Upper back pain / soreness

[Sho78]

Hi,
I hope someone may be able to help or give advice ....sorry this is long 😬
I have been suffering with pain which sometimes aches but is often sore in my upper back - it’s around the joint at the top of my thoracic spine . It started around the time of the start of lockdown in the uk - April 2020, and I put it down to bad posture as I was working in the laptop at home every day. At the beginning of September I contacted my gp and saw the nurse practitioner, who advised physio. I had a few sessions of physio remotely - exercises provided after a phone consultation, and since I have had two face to face consultations with a Senior physiotherapist - she said it was likely to be due to poor posture and have further strengthening exercises. Over time the pain level has reduced but has become more persistent and for the last 3 months it had been present every day . The soreness is there when I’m moving and doing anything with my arms . If I stop and sit still or lie down it stops .
The problem that I have is that I cannot work out why this isn’t going away - I should add that I have had 5 sessions with an Osteopath which lead to very temporary improvement but still niggling pain every day.
I can handle the pain level but I can’t handle the level of anxiety that I have developed due to this persisting for so long . I cannot get the fear out of my head that I could have a tumour in my spine ??
On a good day I tell myself I’m otherwise healthy and a nurse, senior physio and very experienced Osteopath have examined my back and are not concerned by this, so I should just trust them . On a bad day, I’m constantly googling upper back pain and reading that it could be a sign of something serious and I just lose my mind with worry . I worry that I’m missing a symptom- then I’m looking for symptoms. I know that working from home everyday rather than my normal busy life isn’t helping as I’m thinking about this too much .
Has anyone had anything similar - can anyone offer any advice ??
Thanks so much for reading

[ankietyjoe]

If you have been given a medical diagnosis of poor posture and then YOU start thinking about spinal tumours, the problem isn't the pain. The problem is your wandering and ridiculous thoughts. Now, don't be offended by the word ridiculous, it's common to think this way with health anxiety. The source of this problem is you googling something that you already know the cause of. You already know what it is, but you are choosing to read about far more serious, and massively unlikely scenarios. It's like being scared from watching a horror film, and then watching more. And more.

Stop googling.

As for the back pain, unless you stop the cause of it (posture, laptop time), no amount of physio is going to make it go away. Change the way you sit. Get up and do some exercises every 30-45 minutes (only has to be a couple of minutes each time). Change your seating position. Move the computer to a different location. Get a sit/stand desk.....whatever it is that works for you.

You can't keep doing the thing that's causing the pain, then google worst case scenario's despite already knowing the cause AND still feel ok.

[Fishmanpa]

I have lower back issues due to a disc injury in my youth. Like you, there's always a niggle of pain. It's recently gotten worse and at a doctor's visit last week I brought it up to my doctor as I've had some strange symptoms in the area the last year. Coincidently, it corresponds to the changes we've had to adopt due to the pandemic. She wanted to do some Xrays to be sure and yep... arthritis. I'm older so I know what that is and it's part of the deal as we age. So... like you, exercise is the key and I've been basically sitting on my rear the last year due to the situation where before all this I was at least getting a few days a week with some sort of exercise/activity.

You have a cause and effect as well as a solution that has already proven to provide some relief. The solution is really that simple. Get up off your rear and get moving. Are you or I ever going to be totally pain free? Doubtful, but at least we can make it better with some exercise. A heating pad and some ibuprofen help loads too

Positive thoughts

[Sho78]

Thanks both of you for taking the time to read and to reply . I am actually exercising and I have taken all the steps I practically can to address posture issues - new desk, new chair and being conscious to move around more.
I’m just in a cycle where something nagging in my head keeps telling me there’s something more that’s wrong . ...but I keep trying to tell myself it would be obvious by now if it was.
Thanks again , I will try and focus on positivity 🙂

[ankietyjoe]

Don't forget that it probably took several months to feel the effects of bad posture. It won't be just a few sessions of physio to correct it, especially if you're still feeding the issue with sitting down all day. It's not enough to just 'get the exercise in'. You have to repeatedly step away from the bad posture position dozens of times per day.