I just got home after spending a long day at the ER. Long story short I have been having a lot of pain in my upper back that goes through to the chest and also my ribs on either side are painful to the touch. I went to my chiro and he was concerned about my symptoms so he sent me to urgent care. Went to urgent care and they felt I needed to go to the ER. Well in the end they did a chest and back X-ray, and an EKG and everything looked fine. The urgent care thought,I would need a cat scan based on my symptoms which is why they sent me to the ER, but the ER was reluctant to do one. My question is has anyone had upper middle back pain, painful to the touch along the spine?
My neck and ribs can get that way, But, I have 4 fused vertebrae in my neck and I think the PsA likes to pick on it. It can be worrisome when my chest hurts up around my shoulders when it is bad. I get a little anxious when the pain starts radiating down my arm, but I had pain like that before all my neck surgeries.
Getting everything checked and getting and EKG should ease your mind, but not the pain. I don;t know what to tell you to do for the pain. I usually have to resort to pain meds to get any relief because I can’t tolerate NSAIDS.,
Hang in there!
Hi I’ve not wrote on here before and I’m newly diagnosed with psa, I’m just starting methotrexate injections. Yes i get this severe back pain which circles my entire torso. Feels like I’m being crushed in a big bear hug. No one has really told me what it is though as yet.
I have had pain in the same areas. The most likely cause of rib pain for PsA patients is costochondritis, i.e. inflammation of the tendon attachment points (enthesitis) on ribs. A great many of us experience this as enthesitis is a PsA ‘speciality’. Obviously the ribs go round the back, so the same may apply to the apparent back pain, it is possible that the spine is not involved … I guess, anyway. @Debl’s words: ‘bear hug’ echo many posts on this issue.
I’d say this is most definitely one for your rheumy.
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