.... Please be patient with me. I am having upper back problems that are causing a lot of pain and discomfort due to a subluxated vertebrae. It's difficult to use my arms and even getting sleep has been disrupted.
Seeing the doc on Friday and hopefully getting some kind of relief.
Karda:
I'm sure you'll be getting advice from friends as well as your doctor, but let me add a bit. Unfortunately I have a lot of experience with back pain and subluxated vertebrae and I've tried everything. (The only thing I have refused to even consider is surgery. When it comes to the spine, surgery is a crap shoot with very bad odds, and a very last resort.)
In terms of ongoing treatment, I've found chiropractic much better than what the MDs prescribe -- usually pain-killers and sometimes physical therapy, which is a watered-down version of what chiropractors do. (Of course there are better and worse chiropractors, just as there are better and worse MDs, so not everyone has the same quality experience.)
Of all the self-administered things I've tried, the single best thing is hanging upside down, several times a day, for 1-5 minutes each time. The weight of your body stretches out the spine and sometimes causes tilted vertebrae to pop back into position. It even works for the upper back, because the weight of your head is enough to stretch out those upper vertebrae.
What I use nowadays is one of those inversion tables that let you control the amount of tilt. You can find many different models on Amazon and other sources. Prices range from $90 on up. The one I got, which is built like a tank, cost about $130.
Of course all this depends on whether your back pain is temporary or structural. If it's temporary, then maybe a few days of pain-killers and some physical therapy might be enough, but if it continues you should keep trying other things, not just what an MD tells you. The medical profession is really quite limited when it comes to treating bad backs. It requires a wholistic approach and a lot of patience. My bad back started as a result of a weightlifting strain. For about a year I couldn't take a step without pain. I tried many different things and eventually the pain went away and I could take long hikes, but the structural damage remained and I still have to be careful, and I get the occasional flareup when I do something stupid.
-- Dave