First of all : I have consulted with a physician on this, and he doesn’t think it’s anything serious, but it’s puzzling me, so I thought I’d mine the brains of the Straight Dope.
When I wake up in the morning, I have low-grade, dull, difficult to localize back pain on the right side. Within minutes of getting out of bed, it’s gone. Occasionally throughout the day there will be a little stiffness or twinge, but sitting or standing is generally totally pain free. This has been happening for about two months.
My first thought was some kind of kidney thing, but there are no other symptoms that would correspond to a kidney infection. The Doctor did a CBC the last time I was in the office, and white count was in the lower half of the normal range. No fever. No blood. No burning sensations.
My second thought was that either my exercise routine or my recent spate of painting (during which I sit kind of hunched over for long periods) could have pulled a muscle or something, but then I’d expect to have pain when I’m actually doing one of those things.
So I’m puzzled. Bruised rib? Sleep apnea? Poor sleeping position? I generally sleep on my stomach or side, but neither option seems to have the monopoly on the back pain. Both do tend to reduce the incidence of sleep apnea, though, and I haven’t noticed any other symptoms that I’d associate with the condition. Plus I’d expect the pain to be more bilateral.
Any thoughts? My next plan is to use a webcam and record my sleeping, see if I’m doing anything weird positionally, or if I’m snoring.
This actually sounds very much like an issue that I have from time to time - I sometimes wake up with similar back pain but it goes away quickly once I’m up. When it happens I take some Aleve before going to bed (lasts 12 hours so I can sleep through the night) and after a few days it typically goes away. I do occasionally get worse back spasms, and could stand to build better strength in my back as well. I’d guess that the painting is the culprit and it will go away (but I’m not a doctor, etc).
If you can swing it, go see a physical therapist. Both my husband and I went for back pain and discovered we didn’t even know how to stand up properly! Small imbalances and misalignments in posture or walking can go on for years before they accumulate to a point where they cause pain. Then one day you have a backache and say, “I didn’t do anything to hurt it - what’s going on?”
We’ve both gotten a lot of relief with a combination of exercises, stretching, and massage. Rarely I’ll have some pain from my pelvis going cattywhompus, but now I know what that pain means and how to realign my bones.
You might look at the Alexander Technique ( Alexander Technique - Wikipedia ). I was having back troubles and this worked really well for me. I found lessons free online and followed the exercises. Later, someone was giving sessions in the area and I did a few paid sessions with her.
Any changes in your workspace (chair, amount of sitting / standing. computer position)? I can see that such a chance might alter how you stand, leading to some secondary stiffness when you relax in a different position. Just a real WAG on my part.
I have found that on nights where I get more than about 7-8 hours of sleep, I often have back pain - kind of in the area between the shoulder blades and the bottom of the rib cage. I chalk it up to a combination of overweight, mattress needing to be replaced, and maybe sleeping in the wrong position.
It could still be kidney. Trust me, a CBC won’t show everything that could be going on. I would demand a more thorough workup, including if necessary, a CAT scan. Many very serious kidney problems cannot be detected with a CBC.
Wild shot, based on family history:
If you are female, large-busted and approaching 30-35, you may wish to consider reduction mammoplasty
I have a branch of the family for whom the routine is:
Age 10: B cup
Age 16: each boob is size of head
Age 18: get the damned things bobbed.
Age 18!/12: feel MUCH better.
He also did a Sed Rate, and honestly - I would expect to have other symptoms, or worse pain. I am not going to demand a CAT scan for a backache. I may be a hypochondriac, but I’m not crazy.
After a week of not painting or exercising due to vacation, back pain has subsided.
Minor back pain usually means your back is weak. Unless you have an acute injury as a result of overuse (or a legitimate fracture), it’s never a bad idea to do exercises to strengthen your back muscles. Sit-ups are good, as are twist-stretches which can be done while sitting on the ground.
From your follow-up, it does sound like this was an issue of mild overuse from hunching in one position for long periods of time. But if you focus on strengthening your back by way of daily exercises, it would be less likely to happen again.
One small thing that has brought me enormous relief, (I’m so glad I tried it!), is to sleep with a rolled up towel as a bolster, either between legs or under knees, depending on your sleep position.
In the spring, when I garden a little too strenuously, a heating pad while in front of TV and this technique at night, is now all the medication I seem to need. Couple of days and I’m good as new.
The pain’s come back, but I think I figured it out this morning. My preferred default sleeping position is on my stomach, slightly rolled onto my right side - the position I was in when I woke up this morning. I noticed that the position was placing pressure on a number of “load bearing” points on my body, including my lower right rib cage.
I think this pressure , applied to the front of the ribs, is causing the ribs to flex - and the pain I get in the morning corresponds to the area near where they join the spine.
I’m going to try and re-arrange some things this evening, see if I can’t get my default sleeping position onto my left side.
How about getting one of those rollyball chairs? They purportedly will help your core muscles by forcing your body to make minute adjustments in balance. If it is postural this might help [and strengthening your core muscles is never wrong!]
And you mention sleep posture modification - I have spinal stenosis and multiple joint issues, and I make a nest in bed using a serious longbolster and it makes a seriously good difference in comfort. [link goes to a picture, i am not suggesting a specific merchant]