Sometime this week I tweaked my back. Since then I have been having general tenderness when moving. What really hurt is a sharp “electric-like” pain that shoots up/down my spine when I swallow. The pain is in my upper spine, between my shoulder blades. Any ideas/suggestions as to what’s going on and pain management? Thank you!
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The pain you’re experiencing is more than likely normal due to the fact that there is a wide network of nervous tissue that travels through your spine. The muscles in your throat that contract and relax that deal with your swallowing process may simply be sharing the same nerve bundle pathway as the muscles that you injured in your upper back resulting in a “radiating” pain.
The best way to deal with it is take regular pharmacy pain relief pills like Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (Advil). You may want to apply an ice pack to the injured part of your back every couple of hours for 10-20 minutes at a time. Even do a couple of neck stretches or shoulder roll exercises. Try not to keep those injured muscles immobile, but at the same time don’t overwork them too hard.
Good luck.