Treats for my back
January 2, 2024 10:28 PM   Subscribe

I have chronic mid-level upper back pain on one side. (My shoulder and ribcage are rotated forward, always have been, but seem to be achier as I age.) I’m currently seeing a physical therapist and doing exercises. However I tried a hot pad for literally the first time ever last month and it blew my mind how nice it felt to just relax that area for a little while. What else can I do to temporarily alleviate the pain when I want to relax?

Things I have tried:
* Ibuprofen (works great, but I have stomach issues and don’t use it often)
* Weed (usually works great but sometimes draws my attention to the pain, and as I get older I don’t like how it affects me in every other way)
* Theragun (too intense)
* Upper back, neck and scalp massages (delightful but scheduling & budget make them a rarity)
* Hot baths (don’t really seem to do much, maybe because of the awkward position of lying in the bathtub)
* Stretching (haven’t really found “the stretch” for this specific part of my back, but deep inhaling seems to kind of stretch me out in the right place when I need to relax for a quick second)

Am I missing out any thing else I can do?
posted by stoneandstar to Health & Fitness (15 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I also have chronic back pain on one side, though it's on the lower part of my back. I use a TheraCane to massage things out, and I lie on a "peanut massage ball" (double lacrosse ball) to roll things out. I've also enjoyed saunas, acupuncture, and tui na. Cardio generally helps me with back pain too.

If ibuprofen works for you (like it does for me), your back pain could be partly due to inflammation. A specialist told me that inflammation-caused pain can be more helped with ice packs than heat, and my experience supports that.

(YMMV, any of these things can be harmful depending on what kind of back pain you have.)
posted by icosahedron at 10:56 PM on January 2, 2024


Best answer: I love my TENS device for muscle pain. I also find adhesive heating patches or muscle rubs helpful.
posted by mezzanayne at 12:13 AM on January 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: There are a bunch of different types of electric massagers, including vibrating ones, hammering ones, kneading ones, and air compression ones. I've found a lot of them helpful for upper body pain (including, surprisingly, the air compression ones, even though they're only applied to legs and arms and not the back or shoulders directly; I still come out with those muscles relaxed. If the theragun type was too intense, these might be worth trying). I've only ever tried the cheapest ones with best reviews, and gotten a fair amount of relief out of them.

If deep breaths help you might try this type of soft ball stretches, despite the cheesy name. I've found it really helpful, although as icosahedron notes, depending on your condition you might find yourself stretching the wrong area too much. You might want to consult with your PT.

Plain old progressive muscle relaxation exercises might also help - while breathing deeply, you go through your entire body and try to tense and then relax each muscle in turn. (I often find it hard to concentrate enough for this, and I think the reason the air compression massage has been helpful is that it kind of makes you tense and relax muscles without thinking about it.)

Menthol pain patches (I like the salonpas ones) can be really helpful for taking your mind off pain, and there are lidocaine and capsicum ones too. You can generally get the same things as a roll-on liquid too instead of stick-on patches.

When you say you tried a hot pad, do you mean an electric one or the stick-on kind usually sold to hikers or to people with menstrual cramps? Both kinds are helpful.
posted by trig at 2:28 AM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: +1 for the double lacrosse ball massager - using one of those has made a huge difference to my back and shoulder stiffness
posted by crocomancer at 3:21 AM on January 3, 2024


I love my TENS and often find its benefits last hours after it turns off. Lidoderm patches are also great, and have the benefit of being something you can stick on while in the bathroom if the pain hits at an inconvenient time to use some of these other options.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:58 AM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: About a year ago, I bought an electric shawl. It's basically an electric blanket, but shawl sized. It now lives on the back of the chair I sit in each morning while I drink my coffee and read the paper, check emails, etc. I turn it on as soon as I sit down and leave it on the entire time I am having my coffee (at least an hour.) It provides low level constant heat and really loosens things up in my back so that when I later do my morning stretches, my back is already pretty loose and my stretches are more effective. It is not as hot as a heating pad, which is nice.

You might also try a foam roller. It can be as effective (and much less expensive) than regular massages. You just have to work on finding a technique that targets that part of your back.
posted by eleslie at 5:46 AM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: Relating to this thread! Seconding the electric shawl- it’s great. I also ordered a set of Chirp wheels early in the pandemic and when I remember to use them, they’re very helpful— not just to roll out my spine, but also to lie and open up my back with my arms out. I’m terrible at remembering to stretch but it does help over time. My PT mentioned als trying to strengthen those muscles and core muscles to take the strain off the back…

In the past I also tried a CBD salve and it did help a bit. My mom has really bad shoulder arthritis and the only things that alleviate it for her is ibuprofen + Tylenol together, and a OTC cream called Joint-Flex with turmeric. Might be worth checking out?
posted by actionpact at 6:02 AM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: Diclofenac gel is a topical NSAID so might be easier on your stomach. It's expensive but so good, and if you have access to Costco it comes in a three-pack of big tubes for about the same price as two regular ones at other stores.
posted by teremala at 7:48 AM on January 3, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I find these Icy Hot (or whatever brand - often the store brand is also good) stick-on patches are great and much less messy than using the gel directly. You can also wear them as you move, which is nice, and will easily stay on overnight/for several hours under a shirt or something.
posted by urbanlenny at 9:25 AM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: If you like a regular heating pad, you will LOVE an infrared heating pad.
It's more expensive, but the regular heating pad only penetrates about a 1/4 of an inch. It feels nice but it's not as effective as infrared, which penetrates 2.3 inches.
Huge difference, and I would never go back to plain old heating pad.
posted by mmf at 9:40 AM on January 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: If your car has heated seats, make a practice of turning it on during your commute for a nice regular heat treatment.
posted by effluvia at 9:41 AM on January 3, 2024


add 2 cups of Epsom salt to the bath and soak for minimum 20 minutes. My chiropractor is a $30 co-pay and I can drop in almost anytime.
posted by ColdIcedT at 12:34 PM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: I just remembered - physio tape/KT tape can surprisingly help a lot sometimes. Ask your PT how they would apply it in your case.
posted by trig at 4:52 PM on January 3, 2024


Best answer: Check out palmitoylethanolamide. It's a "food supplement" that is being investigated for its pain killing and anti-inflammatory actions. It is tolerated much better and has fewer risks and side-effects than things like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. For me, it's been life changing for pain management. I expect in 10 years it'll be in every supermarket and drug store as a first-line choice for pain.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 12:16 PM on January 8, 2024


Depending on the cause of your pain, dry needling might help. The science is so-so, but a single treatment did more for me than all the PT, massage, and stretching/strengthening I'd done previously. My upper back pain was due to office job + big breasts + stress, so my shoulders were rounding forward and everything was getting out of whack.

If you've had acupuncture, this is a bit more intense, but I found it pretty interesting.

I'm a month out from that treatment and the pain has returned a little because I've not been diligent about my PT exercises, so this might just need to be part of my arsenal, but dang. I've never had such an effective treatment of any sort of pain.
posted by punchtothehead at 10:25 AM on August 9, 2024


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