Back pain with sore but not tight muscles: What’s the culprit?

When I felt the soreness in my back a few weeks ago, I knew it felt different. It was still muscle pain — I hadn’t injured my back in an out-of-the-ordinary way, at least not that I knew — but it didn’t feel the same. Usually with my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), the soreness comes from extreme tightness. This time around, I just felt back pain. I was perplexed.

As I took stock of the feeling, I realized I was particularly sore around my ribs, spine, and sides while generally sore all over. I felt different as I moved, with soreness in whichever back and side muscles were activated by my different motions.

Usually, my go-to for pain is my heating pad. When my muscles are tight and sore, heat seems to soothe them and help them relax. As anyone on the East Coast will know, however, it hasn’t exactly been cool recently. After coming in from doing chores on my small farm in the 90-degree heat with dew points in the upper 70s, the last thing I wanted to do was lie directly on more heat.

Instead I kind of muddled along, with my body aching. I looked forward to my next massage, scheduled for about a week after I began to feel this pain. I hoped it would provide some relief. I even messaged Kim, my bodyworker, ahead of time to let her know what a mess I was.

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Getting the answers

When I had my appointment, Kim asked me a lot of questions when I showed her where the pain was the worst. She agreed that the pain seemed different, as were my reactions to the massage — my muscles were more sore than tight, as I’d sensed. As she worked on me in different areas, she asked me some more questions.

One of them was whether I’d been doing a lot of sneezing or coughing recently. I hadn’t been sick, so my immediate response was no. Then I thought for a minute and told her that I’d had a few mornings when my seasonal allergies were so intense that my postnasal drip made me choke and cough until my medicine kicked in. Could that be a clue?

She said yes, that type of hard-core cough could absolutely be what had caused the muscle soreness in my back. I’d had a seasonal allergy flare-up that was so intense that the cough injured my back and rib muscles. I never would’ve put that together!

I knew that my allergies could cause a pain flare because they get my inflammatory system going, but I’ve never had pain directly because of coughing or sneezing. I have two allergy medicines that can be taken together, but I usually only need to take one. Until things settle down in the world of pollen, though, I think I’ll be taking both of them!

Note: Ehlers-Danlos News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Ehlers-Danlos News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Ehlers-Danlos.