What to do about a sore part of my back?

Asked by The_Inquisitor (3163

) June 15th, 2011

Last summer I went for my BMQ training. (Basic Military Qualification) For the last ruck sack march that we did, it was the 13k march that took us about 2.5 hours. The ruck sack, I believe was weighing somewhere around 50 pounds. During the last half hour, my upper right back near my shoulder blade started to cramp. I think it cramped the entire way back to the barracks, and the weight of my ruck sack made it worse, but it also was easier to ignore the pain at the time because of that weight.

It’s been a year now, and it never really hurt after that course, but now I’m feeling soreness when I awake in the morning, and in random parts of the day. If I look all the way to my right as far as I can, that part of my back that had cramped up during the last ruck sack march feels strained. Or when I do a right shoulder check while driving and changing lanes, that part of my back aches.. (>__<)

What shall I do in terms of ridding myself of this sore/ achy/ straining feeling?

I’m not sure if the opportunity cost of going to the doctors is worth it… unless you can persuade me that I may suffer serious permanent damage.. it’s easy to get me paranoid

Any suggestions? Know of any back exercises to strengthen my back?

(If this helps, I am a 19 year old female.)

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6 Answers

Yoga. Especially the Eagle Pose

Judi (40025

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Physical therapy.

Rarebear (25192

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Coming from another person that has struggled with back problems I believe that if it has been a year that you need to seek some medical attention. If you are worried just start with a family doctor and work your way up to a specialist if needed.

From experience, I went a year with pain and then spent 7 months working up to a specialist that is 1 of 3 in the country that specializes in the back problem I have because it is so rare. This is an extreme circumstance but I believe that if you have had problems for so long that you need to start finding a permanent solution because you don’t know know how long it will take to figure out the problem because it may not have a simple solution of yoga or physical therapy.

ejedlicka (267

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@ejedlicka, well, it’s been a year since that time that I did the ruck sack march, and during the year, I was fine, until just recently. But thank you for the warning. If I had indeed struggled with this ache for a year consistently, then I would have already searched for medical attention. But no, it was a year ago that a heavy pack that I carried must have caused my ache (or so I believe).

The_Inquisitor (3163

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Chiropractor visits scheduled regularly have helped my husband. He also uses one of these back stretchers/realigners for 10mins nightly…Along with a healthy diet, exercise and ab work outs.

SpatzieLover (24606

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This will not actually solve the underlying problem but as a stopgap measure, I have found that Nabumetone helps relieve the inflamation and lets me get on with life. I used to take Ketoprofens which actually worked better but once Orudis went OTC they quit prescribing them in large enough doses and switched me. (I would take a couple of 250mg tabs and that would be an entire bottle of the Over-The-Counter version of 20 ea – 25mg tablets).

rojo (24179

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