back pain related to coughing

Factual Questions
1

I just recently got a cold with a lot of sneezing and coughing and congestion. But today I started to get a really bad pain in the top left corner of my back. It hurts to walk, to sit, and it hurts worst of all when I cough. Whats goin on? should I just take some tylonel?

2

IANAD, but I would definitely see one. S/he might want to do a chest x-ray and/or lab tests to rule out a more serious problem. It could be lung-related, or it could be something as simple as a pulled muscle. But it should be checked out.

Chest pain (which this is, even though you feel it in your back) is nothing to fool with. See your doctor ASAP.

Robin

3

You probably just pulled a muscle from coughing. You could have pulled it really bad. You need to see a doctor.

I pulled a muscle in my thigh (ok, my BUTT) from coughing once. Hurt terribly, I thought I’d broken something. A day or two on low-dose muscle relaxers did the trick.

I’ve heard that in many instances you can’t heal until you take pain medication because your body needs to be relaxed in order to heal itself.

4

I also had some pulled back muscle from a gargantuan sneeze once. But I saw the doc to rule out whatever else.

5

People with pneumonia often have pain in the back or chest with coughing.

My ex father in law broke a rib from coughing so much when he had pneumonia.

Regardless, see a physician, it could be something you don’t want to ignore, or it might get worse.

6

I had pleurisy last month. The pain radiated all the way through to my back.

Go to the doctor.

7

I gave myself a hernia coughing.

Also, a partially collapsed lung can cause back pain too.

See a doctor.

8

As this thread suggests, you’re probably feeling muscle fatigue (or even a strain) because your breathing muscles are having to work much harder then they’re used to. I agree that you should see a doctor – he may be able to treat the muscle pain, but more important is the fact that your respiration is so poor that it’s causing this pain, which might be a sign of a serious respiratory condition (many of which are easily treatable).

–Cliffy