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Mid-back muscle spasms: Unending
Does anyone else have thorasic muscle spasms in their back? I have been getting them about 4 times a year for 20 years. They usually last about 6 weeks and go away at night so I can sleep. I have tried all medicines that might be appropriate and nothing stops the spasms during the day. Sitting, lying, standing doesn't matter. The drugs make me feel sick and can't eat and I can't afford to lose weight. Wrecking my life!!
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Hello,
I get a lot of tightness and then spasms in my thoracic back. I have disc bulge at t3/t4 and another at t8/t9. Stretching and myofascial exercises keep things tolerable. I would look on youtube for upper back exercises and you will find a lot of good info. I also would do shoulder exercises.
Thank you, but exercising will bring on a back spasm. Also, physical therapy does the same thing!
I have been having these episodes for 20 years, have been to all kinds of Drs., had CT scans and x-rays and no one can tell me why this is happening. I don't even know what I do to bring it on! It is one muscle, on one side of my back and it spasms about every 15 seconds and it feels like a strong labor pain! Unbelievably, it goes away at night so I can sleep but starts right up when I wake up and continues all day long. The only relief I get is the heating pad on high which means I can't do anything other than sit on the sofa. The spams have lasted from two weeks to two months. I have tried every pain pill short of narcotics, (which have wrecked my stomach) and none of them helped. Has this happened to anyone else?!?
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1 ReactionI'm sure you will get a lot of input and comments on this so I'll keep mine short. Do you have referred pain? meaning anything else outside of the spot in your back? ie. back of thigh or calf, buttocks, hip?
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1 ReactionNo other pain or symptoms! If I did, it might help diagnose these back muscle spasms.
Yes, I had this same kind of spasming for many years. The only way I could get them to stop was to do physical therapy, apply ICE as a heating pad only made it worse with long term use. Relief was temporary with heat and the relaxation would cause muscle tone to be lost. The best exercise I found was to swim as the buoyancy of being in water relieved the stress on the joints and muscles all over my body. My eventual solution was not any I'd wish on my worst enemy. The spasms were due to my spine becoming arthritic and were my body trying to protect itself. Eventually I had to have three surgeries to my spine and a fusion of the vertebrae in order to keep my ability to walk and still there is pain. And narcotics do not control it at all. They only help to make it tolerable for a short time. Good luck with this
I've had such luck with chiropractics that I'm suggest a visit to one. It isn't just that chiropractics can often offer a quick fix, but they can explain cause especially if the cause is positional as yours seems to be. Another advantage is that you can usually be seen same day.
Hello @ksdm, I combined your new discussion on back spasms with your existing discussion "Mid-back muscle spasms" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mid-back-muscle-spasms/ - so the members you met and discussed with would see your new post and update.
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2 ReactionsDon't chiropractors deal with the structure of your back, like the bones? I've had ex-rays that show there is nothing wrong with the bones in my back, so I haven't been to a chiropractor, but thanks anyway!
Thank you for your thoughts, I tried physical therapy once my back returned to normal and the exercises they gave me caused another back muscle spasm! I would think swimming would bring on a muscle spasm as well as PT. I have had CT scans and ex-rays and I have nothing wrong with my spine. This is purely a muscle issue and I wish someone could find a way to make the spasm stop because I am in agony and have to sit in a chair all day every day until it stops! I am 82 years old.