURING THE DAY. THE BURNING IS SO GREAT THAT IT MAKES ME FEEL SICK AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO GO TO THE DOCTOR OR WHAT. I HATE TO PAY 25.00 FOR HIM TO TELL ME IT'S MY OSTEOPOROSIS. DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO BE CONCERNED WITH IT BEING SOMETHING ELSE OR WHAT. ANYONE OUT THERE THAT HAS A BACK LIKE THIS? PLEASE LET ME KNOW

[Enoch Choi]

I'm sorry for your burning upper back pain.

Please be advised that discussions in the patient-to-patient forums serve as general health information, not intended guide your specific treatment. MedHelp physicians can comment on treatment options in general, not specific to your case.

This forum is not intended to give advice for diagnosis or treatment of your symptoms. It's intended for general information not specific to a single patient. Please see your doctor for your concerns about your burning upper back. There's a lot more that can be done to look into your symptoms.

When patients complain to me of burning pain beween their scapula, one of the things I think of gastroesophageal reflux, especially if the symptoms also appear in front, say in the sternum or middle upper abdomen. That's because when someone with GERD lies down, the acid travels from the stomach to the esophagus and causes burning pain (which can be in front or also in upper back). PPI's proton pump inhibitors (nexium and prilosec and aciphex and protonix) are the most helpful medicines for this problem, but when they're not giving enough relief in a few weeks, I find that adding an antacid at maximal dose (H2 blocker such as tagamet, zantac, pepcid) at night helps with nighttime symptoms since the PPI has worn off by then.

Propping up the head of the bed helps. Not eating/drinking in the evening helps. Eating larger meals earlier in the day helps. Waiting on drinking fluids until after eating helps (the food absorbs the acid in your stomach). Eating smaller meals more frequently helps.

There's more on this topic at:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Urgent-Care/messages/58.html
which I copied some of my comments to here.

Enoch Choi, MD

[silly1012]

I have been having these burning sensations in my upper body sometimes in the front and sometims in the back under my breast bone.  I am taking Aciphex for 7 days now has relieved some of the systoms but the buring int he back started.

Please help

[mike1105]

i doubt it is osteoporisis, and While the gastric reflux idea is interesting, I doubt that too. I think pateints know gastrcially if they are having that problem.


I think you are having rhomboid muscle spasm. it comes from weak mid back muscles, which in turn comes from rounded posture very common these days due to computer use. See a website by Jolie Bookspan, and Erik Dalton. Erik has a great write up on Upper Crossed syndrome which you will find by searching thru his site. The fix is to srttrengthen the mid back muscles (shoulder blade pinching exercises) and to stretch and release the trigger points of the short tight SCMs scalenes, upper traps and pecs.

[Enoch Choi, MD]

7 days isn't long enough to take the pain away completely, keep on trying it and let your doctor know how you're feeling

[help59]

How long does it take for PPI to start working?
I been on them for 4 weeks and still have burning.

[help59]

How long does it take for gallbladder surgery to heal completey?
I did not have stones.
I had the surgery Dec6,2007.

[chrisl78]

dear mike,
i am sure that you are on the right path!  my name is chris, i am 47 years old female.  when i say old i mean old, i do things to help my outer appearence to look better than i actually feel.  my event started 30 years ago after a serious auto accident. i cracked a few bones in my neck.  sounds bad, but it was not until about a year after the accident that by back pain started.  it felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat, and they are still hitting me even today!  i do find, like yourself that it is muscle related.  though, all of the doctors that i have been too, told me everything from nerve damage to the best one of all " we cannot find anything so it must be in your head!". and top that off everytime i injure myself again, i cannot even heel the new part because my pain is so severe.  i for years have tried to do evrything that i can do, i am powerful, ha!  this last injury has stopped me in my tracks. i have so much to live for but yet nothing.  thank you for letting me say all that!

[t50]

I don't normally make any comments but after reading what you wrote Maybe someone will find my posting humerous. I came online to seek some help on  severe burning pain I have had for the past 6 years after my first cervical Fusion. I was told by my surgeon (haha) It would go away if I went through a second surgery! (what a joke!  )Here I am years later on a ridiculios amount of medication through pain management. The humerous part is my diagnosis is.mylofascial pain syndrome.. yup,,( a fancy name for muscle pain)  I"m not only experiencing an incredible on going burning sensation on the top part of my neck that travels into my shoulder,,Every now and then I   feel as if someone is taking a lazer gun to the top of my neck and it shoots down my spine. It only lasts a few secounds but its powerful. NO doctor in my opnion has given me a straight diagnosis.. I'm not sure Where the Doctor's are going to medical school anymore.  I am desperate for help from anyone who may have similiar pain. or is going through the same thing. please write back. I am beyond the point that the medicaton is no longer working either. Thanks  Sue

[LCDLBA]

Like many of you here, I am having severe daily burning and pain the my rhomboid muscles in my back. I don't have all of the answers but I do have a GREAT PCP and Pain mgmt doctor that are doing a lot to help me. I hope by sharing my diagnosis with you, that you may be able to find more info on them and take them to your pain doctor to discuss. First, I have osteophyte complex in the area of C3-6 and T1-4, bulging discs at T1 and C5. I have degenerative disc disease in the areas between C2 and T3 as well as scoliosis. My cervical vertebra have lost so much moisture in them, that I hear crunching in my neck every time I turn my neck. This is common with the degeneration in the cervical and thoracic areas of the back. As for cures, sadly there isn't a quick fix for this. Here are suggestions that have helped me through my personal ordeal. They may or may not work great for you but at least it is a place to start. First, I got an MRI of back and neck. After results, doc sent me to physical therapy which actually helps quite well. I began spinal injections as well as facet injections. I will caution you that I had fairly bad pain with the first two spinal injections, but the facet injections are quite easy. I got more relief in the top of my back than the rhomboid area in my back, so will go through a process of heating (burning) some of the nerves in this area of my back now to see how much more relief I may be able to get. I am currently on the following meds: Tramadol (AM) Soma or Flexaril, as needed ( I alternate) and Percocet in the PM. I also use a regular multi vitamin and recently used Juice Plus. A diet rich in vitamins AS WELL AS hydration has been very important for me. I eat lots of salads and fruits and veggies. My doctor also just told me to begin taking glucosamine  with msm, so I will start that this week. I hope some of this may help. The more research I have done on this I have found little help and mostly people saying "oh yeah I have that too." Of course I am NOT a doctor and am not offering up medical advice, but just hope that you might me able to take this info to your doctor and ask him to begin looking more into your pain. From my experience, it is just going to continue to get worse and if it is something you can begin working on now, I would do it! Best of luck to all of you!