Back Pain in the Morning

[SkyerNite]

I'm a 26 yr old Male, who currently suffers from back pains in the mornings. Other than the back pains, I would say that I am a healthy and fit person.

The pain only occurs in the mornings. As soon as I get up and start moving around, and stretching out the back, the pain starts to dissappear, with only a slight tingle left during the day, but not really noticeable.

I've tried so many things:
- Celebrex (this helped to relieve the pain, however as soon as I stopped using it, the pain instantly came back. I don't want to be taking drugs for the rest of my life).

- Chiro, this seemed to only provide temp. relief also, but the pain is still there.

- Osteopath, same as Chiro, however has helped my correct my posture.

- I've tried accupuncture, and again this hasn't helped.

- Fearing the worst, I went to the doctors and told them about the pain, and he ordered an xray for my back and this came back fine.

- I've changed my mattress twice now to one that is designed to support the back.

- I've paid attention to my pillow, and have changed that too, to one that provides greater support (latex - dunlopillow)

- I try to exercise regularly, and pay particular attention to stretching out the back.

I believe that the pain must be associated with the way that I sleep. However how does one control how they sleep when they are unconcious. I sleep on my back and sides (when I'm aware). When on my side I bend my knees slightly.

I've had this pain for about 1 year now, and I'm getting very concerned. Any suggestions?

(***@****)

[sdent]

I am 22 and having a similar issue as well.  I am in excellent health, yet I have back pain in the morning.  I have been through 2 sessions of Pysical Therapy and have had x-rays and an MRI taken as well.  The PT doesn't help and the tests show normal results.  Yet, when I wake up I can't even move.  If I try to roll on my side there is too much pain.  I can't move my legs much without severe pain.  And walking...yeah right.  It is typically in my left buttocks area, but I can sense that it goes into my lower back and sometime upper thigh area.  It seems to get better as I walk for the next 30 min. or so.  
I don't stress my back and I have tried many things even changing our mattress.  But it seems that sleeping must be related to the pain getting worse.  Pinched nerve?  Back muscles?  I don't know.  But it is very aggrivating to wake up to this every morning lately.   The pain is so bad I yelp eveytime I try to move.  If anyone has any tips please fill me in.
(***@****)

[MikeDK]

I am thirty years old and very active. I have moutain biked for years and have never had back problems until this year. It started with pain across my lower chest area which I thought was from a past broken rib incident. I now wake up almost daily, aspecially when more active, with pain in my mid to lower back. I still feel the lower chest pain as well. I have had an x-ray, bought a new bed, changed my stretching routine and gotten nowhere. The pain is deep and runs vertically along the muscles up my spine and is ocasionally acompanied by jolts of pain in the same area. These jolts some times radiate to my affected chest area as well. I know the problem is all from one source but seem to get no sound advice from the medical world. This problem has gone on for nearly a year now and came on originally for now apparent reason. I am starting physio soon in hopes that will help, but I am skeptical as the pain is not at all present once I have been up and active through out the day.

I wish I could be the guy to actually offer some insight into this problem that a few of us seem to be experiencing, but...

If anyone can shed some light on this issue, we'd all appreciate it.

[GH1971]

I am a 34 yr old woman who is also in good health and I have the exact same issue.  I work out 3-4 times per week and do pilates twice a week.  When I get up in the morning I am almost afraid to move because the pain is so intense, but within 2 hours it has faded to tolerable and within another 2 hours pretty much gone.  I have tried memory foam pillows, new mattress, shoes, I stopped running and changed to another form of cardio, but nothing helps.  Please let me know if you receive any information regarding relief.  I will skip the chiro and x-rays.  It has been brought to my attention that it may be a kidney or bladder problem, but that wouldn't explain why the pain subsides by the afternoon.  I'm miserable!!

[Tdjenks]

Hello. My name is Terry. I'm a 35 year old male. I have been having the same problems with my back for the last year and a half and has gotten much worse over time.
My back hurts extremly bad when I awake in the morning, normaly with only 4-5 hours of sleep. After about a few hours i'm usually feeling good again with just a slight pain maybe. I have worked out for the last 5 years straight averaging 3-4 times a week. In my routine, I have worked out to bulk up, and to tone during this time. I would run also in my workouts. To my knowledge I don't believe I have ever hurt myself during my workouts nor hurt at all during them. I have had many visits to have my back adjusted, but no changes there. I have even changed my matress a few times as well. All top quality matresses, but no matter how hard or soft my bed may be, the pain is always returning in the morning. If I take motrin it's temporary relief but I don't want to be on that to long either.
Let me tell you a few things also that may help us all figure this thing out. I like to ride quads, and use to jump alot. I love soda, in fact drink soda around the clock for many years now. I would only drink water during my workouts, but morning to night soda. I also goto the bathroom alot duirng the night due to heavy soda drinking before bed. I wanted to mention what could be all of our problem possibly. You don't have to drink alot of soda to have this problem, but any carbonation will do. I'm beginning to believe that its the carbonation thats causing this problem only in the morning.  Let me explain. In the past  sometimes when I lay down to sleep, I would get carbonation in my chest right away, and had to burp alot and get it out so I could lay down in peace to sleep.  This wouldn't happen all the time, but I notice when I was laying back slightly while drinking the soda, it would pretty much like clock work. If I stand up duirng this pain, I wouldn't feel it anymore, only laying down. That pain would be in the chest area, and would hurt it just like the current back pain.
I believe the carbonation has built up somehow, or is getting easier access to areas in my back or even muscles to cause discomfort over time. The explantion of it going away makes sense when you get up and move around during the day. Now I have quit working out completely for now, and i'm going to drnk only water around the clock to see if this actually helps or not. I don't hurt when I use the bathroom, and always go when I feel the need too. Maybe we can piece this together. Please in past responses, tell what your eating habits and drinking habits are. I have over the years have eaten much fast food, but still look in good shape. 5'9 1/2  183 pounds.
I understand the worse thing we can put in our bodies is carbonation. I will update in 2 weeks if anything changes. Sometime around Oct 9th 2005.

[Tdjenks]

1 day update.
Last night I slept 7 hours and didn't have the same pain as I have had for a while.  So the carbonation may be at least my problem. I drank alot of water sunday and slept much better then usual.  I will continue this patern and will notify any other changes. This could possibly be all our problems. And it doesn't have to be soda or alot, just one of any bevage with carbonation.
I'm not sure if I mentioned, but on Saturday when I started thinking about the possiblity of carbonation being my problem at least, I started burping alot that morning and started to feel instant relief in my back. I know it sounds weird, since we all know the chest feeling, but in the back?  Anyhow. I will update more.
Terry

[Loukout]

As I read everyone's post I finally feel that there are people out there that understand me.  It's been about 10 years that I have had this problem and no one can help me.  I have been to Chiro's for over 7 years, pain killers, MRI's, you name it.  I even went as far as getting a really expensive mattress.  I thought I had it under controll but it has come back stronger than ever.  I know how I aggrivated it but I don't know how to stop it.  It's the worst in the morning.

As for the carbination thing...  After reading it all I could think about is how bad my back gets after a night of drinking beer.  Could there be a similarity??  Now, I don't drink that many soft drinks but I am going to watch your post Teri.  I did I have one today so we shall see.  I also took two tylenols to see if that would help.  Believe it or not, I never had done that.  Let me know if anyone receives any results... ***@****

Wayne

[wallofchaos]

Does anyone believe that this pain may be comming from say Kidneys?
Depeneding on what you drink the night before.
I seem to think this has something to do with it.

but yet at the same time dont.

Why would the SPINE hurt and not just the lower area of the back?

So anyway im a 32 y.o. male and this has been going on for years.

yes MRI's and Physical therapy ect ect ect. beds, yoga. name it ive done it.

It is something I deal with and have to accept. I dont want to but who has a choice in the matter?

It would be nice to have a site where REAL doctors could answer questions to people in need of just a tad of advice.

By the way. Ice pack for 10 to 15 minutes seems to help.
In my situation anyway.

The pain usually subsides within a few hours.

Thanks for reading.
Comments to ***@****

Sincerely
Dean

[nicholi]

I'm 28 years old and I have been having strictly morning back pain. I wake up from this and have not had good sleep in like a year. I wake up in pain and cannot move from my back to my side with out extreme pain. It doesn't go away until I get in the shower and get dressed and even then slight pain. Hard surfaces seem to be better to sleep on like the floor. Any advice please, thank you.

                                                                                nick

[haley750]

I'm sorry to hear about eveybody's back pain.  Trust me, I know what you are going thru.  I had back surgery a year ago, so I have allot of experience in this area. When you are lying on your back, put a pillow under neath your knees, this will tilt your pelvis slightly, enough to take some pressure of of your back.  Also, when you lay on your side, put a pillow in between your knees, this will help as well.  I have invested in a $2000 bed just so I can have the proper support.  Not saying that you need to spend that much money, thats not the only reason why i bought the bed, but find a bed that is mostly firm but still comfortable.  I would also recommend doing allot of stretches in the morning. A good one is laying on back and bring both knees to chest and holding for about 5 seconds.  Do 10 reps.  If 2 knees to chest is difficult, try bringing one knee to chest. Also, some ice pads might help take the inflammation down if there is any.   I hope some of the things I have said, help.  Good luck!

[SoreBackToo]

Try Multivitamins.

I have had the exact same sore back symptoms in the mornings on & off for the last 10 years.

The pain goes away when I take Pluravit multivitamins (for women) every day. I have to take the multivitamins for a while before they work - about 2 months.
Unfortunately, the Pluravit brand has disappeared from the grocery store shelves where I live, so I am trialling other brands. Cenovis does *not* work. I am now trying Blackmores.

[backpainwater]

I just wrote a long post and then the site lost it (!), so I won't repeat everything here. Basically, I have all of the above and have tried all of the above and what helps is as follows. First, I sleep on my stomach. I never used to, but now it helps. Second, I stay hydrated. If I start to feel the pain and then drink 12 to 24 ounces of water or tea or soda, the pain disappears in about twenty to thirty minutes. Of course, carbonation, caffiene, and alcohol make you pee more, so they may not work as well as water, since they may even dydrate you but after several years of drinking 24 ounces of liquid once in the morning, once at lunch and once in the afternoon, I can't stand water! At any rate, stay hydrated. The doctors thought that maybe I had a urinary tract infection, since the liquids helped, but no tests found anything. Third, I changed my exericse routine. If you do the exact same thing, you may be aggravating your spine or back muscles. For instance, if you run on surface with a slight tilt, you can get repetitive stress injury.

[jessebear75]

I am 31 and have had 3 years of moderate/severe back pain starting ~6 hours after falling asleep each night.  By the time I get out of the shower in the morning it is gone, but I haven't gotten a good night's rest in a long time.  I stretch, take vitamins, eat healthy, exercise regularly, etc.  None of this seems to change the pain.

Although this may not be any consolation to anyone, I am a doctor myself (a pediatrician, not an orthopedist) and can find no definitive cause for the pain.  Obviously, I've gotten desperate enough to search the infallible internet for solutions.  

I do have a few theories.

First, sleep on your back.  If you don’t do this naturally, train yourself.  It keeps your neck straighter.

Second, improve your mattress.  The trouble is not that the mattress is too soft or hard or not supportive enough or not expensive enough.  These are simply marketing concepts.  The problem is that the mattress doesn’t lay your spine out correctly.  I will be the first to admit that I have no idea what "correctly" actually means, but I can tell you that incorrectly is the hammock feeling I get from my current mattress.

I will note that people have body types that vary greatly.  Anyone who is in good physical condition (as many in this post seem to be) will have hips that are narrower than shoulders but with a similar cross-sectional density.  (Yes, I am a nerd.)  This leads to hips that ride lower than feet and shoulders on almost any bed.  Hence, we require a bed that keeps our hips up.  Note that I don’t suggest simply finding a firmer mattress.  Sleeping on a concrete floor will be uncomfortable no matter how appropriate your spinal orientation is.  No, what you need is a mattress that is soft to light touch, but provides greater resistance to heavier loads.  For you engineers out there, imagine the suspension of a BMW (smooth & firm) as opposed to a Cadillac (soft & softer.)  

I bought a new bed a few months ago that is supposed to be *the* bed for back support.  I won’t mention the brand name, but it rhymes with semper-meadic.  My wife loves it, and I hate it.  I guess this entire post is just my way of talking myself into relegating $2000 worth of space foam to the guest bedroom and buying another mattress.

[Still unexplained]

Ive had some of the same symptoms some of you are talking about.  For the last year Ive been waking (after 5-6 hours of sleep) with a dull yet painful flank pain on the lower right side.  powerful enough to wake me.  The pain was lessened if I avoided sleeping on my right side for some reason.  Seemed to be no correlation to food, activity, bed, medication.  Xrays on back, ultrasound on kidneys and cat scan ll came back negative.

5 days ago, my doctor started me on a test run of Flomax.  Mind you, I have no urinary symptoms whatsoever.  Not particularly frequent, no pain in that area, no burning....pretty much normal.  Prostate seems normal (I'm a male in my mid 40s).  Anyhow, the Doc said it was a longshot but maybe it is prostate related.

So for 5 days now I've woken with absolutely no flank pain whatsoever.  Ive never had more than 1 or maybe 2 days without the pain waking me til now and even on those days, I'd still have some pain.  But now nothing.

So, now I will have to make an appointment with the Dr to see what the next step is and find out why relaxing the prostate muscles eliminated the pain.  I'll keep you all informed, but just wanted to pass this along to those of you who have not looked at the prostate as a possible cause of their morning flank pain because of none of those "other" symptoms.

[tugar1288]

Try fish oil, 1000 mg two or three times a day.  This helped me and several of my friends.  One friend went to the doc about his arthritis and doc told him to take fish oil.  To his amazement it helped a lot.  It won't hurt to try it since nothing else has worked.

Good Luck

[jetmakerbrit]

I have been suffering lower back pain every morning for the last two years. As with many of the above descriptions, the pain eases off and my back loosens up after moving about for a while. Today, one of my coworkers happened to ask me a question about back pain that sent me to Google and I stumbled upon the following page...
http://www.arthritis.ca/types%20of%20arthritis/as/default.asp?s=1
Until now I had never heard of 'Ankylosing Spondylitis' (yes I know this is a strange sounding name) or AS as it seems to be known. The description of the symptoms sounds exactly like those I have been suffering though. I intend to visit a doctor this week to see if his professional diagnoses matches my haphazard amateur research.
It sounds as though it is difficult to diagnose AS in it's early stages since the spine structure hasn't changed enough to tell with X-ray though.

[Tailwindscps]

I just recently started this morning pain thing.  I am a 30 yr. old female in good health.  I don't drink any carbonated drinks or caffine, so I dare say it is not that for me.  However, I am not fond of water and don't drink as much as I should. My posture is terrible.  I have only once awaken from the pain, and it goes away as soon as I bounce down the stairs.  It doesn't make sense, but my spine is happier compacted than stretched after a night's rest.  I will explore avenues of liquid intake, but I am glad to not get medical test and change matresses until I explore other avenues.  I haven't seen too many post about chiropractors.  Everyone I know loves going to the chiropractor, but I have been afraid to try it.  Any comments?

[rexdog]

I am almost 69 years old & recently wake up with lower back pain.  I read all of your suggestions & will try drinking more water...I'm hoping it will  help.  Thank you for your excellent suggestions & for sharing your experiences.

[rexdog]

My back pain didn't start until I got older (69).  Does aging has anything to do with back pain only in the morning?

[navisam114]

I have back pain (mid back) which increases when I strectch both of my hands forward/ I have a neck pain when i tilt my head backward and also knee pain while walking. Also I have ankle pain and sometimes hip pain and elbow pain. there is also pain in the back of the head and fingers pain. Doctors ruled out RA and my doctor always tells me rest and it will be fine. I am 36 and cant do any major activity.  Any advice what it could be??

[Jcoplan]

I am also 30 years old and this suddenly appeared about 3 months ago. All of your symptoms match mine exactly. I have no idea what caused it.

[MF567]

My symptoms are very similar and started 8 days ago.  I am a 40 year old male in good condition and weight (I run 5K's, have been lifting weights for 20 years, playing sports...) who just started working out again after taking a few months off for our new baby.  Knowing that I am no longer 25, I wanted to take it "slow" and get things stretched out before hitting things hard again - I chose to start out with a specific back exercise called the "plank " http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm).

So for what it is worth, I can trace my pain not to a mattress, not to my kidney function or other reasons - but specifically to doing 4 days of plank exercises with other basic exercises.  I stopped the morning after noticing the pain but have still had it for the last 4 days, getting worse it seems each day - to the point that it takes all my effort to roll out of bed in the morning.

If there are any clinical folks that could diagnose something from the specific muscle group that is focused on in this exercise, it would be helpful.

[penzerer]

I have had the same back problems on and off for several months.  I'm 30, male, good general health, not smoking nor drinking, healthy diet.  But the lower back pain has been vexing me for quite a while.

I initially blamed my bed.  But sleeping on the floor didn't help at all.  I also exercise and stretch my back regularly.  But that didn't help, either.

Recently I figured it out: As long as I drink before bed a full glass of liquid, water, orange juice, milk, whatever, I will be fine.  I believe the back pain is related to prostate conditions.  Guys, try drinking water and see if that helps.

[sherrieo]

Well I am 31 years old, mother of three rambuncious boys...here i am at 7 am up when everyone is still sleeping but i woke an d my back is killin me allon the right side..been going on for months..after a while it fades to nothing but everymorning i wake up and here it is:)  I have also seeked medical trreatment..nothing, changed beds pillows etc..nothing.  My husband is sweet and tries massages but no nothing..but I havenoticed something the last few times I hadn't eaten anything after 6 and taken flax seed oil pills and basically got rid of all gas..no carbonated stuff and it worked..unfortunately i went to a dessert night party last night, drank beverages, had chili at 9 pm, and ate lots of esserts..and here i am this morning..talking to you..go figure:)

So anyone else with any ideas?

[sherrieo]

Hi..wow...I just used the washroom and my back is almost better...I really do believe trapped gas is the reason for this..so say after 6 no food, try flax seed oil pill before bed,  and drink plenty of water..might jsut work..my back pain is subsiding...lets see if this works:0