Back pain and exercise

I have moderate back pain 100% of the time. I'm not interested in drugging myself or having back surgery.
I have noticed that as my weight decreases, the pain has also (but not enough).
I'm wondering if anyone could suggest an exercise that I can incorporate into my routine that would be helpful.
The pain is very targeted in one area, right between my shoulder blades.
Thanks ~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

I carry a back pack type of diaper bag, I keep it light, and it's a good fit.
I also carry my baby in a sling, it's very low stress for my back.

~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

doesn't gallstones cause lower back pain, not upperback/neck area?

That makes sense, but this is something I have been dealing w/ for over 15 years.

~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

you should be able to go to the bottom of the page and there should be 3 links:
main menu | Exercise & Muscle Lists | Exercises

Click on the exercises and you'll see exercises and stretches

I'm sure she carries diaper bags, a couple kids and possibly the bolder holders might also cause some of the pain. <vbg>

Do you carry any type of bags?

Mine is gone too ~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

I have. It helped, some. But in insurance does not cover it anymore and it's too costly to pay it myself.
~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

That's a problem to. I would love to have a reduction but can't. So I buy the best bras I can find that don't kill the budget. They usually run about $60.00 each. ~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

Hey, wow, thanks.

I had a problem with bursitis pain, right in the "point" of one shoulder, when I lifted or rotated my arm, and found it painful to reach behind my back, for about a year. My doctor merely gave me prescriptions for various NSAIDs. I also tended to have some nagging pain between the shoulder blades, but I didn't think it was related.

I eventually went back to a chiropractor I'd seen a few years ago.
When I click on that site, between the shoulder blades, the stretches that it lists for upper/middle/lower trapesius and deltoid are exactly what my chiro suggested for the bursitis problem, to stop whatever was compressing the bursa. Those stretches pretty much cured the bursitis within a week, and it only comes back if I forget to do them.

www.exrx.net

One thing to try is delt flies with very light weights. Start out with 1lb weights and go slow.

What I'd suggest is to go here: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/MFemale.html and click on the area that hurts to find the muscle that is causing the problem.
For me - its this: http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/ErectorSpinae.html the longissimus. The pain starts as a kink just to the side of my shoulder blade but it radiats up to my neck and I'll get pain at the base of my skull.

some exercises for this area are: http://www.exrx.net/Articulations/Spine.html#anchor164498 and back exercises are here: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/BackWt.html specificly look at the trapezius exercises for upper, middle and lower.

And finally, do a search on "rotator cuff" and look into that too.

This has been a huge help

~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

I highly recommend yoga or pilates or some other "core conditioning" to strengthen the muscles that surround your spine. I used to get terrible pain between the shoulder blades and nearly started chiropractic visits. I have a mild form of scoliosis in that area. After telling my yoga teacher about it, she gave me some ideas of vinyasas (poses) that would work the back gently. It's been great and I only suffer occasional pain when I spend too much time hunched over the computer.

Using a stability ball also helps strengthen the core muscles.

Correct. The way the sling works it distributes the weight across my back and not across the shoulders. If you see someone using a sling that has to lean to the side, they are not using it correctly.

That is a little harder for me to remember. I'll try to keep it in check.

~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer

Thanks! I just didn't look down there. Tom has shown me some of these but I haven't done them regularly. I'll have to do better!

This sounds interesting, but when I click there I can't find my way to any stretches. Can you tell me how you got there? Or otherwise tell me what stretches you do for your shoulder?

When I had gallstones I had pain in my shoulders and would go to my neck. It was pretty bad. ~Kat

"Rice Krispies. East meets west"
Cosmo Kramer