Back pain is slowly moving up and down right side. Worry?

[KidsHappen]

Yesterday I had to hem a ball gown of my dd's. I did it by hand because my machine is broken. It took the hours so I sat on my bed with the gown spread out on the bed in front of me. When I was done my back pain was worse than ever and it had spread across my lower back, around my hips and in my pelvis down through the pubic bone. My right arm and shoulder was stiff as well. I wasn't terribly surprised because I do stiffen up and get sore if I do repetative work in the same position for awhile. When I woke up this morning though I noticed that I was in much more pain than normal. I took a hot bath, took some meds, got some heating pads and laid back down. I surprisingly fell alseep but when I woke up again the pain has know spread down the back of my right leg and down my right arm and up the right side of my neck and head as well.

 

My doctor always tells me to use ice but that seemed like it made it hurt worse and I instinctively felt that heat would feel better but now I am wondering if I made a mistake. It did feel better and I fell alseep which I never do but the pain has spread and is more intense than ever. Is this because of the heat? The sitting in one position for too long? Is this a sign that a nerve is now involved? Something else? What the heck is going on? Of course, it is a weekend and none of my dr. are avialable. I don't feel like it is an emergency but I am in a lot of pain and I would like to know if there is something I can do to help.

[elizabeth]

opiates. So long as you can control bladder/bowel and there is no numbness in a limb you can get by on pain meds. I suffer mightily with Rheumatoid arthritis AND Fibromyalgia with an unfortunate recurrence of Polymyalgia rheumatica. I am really sorry that you are hurting. Muscle relaxers might help but check with the pharmicist before amping up your meds. Autoimmune disorders suck. Chronic pain is the worst.

[fairytalemama]

The sitting in one position for too long?

 

I'm 99% sure this is what's aggravating your back. I used to travel for work (i.e. sitting in the car driving for 2-6 hours a day, 5 days a week) and I actually started losing sensation in my right side. I freaked out and saw the doctor. She determined that it was a pinched nerve and sent me to a chiropractor friend of hers. Seeing him helped, but the pain and loss of feeling did not leave me until I got a desk job and stopped traveling.

 

To this day, any time I do a repetitive motion involving my back for an extended period of time I am messed up for days.

 

Some light stretching might help. If you have any friends who are physical therapists, see if they could give you a copy of some back exercises to do. These help me immensely when mine starts acting up.