Ok DIS docs...can you get a cold in your back?

[mookie]

I've been fighting a minor cold since Saturday. No real sore throat, just a bit congested and coughing. But since yesterday, I've had this really bad pain between my shoulder blades, and sometimes it moves to the front of my chest. (Almost like heartburn.) I'm thinking it's a cold that's just moved to my back...but DH thinks there isn't such a thing.

It's possible right? You can get a cold in your back? Anyone had it?

 

[Denine]

Sounds like it could be pleurisy. I had it once and it was painful in my upper back. It just has to go away on its own.

 

[themarquis]

Um, no. A cold can't be "in your back".

But you could be having pain due to excessive coughing or it could be referred pain coming from your lungs.

 

[Lorix2]

You could definitely have pluerisy (sp?) or even pnuemonia. I would call the docs office for an appt to have them listen to your lungs.

 

[princess momma]

It doesn't sound like a cold, but possibly something to do with the lungs. I'd see a real doc.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You could definitely have pluerisy (sp?) or even pnuemonia. I would call the docs office for an appt to have them listen to your lungs.

Yep. I have had pleurisy once, not fun, you are in pain and sore for a couple of months.

Chest pain: This is the most common symptom. The pain is generally a sharp, stabbing pain, but may also be a dull ache or a burning sensation. It is usually worse when you take a deep breath, cough, or move around. The pain is usually better if you take shallow breaths or lie on the side that hurts. Chest pain is what usually causes people with pleurisy to seek medical attention

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/pleurisy/page3_em.htm

I have had pnuemonia many times. You can have "back/shoulder" pain, depends where the infection in the lobe in your lung is. Mine likes to set up shop in the lower left.

Go see your doctor and drink water, water, water....

 

[Cindy F]

.... But since yesterday, I've had this really bad pain between my shoulder blades, and sometimes it moves to the front of my chest. (Almost like heartburn.)...

Call your doctor and tell him this, you need to be seen to rule out any cardiac/lung involvement. Initially, I would say a CXR, EKG, Troponin T, CBC, CMP but your doc needs to decide that.

Never try to guess at chest/shoulder/jaw pain or "heartburn that just won't go away or always comes back", you really need a PCP to formulate a good differential diagnosis and start appropriate testing. Good luck and please get checked out

FYI- Mayo Clinic is a good source for patient information

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-attack-symptoms/HB00054

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pneumonia/DS00135/DSECTION=symptoms

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pleurisy/DS00244/DSECTION=symptoms

 

[mookie]

Yikes! Thanks guys. I am thinking I should go get checked out. I'll be heading there tonight after DH gets home from work. Actually took some Mucinex and I feel a bit better...so who knows? I agree though...still worth getting looked at.

 

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

Never heard of a cold in your back. It does sound like the symptoms I had when I was having a gallbladder attack. Definitely see a "real" doctor.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yikes! Thanks guys. I am thinking I should go get checked out. I'll be heading there tonight after DH gets home from work. Actually took some Mucinex and I feel a bit better...so who knows? I agree though...still worth getting looked at.

Probably just a virus but seeing a doctor can't hurt.

Pleurisy makes it very painful painful to breathe, and it usually couples with pneumonia, mine did.

 

[Buckalew11]

If you've been coughing a lot, you can mess up the bones in your chest and around your shoulder blades. Often when I cough a lot I'll go into the chiropracter's office and a rib will be out. It is more common in women because we wear bras which restrict the expanding of the chest/ribs. If it is not pluerisy, it's probably something like this. Once i thought I might be having a heart attack and it was ribs.

 

[themarquis]

If you've been coughing a lot, you can mess up the bones in your chest and around your shoulder blades. Often when I cough a lot I'll go into the chiropracter's office and a rib will be out. It is more common in women because we wear bras which restrict the expanding of the chest/ribs. If it is not pluerisy, it's probably something like this. Once i thought I might be having a heart attack and it was ribs.

yeah -- I was going to say that I went back to look at the original post, and the OP said she was coughing a lot. You can get a pretty good amount of pain in the chest/back just from straining muscles from coughing!

I agree, though, seeing a doctor is really important when dealing with anything that involves chest pain/lungs.

 

[ThemDawgs]

There is an old-fashioned expression which is having a "cold in your shoulder." What happens is that the fluid in the bursa behind your shoulder blades becomes infected with a virus. The pain is usually in your back -- shoulder blades or shoulder. The affected arm is usually painful, too. You know when this happens to you because it doesn't hurt to use the arm. It hurts just the same whether you use the arm or keep it still. And pain relievers don't help. You just have to wait out the infection -- which can take a couple of weeks. Most people who get this probably just think they strained their arm playing tennis or whatever. You don't normally have a fever or any other symptoms.

If you have pleurisy or pleuritis, it's usually very painful to take a deep breath.

You may also just have slept in an awkward position and got a kink in your back.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I had a cold in my back once. Strange sensation just shot right down. It was like serious cold.

Someone put an ice cube down my shirt.

Call your doctor.

 

[arminnie]

I had a pain in my upper back that really hurt for about a month. Just ached all of the time unless I laid down.

When I coughed up blood I went to the doctor and discovered that I'd had walking pneumonia for over a month. I never had a fever or felt "sick". Just that ache in my back.

A cold can often progress into bronchitis or in my case even pneumonia. And an infection in the lung area can cause back pain.