Back Pain Forum - pain caused by thoracic herniated disc?

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Q: pain caused by thoracic herniated disc?

asked by: Runnerman on March 2nd, 2008

New User

Hey all,
This came on kind of suddenly but about two months ago my upper back started to hurt when ever i would run. it was not a terribly painful pain more of a slow dull throbbing and the more i ran obviously the more it hurt. I think it started when i started cracking my back more, almost like a several week compulsive back cracking spree. anyways it was mainly my upper back and lower back that i was cracking. when my back started to hurt i stopped but im assuming the damage was done. Of course there could be other reasons for whats going on but im not sure what they could be. my body as a whole tends to crack alot so cracking my bones never seemed like a big deal to me. anyways my symptoms now are when ever i stand for a prolonged period my upper back starts to hurt. this happens as well if i sit and i will then tend to start slouching. my lower back tingles every so often but it feels like that has healed rather well and doesnt worry me as much as my upper back. also, once my back gets aggravated im able to crack it simply back taking a deep breath, its almost as if by filling my lungs with air its perhaps pushing my spine back into place? Im looking for any type of advice, personal experience, thoughts, feed back, possible recommendations and or thoughts on what could be the problem.
Thanks
Tim

Replies(4)

RichT

replied on March 4th, 2008

Active User, very eHealthy

Hello Runnerman,

Welcome to the forum and the excellent people who post and try to help others. I am not a doctor, however, the following are my thoughts -

First in my opinion - NO more back cracking.

Second, NO more running.

Third - Seek the advice of a neurologist/spinal surgeon. ONLY after you have received the advice from a spinal specialist (with MD after his/her name) should you even consider to continue running.

LISTEN to your body and what it is trying to tell you.

RichT

algosdoc

replied on March 4th, 2008

Experienced User

Thoracic disc herniations compose less than 1% of all disc herniations and typically are inoperable unless there is significant myelopathy (loss of bowel or bladder control, severe lower extremity weakness, etc). The rate of paralysis from traditional open thoracic discectomy may be as high as 15% therefore surgeons are not terribly interested in operating on the thoracic discs pain or numbness only.
More likely than a disc herniation are the costovertebral joints (intersection of the ribs and vertebral bodies) or the thoracic facet joints. Ligaments are also a possible culprit.

rloughridge

replied on April 12th, 2008

New User

Also a runner....thoracic pain as well

Well I have an interesting case. I've been running for over 10 years and in the fall of 2007 I started having issues with my ankle. This caused me to stop running and become inactive. After not running for a month or two, I developed mid-back pain. Similar to what you are describing, it bothers me sitting or standing and over the months continued to get worse even though I was inactive. I just had an MRI a few weeks ago and I have 4 disc bulges and 1 herniation in my mid back from T6 to T11. Did you ever find anything out about your back runnerman? I'd be curious what you issue is/was and whether he you were able to make it better. So far I have had a spinal injection and that didn't really do anything for me. Apparently mid-back issues are so uncommon that I seem to be a puzzle to the doctors. They still can't believe I was in an accident....they are having a hard time believing it just came on. So...I'm wondering if the running over the years caused it? At first I was worried I would never run again....I've give up on that and I'm now worried I'll never be pain free again.

I'd love to hear you story runnerman or anyone else that reads this and has something similar.

Randy

mattinpain

replied on September 10th, 2008

New User

Thoracic back pain

Runnerman, have you had any luck? I have the same pain and the doctors can't find anything. I can stand or sit upright for roughly 30 minutes and then I have to lie down to take the pressure off. . It has been six years since I injured it carrying 260 p ound s.
Mattinpain

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