Upper back/neck strain caused heart palpitations.

Hi all,
I strained my upper back/neck muscles when working on my laptop for too long and then over stretching my already stiff back. After I felt I over stretched it, I immediately had a feeling like my spine was unstable and then had a random heart palpitation. I now have been getting these weird "feels like heart is skipping a beat for 1 second" for a few weeks now. It has gotten better, but my back and neck still are not 100%. I am assuming a nerve is irritated in my upper back. Can anyone help provide some insight on this issue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, for context, I am 28 and workout weekly, so by no means am I out of shape. However, I am tall, so have always experienced back pain.

@bigredak Hello and welcome to Connect. I am a cervical spine surgery patient. Having heart palpitations because of cervical neck tightness can happen with a spine condition or possibly thoracic outlet syndrome. I have both of those, and had a fusion of C5/C6.

Have you been seen by a doctor for this? A doctor needs to determine if there is another cause for heart palpitations such as a thyroid condition, breathing problem like asthma, or a heart issue, etc. It is too easy to think you know what's wrong when there can be overlapping symptoms from different problems, and you don't know what you don't know.

If the problem does turn out to be neck related, perhaps a physical therapist can help. It's best to see a spine surgeon who will do some imaging such as an MRI. Even if that doesn't find anything, a physical therapist who also does myofascial release can help a problem like this. Tightness in muscles, spasms and tight fascia can compress nerves which can cause palpitations. Nerves exit the spinal cord between every vertebrae to go everywhere in the body, and if those nerves are affected by tight neck muscles, they can be compressed. That can happen to me, but I also have asthma that contributes when allergies cause inflammation, and other spine patients have said the same thing that they have had palpitations related to the neck.

Here is our discussion on myofascial release.

Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

The change in neck position that brings on symptoms can be a warning sign of a spine problem, and should be investigated by a specialist. It would be worth a call to your insurance to find in network spine surgeons because if you do end up needing a procedure, it can be very expensive.

Have you been seen by a doctor for this condition?

Hi,

Thanks for the response.

I have been seen by a doctor and they said my cervical spine is tight and spasming from the strain. I am healthy and do not have underlying conditions (thyroid, HBP, asthma, etc.). These heart palpitations (which have gotten better) began immediately after I strained my upper back and neck, and they get triggered if my neck is staring down too long or in bed in a bad position.

I was also wearing KT tape to help my neck strain weakness and since taking it off, I actually have not had any heart palpitations. Wondering if the KT tape was further compressing one of my nerves. It does sound like my back tightness is the cause and I do have a prescription for PT.

If you have any other advice in the meantime, it would be greatly appreciated.

@bigredak I have had a lot of success with myofascial release. If you find a PT who is also skilled with this, that would be beneficial. It stretches out all the tightness. I would think KT tape could increase tightness if you neck is already too tight. It's sounds like you found a solution.

There is a provider search at http://mfrtherapists.com/

I've been looking everywhere online for symptoms like this, I get the palpitations also when I put some strain or stress on my upper back and neck also in the mornings when I lay down, did you ever get them when you swallow for example drinking, or eating? I got MRI done and I have C4 and C5 protrusion. I've been referred to PT

I used to do a lot of calisthenics and gymnastics up until one day I heard my neck really bad then I decreased the amount of exercise mainly because the pain would be coming back the more I would work out, now it's been about 4 years since then and I started getting the palpitations I've seen doctors everything looks fine with the blood tests, xrays. Mri showed a little petition in my cervical spine however most doctors don't seem to look at it too seriously and just have referred to me to PT, but after reading I've been suspecting that maybe muscle strain or some knots in the muscles.

Hey! Symptoms have improved a ton, as my neck and back have gotten stronger. The X-ray showed my neck was overly straight caused by a strained CT junction and weak muscles. I have been doing PT the past month to strengthen this area and my palpitations and other symptoms have improved tremendously. I also heard a hatial hernia can cause these types of symptoms, so if you get that after eating that likely is it. The vagus nerve can get irritated if stretched or compressed, that is what causes those weird palpitations, so fixing that will fix everything else most likely. I couldn’t believe how off and weak my neck was, it’s actually feeling better than it did before I hurt it in the first place! Good luck!

Bro I have same problem can we talk on social media once, my insta I'd is - raghav_2512

Having similar symptoms, can you go in detail how you found what was wrong and what exercises helped fix it. Thanks.

Were you refering to me about the symptoms?