Chronic pain in right upper back, even on short rides

[Thom Thompson]

Two years ago the power steering failed on our hybrid suv. I had to get it off the road and turning the steering wheel totally knackered my upper back on my right side. The pain radiated from a spot below my right shoulder and lasted for about a month before going away. But the same spot on the right side gets aggravated any time I go cycling, even for short rides. The same pain can also flare up if I am driving. It is a sharp pain that radiates outward. Maybe in the rhomboid muscle?
Has anyone else had this? So frustrating. I was feeling no pain for weeks and then I hopped on my bike for a short ride yesterday evening and woke up today in pain again. It didn’t even hurt on the ride, which was less than 10 km with no major hills. So strange and frustrating that even with rest it doesn’t seem to heal.

 

[Sendon]

Running. For real.

I think about loose and relaxed upper body when I do long or easy runs, and even just 20 min is enough to get any tension to go away. For me, this is more effective and long-lasting than massages, foam rolling, heat packs, ice packs, lacrosse balls, etc.

Shoulder and neck pain and tension for me triggers bad/severe headaches. I took up running when I was 22 and it almost completely cleared them up. I’ve had bad headaches since the age of 8 and when I was 15-22 I would have a bad/severe one every other day. So even though I hated running, I had to stick with it!

If I do a really hard TR workout in the morning I feel it in my neck and shoulders and I will guaranteed get a severe headache by about 2pm if I don’t get out for a lunch run.