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Muscles & Joints: Questions and answers

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I am a 27-year-old male who is generally extremely fit and active. About a week ago, I started noticing some pain in my neck, lower left side, a bit into the shoulder, when I woke up. I thought I had just slept in an odd position, because I do that sometimes. Since then, the neck pain has gone down nearly 50%, but now I experience a bit of aching in a small portion of my upper back, only on the left side. Kind of soreness really, more than sharp pain. I shovelled some snow the other day, and I wonder if that did it. The soreness, the aching.... it goes away after a nice, warm shower, or when I lie down, or just basically rest my back. And actually, I can go a period of time, feeling completely normal and no aching. But just when I think it's healed, I feel the aching and soreness again. One friend said aching like that is very dangerous and can mean a slipped disc or something. But a different friend said, if it goes away after a warm shower or rest, I just need to give it time and rest, and I will feel better in a week or so. This has happened to him, too, after shovelling. I don't have insurance, and don't have any money to just go see a doctor unless it's a huge emergency. It's not like my back is aching so bad that I can't function or anything... but it has me worried. In your opinion, could this be something really serious...or something that just needs some anti-inflammatory stuff and rest? Any advice would be welcome!

I've been battling the same for a while now and have reduced its frequency and duration, though I suspect I am going to have to take the plunge and... Read the full answer 〉

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