Question
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Hi, thanks for taking the time to help me with this one.

So the other day i was doing some headbutts (practice) and i got carried away and i did this huge one where i jerked my head real far down and not my body and when i came back up i felt this pain in my back.

The pain is like in the middle upper back (between shoulder blades i think) and it only hurts when i move my head up or down or sideways or if i move my arms back and make my shoudler blades move. I first thought i maybe gave myself whiplash but i have no idea.

This happened yesterday and its still hurts (only when i move in those ^ certain ways) and just today i was standing up doing literally nothing and my back went numb for like 5 minutes. Then the back of my arms and the back of my shoulder blades - i didnt do anything it just happened randomly as far as i know.

Now i was thinking it might be a pulled muscle but i doubt that because i hadnt lifted for a few days and i was fine after the lifting but i thought it might be a pulled tissue or something like that.

Oh yeah and i forgot to add that the pain hurts also when i cough or breath in deep and expand my chest.

this happened to me yesterday night so its only been a day and i was not sure if i should go to a doctors and get it checked or just let it heal itself.

Thanks a lot.

Answer
Dear Jack,

The first thing you should do is ice the area to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation.  Use an ice gel pack or a bag of ice with water, and make sure that a towel, t-shirt et. is between the ice and your skin...20 minutes at a time.  Feel free to utilize some Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Advil/Motrin (ibuprofen) for pain....follow dosage guidelines.

This appears to be a strain of the fibers of the trapezius musculature, however, you may have inflammation of the lower nerve roots in your neck as well.  The local back pain that occurs only with movement is indicative of a muscle problem.  On the other hand, the pain that radiates to the back of your arms could be from the nerve roots:  C8, T1, and T2...all locate at the base of the neck and upper back.  Check out the link below to see where the pain patterns go on the body.

http://www.apparelyzed.com/dermatome.html

Take it easy for a few days...limit your range of motion (do not go the extremes), and monitor your pain level.  Take a hot shower every morning and let the water run on your neck and upper back for 10-15 minutes to really heat up the tissue, do very light stretching immediately after you get out of the shower, but make sure you follow that with an ice pack for 15-20 minutes.  You should see your pain levels reducing in just a few days, and then you can begin more active stretching with resistance to help the muscle scar properly.

If you do not attain any appreciable pain reduction or functional improvement within 3-4 days, then I would schedule an appointment with a doctor, and a chiropractic physician would be a good choice because most medical doctors are just going to prescribe you pain meds, muscle relaxers and tell you to come back if it doesn't work.  

Good Luck Jack.  Feel free to write back if you have any further comments or questions.

Respectfully,
Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman
www.suncoasthelathcare.net