Chronic back pain that resolves by stretching

[AliP]

Hello


I am a 30 year old male, about 117kg bw. I have about 10 years of on and off training history, my best powerlifting numbers about 220/150/240kg @ 105kg but at the moment alot less than that.


For the past 3 years I've been much more sedentary than I would like to be due to various life stresses including chronic upper back pain, the subject of this post.


So, almost every morning for these past years I've woken up with moderate general upper back pain that generally mostly resolves by tilting my head forward/to the sides and stretching the neck/back muscles. Following that I'm nearly pain free for the rest of the day. This however often impacts my sleep, causing fatigue that I believe in part influences my lack of motivation to train.


Despite many attempts I've been unable to find a cause or to connect this to anything. Neither training, nor lack of it seem to influence this or anything else I've tried. I've seen multiple doctors, physical therapists and a chiropractor. None can find a specific cause nor a remedy. I've recently had an MRI with no findings.


Ankylosing spondylitis is something that has been suggested but I've not been diagnosed with that. One of the doctors prescribed an COX-2 inhibitor arthritis drug, it seems to help. Ibuprofen helps as well.


Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the cause might be and/or how to treat this so I can get back to training as much as I'd like?


Thanks!

[Mark Rippetoe]

First thing -- absolutely the very first thing -- is to change your mattress and pillow. When that happens, you may be very surprised.