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What would be the cause of upper back pain thorasic area

By Anonymous May 22, 2009 - 12:06pm
 
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I have been to Iraq for a 1 year tour, and 1 month prior to coming home I started having tightness and pain in my back, below the shoulder blades. Ihave had mris, xrays, blood work,bone scans. and they can't find anything.. The only abnormal finding was a 3mmnodule on my lung and my blood work showed a slightly elevated IGg. I stil have pain every day. Can you tell me what else I can do to find out what is causing this pain?

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Dear Anon, I echo SusanC's comments and thank you also for your service to this great country!

As a veteran myself and living with a veteran husband who has a Gulf-War related terminal condition, I would hesitate to tell you that everything is OK. I worry about the location of the symptom and also the nodule in your lung. You did not mention how long you have served in the military, but there is a report that links MANY health conditions to chemical exposure including chemicals used to spray the fabric of the uniforms. So my suggestion is that you consult with a doctor who can think "outside the box" and run some tests to identify possible toxic substances. Here is a great site that can get you started
http://www.gulfweb.org/ In addition, many PTSD symptoms can mimic physical conditions. I suggest you try sorting those out with the help of a psychologist who is trained on PTSD. The Department of Defense if spending millions of dollars on servicemen returning from Iraq and your local VA could be a good start for accessing some of the services DoD is paying for.

Here is a list of other resources for you to access:

http://www.gulfweb.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_syndrome
http://veterans.iom.edu/subpage.asp?id=6045

I wish you the best.

May 22, 2009 - 9:34pm
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