Sometimes a person may be bothered by back pain when inhaling and chest discomfort. Many believe that inhaling air is the simplest process. However, this is a fallacy. Indeed, breathing is regulated by the work of the spinal cord, while a large number of internal organs are involved in the process, such as the lungs, intercostal muscles, bronchi, diaphragm, etc.
If you experience pain under the shoulder blades, lower back or chest area, do not delay visiting the doctor. These symptoms directly indicate problems with the spine. Localization of unpleasant sensations can be the most diverse: behind, right, left, in the middle, etc. There are a lot of reasons for the pain when you inhale in the back, but this is not a reason to panic. Consultation of a competent specialist will clarify the situation. Often, discomfort can recede if effective treatment is used.
Background
Even an experienced doctor will not be able to determine the cause of the discomfort without a preliminary examination. But if there is pain during inhalation from the back, this significantly narrows the circle of “suspicions”. It is worth noting that you do not need to deal with self-diagnosis and the appointment of therapy, because the consequences can be dire.
Self-medication is certainly not recommended, but no one forbids you to speculate. For example, if the back bothers during inspiration, there are several most likely versions: the respiratory system, digestive problems or problems of the musculoskeletal system are disturbed. After this, the patient needs to pay attention to the symptoms. It happens that painful sensations are accompanied by fever. Having visited the doctor, the patient should roughly understand the direction of pain: right, left, middle, etc. Then it will be easier for the specialist, and the diagnosis will be much faster.
Main reasons
As already noted, back pain with a deep breath can be caused by a huge number of reasons. Each of them is directly related to disorders of the body systems. The most common causes of discomfort are:
- Pleurisy. The essence of the disease is the inflammatory process of the membrane, which closes the lungs. Pathology develops most often at the time of pneumonia, but risk factors can be anything.
- Intercostal neuralgia. One of the main symptoms of this disease is a feeling of pain during breathing.
- Myositis. The disease is associated with inflammation of the skeletal muscles.
- Osteochondrosis and sciatica. Damage to the intervertebral discs causes pain in various parts of the body, including the lumbar region.
- Lungs' cancer. From the list presented, this disease is considered the most dangerous. Among many other signs, pain in the back with inhalation stands out.
When visiting a specialist, it is necessary to talk about all the symptoms that concern the patient. The more information the doctor has, the more accurate and faster he will be able to make a diagnosis. In this material, we consider in more detail the key diseases in which in most cases such a sign is found.
The problem with the intercostal nerves
In most cases, exacerbation of neuralgia hides spinal osteochondrosis. In other words, the destruction and damage of cartilage and intervertebral discs sooner or later lead to a problem with nerves. Irritation often occurs against the background of other diseases, hypothermia, infection in the body, etc.
If we talk about localization, then there is pain in the back when inhaling under the scapula or in the lumbar region. In order to minimize the risk of heart and respiratory diseases, it is necessary to determine the nature of the discomfort. Neuralgia has some peculiarity: soreness does not stop, it increases at the moment of movement and pressure during inhalation-exhalation. This disease does not affect the vital factors of a person, that is, the heart rate and pressure remain normal, there is no increase in breathing.
Symptoms
Intercostal nerves are usually characterized by the localization of discomfort. But the most important thing you need to pay attention to is the nature of the pain. If it is constant or appears seizures and increases with coughing and deep breaths, you can immediately eliminate problems with the heart, kidneys and lungs.
If there are no sharp fluctuations in pressure and heart rate, then the above organs have nothing to do with it. This will greatly facilitate the work of a specialist, because the range of possible pathologies will greatly narrow.
Pleurisy
This disease is characterized by inflammation of the pulmonary membrane, occurs against a background of disturbances in the functioning of internal organs. The same group of diseases can include pneumonia, pulmonary infarction, physical damage, and tuberculosis. In the presence of pathology, the patient has significant breathing difficulties. There is back pain with a deep breath, the discomfort is acute and periodically intensifies.
Pleurisy often causes severe shortness of breath, accompanied by a cough. This factor needs attention. If the patient gets tired very quickly for no reason, can’t climb the stairs without breath, it’s time to consult a specialist. This disease can be localized to the right from the back when inhaling. The pain is sharp, but if you lie down on your left side, it passes over time. The same thing, only in the mirror image expects the left lung: if damaged, you need to rest on the opposite side. Of course, the doctor will give exact recommendations, but for the general development this information will not be superfluous.
Signs of ailment
It is worth noting that pleurisy is quite easy to diagnose. For this, you do not need to carry out laboratory activities and additional studies. Simplicity is associated with pronounced symptoms. The main sign is a violation of the respiratory system, the patient will not be able to determine such a labor factor.
It should be noted that back pain when inhaling on the right (if this pulmonary membrane is affected) is acute. If you inhale strongly, the discomfort will increase. Speaking about additional symptoms, one cannot fail to mention an increase in body temperature, loss of appetite, as well as lethargy and general malaise of the body.
Myositis
The pathology of skeletal muscles in medicine is called myositis. The main causes of the disease are intoxication, physical trauma, infection and hypothermia. This is just the case when the pain during inhalation gives back. Moreover, unpleasant sensations appear during exhalation, and at the time of movement. The patient feels that his muscles are significantly weakened and there is nothing he can do about it. It is worth noting that the characteristic signs of the disease are difficulties with breathing and swallowing food.
Digestive disorders
There are times when patients complain of pain in the stomach during exhalation. This is easily explained in terms of medicine. Indeed, during movement, pressure is placed on the abdominal cavity. In this case, back pain can be observed when inhaling the left, right and back. Localization depends on the specific authority with which problems have arisen. Often diagnosed with discomfort in the lumbar region or higher on the spinal column.
If the patient knows well the signs of the digestive system caused by various kinds of deviations, he can determine the cause of the respiratory system disorders himself. However, as we noted above, it is recommended to state all your guesses and concerns to a qualified specialist, protect yourself from self-medication as much as possible.
Kidney disease
If a person has back pain when inhaling from behind, which periodically gives to the thigh, leg or bladder, it is worth thinking about kidney disease. In such cases, pyelonephritis or urolithiasis are often diagnosed. In the first case, the pain is constant and pronounced. If there are kidney stones, discomfort occurs while breathing or making sudden movements.
Pain is intense when it comes to urolithiasis. It is impossible to make such a diagnosis on your own; here it is necessary to conduct certain studies. It’s better to let the specialists do their work; you don’t have to try to identify the disease yourself.
Moreover, this pathology is easy to confirm with the help of urine analysis. If nothing is detected, and an X-ray confirms the absence of the disease, but back pain during inhalation persists, you need to think about the problems of the musculoskeletal system.
As we have already found out, breathing difficulties can be directly related to many factors. If you do not take into account the listed pathologies, unpleasant sensations can occur in a number of cases. For example, with oncological diseases that affect the abdominal cavity and lungs.
It must be remembered that sometimes even the most mild symptoms can cause a dangerous disease. Pain when inhaling in the back in the middle, on the right or on the left, even the most minor ones, often increase with time and develop into a full-fledged pathology. That is why it is recommended to consult a doctor as soon as possible, feeling discomfort during breathing or discomfort in the back.
Diagnostics
Due to the variety of possible causes of pain, you need to undergo a comprehensive examination with a doctor. The first stage of diagnosis is an anamnesis, that is, collection of information from the patient's words. Here the patient should tell as much as possible in detail what symptoms are observed in him, what kind of pain he experiences and under what circumstances. The specialist, in turn, tries to single out the most important information for himself in order to use it for further research. It is very important to determine the degree of development of the disease, this will predetermine further actions.
The integrated approach in this case is represented by two points:
- The study of biological material. These include various tests (urine, blood, etc.), as well as a study of the body. At this stage, the doctor reveals the presence of the inflammatory process and the severity of the existing disease.
- Instrumental methods. Here, the most effective methods are computed tomography, ultrasound, cardiogram and radiography. These studies help to detect the disease and determine the degree of development of pathology. Here, the doctor studies the material in more detail to identify the condition of the affected vertebra or internal organ. Accordingly, some options are immediately excluded, and diagnosing a pathology becomes easier.
It is worth noting that an integrated approach to research is the key to further treatment. After all, only after detecting the source of back pain during movement and inspiration, the doctor can prescribe effective therapy. It will be aimed at combating a specific disease, due to which the chances of a speedy recovery increase.
Treatment
Painful sensations never arise just like that, for no reason. Therefore, you need to realize the importance of quality treatment. In the absence of therapy, there is a high probability of developing complications in the body. If pain when inhaling in the back is detected on the left side, the cardiologist will take care of the treatment. Therapy prescribes, depending on the physical and moral condition of the patient, nitroglycerin is often prescribed.
When problems with the lungs are detected, expectorant medicines are used for treatment. Their effect is to remove sputum, thereby facilitating the process of respiration. Of course, pain medications are always prescribed that eliminate the discomfort in the back.
If the problem is related to the gastrointestinal tract, drugs are used that restore the flora and help the formation of the mucous membrane. The duration of treatment depends on many factors and can last several months. During the course of therapy, the patient should be under the supervision of a physician. If it is not possible to undergo treatment in a hospital, you need to visit a specialist once a week.
Painful sensations are often relieved with the help of painkillers ointments or drugs aimed at removing the inflammatory process. I must say that each patient is assigned an individual course of therapy, depending on the cause of the unpleasant sensations and characteristics of the body.
Back pain when inhaling can be a symptom of very serious diseases, so you should not hope for a miracle. The best solution is to make an appointment with a specialist in a short time. Only in this way will the patient be able to protect himself from complications and new deviations.