Upper/Mid Back Pain

[Zoltan99]

Im overweight and have been working on it for a while. Ive lost about 50-60 lbs in the past year and am 24 years old. In the past year I started to get upper/mid back pain, right behind the heart. Ive noticed that it occurs mostly when I sit in a chair with a bad posture(hunched forward). Some computer chairs just cause the back pain and others help.

I had a older mattress and it really hurt my back after all of this started. I got a new mattress and it is quite firm. I sleep ok on the new mattress, and don't get that same crushing upper/mid back pain, but I do get a very stiff and right back when I wake up in the morning. I cant return the mattress, and am stuck with it. Its not the worst thing ive ever slept on, though its even firm with a topper.


I do lots of mountain biking as well as cross country riding, at a rate of 10-16 miles 3-4x a week. I just got a new bike and love it as it causes me no back pain, the older one did. I can ride mile after mile comfortably.


What I am here to ask is what I can do about my back. I remember when I was lets say 21, My back was a strong as a Ox's. I used to play football and did a lot of weight training, but then college stopped that. I just moved, so I am looking for a new gym at a good rate.


So what can I do, to get my back up to the level it used to be? Possible exercises, or stretches? Will continual loss of weight also help the back out? I don't have insurance now, so no doctor.

Thanks all.

[pliny_2001]

I don't have that pain, but I know as I've gotten bigger (muscle, luckily, but I think that the upcoming point's may still be valid) I sometimes started to get a terrible pain in the chest/heart area while asleep. I figured out that it was the new mass pulling down and 'collapsing' the chest (I think really just more pressure on the heart and other organs, but that doesn't sound painful enough to what I was experiencing).

For me, the cure was more pillows - I often sleep on my side, and now (if sleeping alone) I have to have one of those long decorative pillows to drape an arm across. No problems once I started doing this (actually, none for the a year or two, so there may be a time where your body has yet to adjust to the "new you.")

My guess/experience/$.02.

[wildstang]

i will swear by the gravity boot setup 4 back pain in all 3 regions. its a form of gravitational traction that works by strapping into some boots and inverting. onna of the best setups ive ever purchased and use daily 4 spinal alighnment issues. even went so far as to hand some dimes from head gear for extra pull n cirvivcal region.
ever since purchased this it has cut so many doc bills from chiro or p. therapist