Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

[Weeks]

I was wondering if any of you guys could help me out. I've been having upper back pain between my shoulder blades for about a month now. It's not a constant pain, but rather a stabbing pain at certain movements.

It's kind of on and off, but recently I played a super physical game of bball and now it's been hurting pretty bad.

It hurts the most when I squeeze my shoulder blades together, turn my neck far to one side, or any motion that involves a lot of shoulder.

I'm just asking because I used to have lower back pain, and then I learned that if I stretch my hamstrings before playing bball it should help, and that made the pain go away instantly.

Thanks

[Splitter77]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

i had that same pain for about 2-3 months.
Im pretty sure i did it lifting some wall partitions into a dumpster.

hold both arms out as if you were flexing, then bring both back as far as you can. Thats when it hurt the most for me.

I usually just tried to stretch it out. I did that flexing i mentioned above, following by bringing the arms forward until they crossed each other. Not sure if it helped any as I still had the pain for over 2 months i think.

[trobinson97]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

I get that from time to time, I know how you feel. Stretch it out, get a good soak in some Epsom Salt to relax the muscles and that should provide some relief, it does for me most of the time.

[snepp]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

Get yourself a woman.

[Weeks]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

Thanks guys, I think it's my rhomboid muscles being over stretched (I kind of slouchover some and dont have great shoulder or neck posture), so I'm just kind of forcing upright posture.

The rhomboids are the muscles that connect the shoulder blades together, inbetween them, and my posture is kind of where my shoulder blades curve in a little

I think I strained it though in a very physical basketball game, but it's gotten a lot better.

I'm also a rower so I'm doing a constant pulling motion with resistance which is stretching out the rhomboids and causing the pain. I'm also on the comp quite a bit so that causes bad posture for me

I've been icing, using ibuprofen, and taking it easy until it gets better. It's almost gone now.

[Weeks]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

i had that same pain for about 2-3 months.
Im pretty sure i did it lifting some wall partitions into a dumpster.

hold both arms out as if you were flexing, then bring both back as far as you can. Thats when it hurt the most for me.

I usually just tried to stretch it out. I did that flexing i mentioned above, following by bringing the arms forward until they crossed each other. Not sure if it helped any as I still had the pain for over 2 months i think.

Do you have bad posture? Like do you sit at a computer a lot, with your neck forward and your shoulders rounded in?

If so, you probably have an overstretching, like me, of the rhomboid muscles which connect your shoulder blades. And most likely when you were lifting that thing you strained it (which is tearing of the muscle fibers).

If you have that I recommend you sit up straight, neck straight up, shoulders back, and you ice and ibuprofen.

Dont do stretches that are supposed to stretch out your back because that makes it worse if your rhomboids are overstretched, the flexing stretch you said sounds good though to stretch the pecs and get an opposite motion of your rhomboids and shoulders

[Splitter77]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

Do you have bad posture? Like do you sit at a computer a lot, with your neck forward and your shoulders rounded in?

If so, you probably have an overstretching, like me, of the rhomboid muscles which connect your shoulder blades. And most likely when you were lifting that thing you strained it (which is tearing of the muscle fibers).

If you have that I recommend you sit up straight, neck straight up, shoulders back, and you ice and ibuprofen.

Dont do stretches that are supposed to stretch out your back because that makes it worse if your rhomboids are overstretched, the flexing stretch you said sounds good though to stretch the pecs and get an opposite motion of your rhomboids and shoulders

yup. sit at a pc quite a bit at work. maybe 2hrs a day.
also have horrible posture. lean forward when watching tv, sporting events, and my truck seat has to to set far back when im driving. like im in a lazyboy.
i cant sit up straight. ive tried but it last about a minute.

[Weeks]

Re: Upper back pain (between shoulder blades)

yup. sit at a pc quite a bit at work. maybe 2hrs a day.
also have horrible posture. lean forward when watching tv, sporting events, and my truck seat has to to set far back when im driving. like im in a lazyboy.
i cant sit up straight. ive tried but it last about a minute.

That's it, I can guarantee you.

I'm a rower, and the coaches got on me about sh*tty posture when rowing (which was a result of horrible posture my whole life).

I basically just had to force it, which was difficult as hell but I've made improvements.

If I were you, I would focus on sitting up tall for a certain amount of time and then increase the time each day.

I also don't know if you do any type of lifting, but I found that dead lifting (with proper form) really helped strengthen my back muscles. If you're gonna try, make sure you got good form or it could mess up your back. Start with low weight.

I'm gonna be a senior in HS next year, but I'll post picture of me rowing from freshman, sophomore, and junior year to show my improvement.

Trust me, I was probably worse than you