10 signs your upper back pain is serious

The myth of the heart attack victim clutching their chest and collapsing has long been busted. It pays to listen up to subtler signs of a heart attack like nausea, shortness of breath, extreme fatigue and back pain, says Dr Tien.

Here are some heart attack symptom you may never have heard of.

It’s time to think about a possible slipped disc (also called a herniated disc), which can happen if you lift something heavy using your back instead of your legs. If you feel upper back pain along with numbness or weakness in your arms or legs, it may be a sign of a neurologic injury from a slipped disc, says Dr Chang. Your doctor can make the diagnosis with a physical exam. You may also want to check for signs your upper back pain is actually arthritis.

Take a deep breath: how does that feel? If ‘extremely painful’ is your answer, get checked out. One emergency-worthy cause is a pulmonary embolism, says Dr Tien. “Blood clots can break off from a deep vein in the leg or arm and travel to the lung, wedging in blood vessels, causing poor blood flow, inflammation, and death of lung tissue,” she explains. A tell tale sign is if you have sharp pain and trouble breathing after a long car or plane trip, or after surgery. If your back pain gets worse with a deep breath, you’re short of breath, you’re coughing up blood, or you feel faint, call 000.

Rarely, upper back pain may be due to a punctured lung, which can be caused by an injury. While it is less likely to be the cause of your discomfort, a punctured lung is something you need to know the signs of so you can take the right action. “If the pain is accompanied by shortness of breath or severe pain taking a deep breath, seek urgent medical care,” advises Dr Chang.

You had a recent fall, but you didn’t think your back would hurt this much! “If you had a traumatic injury, like a heavy object lands on your back or you slip on the ground and fall with your back striking the edge of a step, you can break a vertebral bone or a rib,” notes Dr Tien. (Depending on where you broke it you may feel upper left back pain, or it may appear on your right side.) The pain can be moderate to severe, but it will get worse when you move. Talk to your doctor, especially after any bad injury.

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Source: RD.com