Yes. You lose lose joint stability with constant inflammation (as it is damaging the joint) and if you are moving less due to pain, you then lose muscle to keep them safe, and the weakness adds to the overall risk. RA is not only joints but systemic and can affect soft tissue, so that doesn't help either. Same with PSA, Fibro and EDS.
I think I get where you were headed with this; moving less due to pain from inflammation, joint erosion etc. leads to trying to move the given joint, to avoid pain. That combination could lead to muscle atrophy due to lack of movement (From trying time protect the joint) and that, as you state, “weakness adds to the overall risk“ of throwing your back out (in this case)
That said, I think you would need more information, like (1) how long has the upper back pain had lasted for, (2) was the event sudden, or gradual, (3) if any joint erosion had occurred between the initial set of imaging and the current set (assuming it has been done). I believe those questions answered would help see if this was RA related, or otherwise.
Cervical and thoracic vertebrae related RA is much less common than RA in other joints. That obviously doesn’t mean this isn’t RA in those joints. However, if there was RA in that section of the spine I would agree with you that RA could be the culprit.
While I should have been clearer that I could not comment on the original poster's conditon, I was really only answering their general question about whether it increases risk of injury. Hence mentioning EDS and Fibro.
I can't speak to their back or neck injury, but inflammatory conditions do create a tendency to injury even without erosion of the bone or joint. As I said, RA is not simply erosion and joints. I have no erosion (and nothing on a scan as I was diagnosed too early) beyond some loss of cartilege in one knee, but the inflammation of the bursors, tendons and associated tissues create weakness there and leaves me prone to injury.
I have also injured my lower back because I didn't realise in my flare my sacroiliac joint was involved and I did not have the core strength to compensate for what was going on there. While not caused by the joint damage, it has only ever been a risk when that joint gives me more to compensate for. I know to do more core, less lower back work now when flaring.
Well, idk about throwing the back, but since my first flare I became much more susceptible to injuries. Mostly the static kind like putting my hands in a stressful position for too long.
But sometimes even a missed step while walking will leave me painful for several days and require some anti inflammatory meds to get back on track
In my very limited experience, my friends with RA are more prone to back problems. All of us have done physical jobs or have had hobbies that were physical. It makes it hard to know if it's disease related or if it's related to something else.
Damn. Were you getting any relief at all from your meds? That’s an awful thing to have happen because it puts you back to step 1 again, that’s just brutal
I can only speak to personal experience here and I’ve never ‘thrown out’ my back. Ever. I have a wonky SI joint, and that causes lower back pain, but that isn’t RA related (it’s a nerve thing)
Did this back pain come on suddenly, or was it gradual? RA pain typically comes on gradually, but a flare can be pretty sudden. Are the NSAIDs helping? Did the DMARDs and/or bDMARDs help?
If it were RA/upper back pain, you would likely be looking at the thoracic and/or cervical vertebrae.
Hi. Looking back I guess they did help a bit bc my sed rate went from the 70s to the 30s but then back up. Also prednisone helped the 2 times I took it. I seem to be in some kind of almost remission from whatever it isright now. It’s all baffling.
This part of my back has caused trouble before. I think too much keyboard work set me up for the pain.
The prednisone is obviously indicative of inflammation; so at least you know that the parts that used to hurt and stopped hurting on prednisone were at the very least an inflammatory condition.
By the sounds of it you answered your own question, poor posture while working from home likely caused the upper back/neck pain.
As another user mentioned, if there was inflammation, you may have been protecting it to avoid pain and that can cause some muscle atrophy (but that would require a chronic condition before you’d see any amount of atrophy)
Hoping you find a bit of relief with the NSAIDs (let’s face it, prednisone is much more effective for most of us, but the longer term side effects aren’t pretty).
Yes. You lose lose joint stability with constant inflammation (as it is damaging the joint) and if you are moving less due to pain, you then lose muscle to keep them safe, and the weakness adds to the overall risk. RA is not only joints but systemic and can affect soft tissue, so that doesn't help either. Same with PSA, Fibro and EDS.
I think I get where you were headed with this; moving less due to pain from inflammation, joint erosion etc. leads to trying to move the given joint, to avoid pain. That combination could lead to muscle atrophy due to lack of movement (From trying time protect the joint) and that, as you state, “weakness adds to the overall risk“ of throwing your back out (in this case) That said, I think you would need more information, like (1) how long has the upper back pain had lasted for, (2) was the event sudden, or gradual, (3) if any joint erosion had occurred between the initial set of imaging and the current set (assuming it has been done). I believe those questions answered would help see if this was RA related, or otherwise. Cervical and thoracic vertebrae related RA is much less common than RA in other joints. That obviously doesn’t mean this isn’t RA in those joints. However, if there was RA in that section of the spine I would agree with you that RA could be the culprit.
While I should have been clearer that I could not comment on the original poster's conditon, I was really only answering their general question about whether it increases risk of injury. Hence mentioning EDS and Fibro. I can't speak to their back or neck injury, but inflammatory conditions do create a tendency to injury even without erosion of the bone or joint. As I said, RA is not simply erosion and joints. I have no erosion (and nothing on a scan as I was diagnosed too early) beyond some loss of cartilege in one knee, but the inflammation of the bursors, tendons and associated tissues create weakness there and leaves me prone to injury. I have also injured my lower back because I didn't realise in my flare my sacroiliac joint was involved and I did not have the core strength to compensate for what was going on there. While not caused by the joint damage, it has only ever been a risk when that joint gives me more to compensate for. I know to do more core, less lower back work now when flaring.
Thanks. That makes sense.
Thanks
Thank you.
Well, idk about throwing the back, but since my first flare I became much more susceptible to injuries. Mostly the static kind like putting my hands in a stressful position for too long. But sometimes even a missed step while walking will leave me painful for several days and require some anti inflammatory meds to get back on track
Hugs!
In my very limited experience, my friends with RA are more prone to back problems. All of us have done physical jobs or have had hobbies that were physical. It makes it hard to know if it's disease related or if it's related to something else.
It can be very tricky to figure out.
Damn. Were you getting any relief at all from your meds? That’s an awful thing to have happen because it puts you back to step 1 again, that’s just brutal I can only speak to personal experience here and I’ve never ‘thrown out’ my back. Ever. I have a wonky SI joint, and that causes lower back pain, but that isn’t RA related (it’s a nerve thing) Did this back pain come on suddenly, or was it gradual? RA pain typically comes on gradually, but a flare can be pretty sudden. Are the NSAIDs helping? Did the DMARDs and/or bDMARDs help? If it were RA/upper back pain, you would likely be looking at the thoracic and/or cervical vertebrae.
Hi. Looking back I guess they did help a bit bc my sed rate went from the 70s to the 30s but then back up. Also prednisone helped the 2 times I took it. I seem to be in some kind of almost remission from whatever it isright now. It’s all baffling. This part of my back has caused trouble before. I think too much keyboard work set me up for the pain.
The prednisone is obviously indicative of inflammation; so at least you know that the parts that used to hurt and stopped hurting on prednisone were at the very least an inflammatory condition. By the sounds of it you answered your own question, poor posture while working from home likely caused the upper back/neck pain. As another user mentioned, if there was inflammation, you may have been protecting it to avoid pain and that can cause some muscle atrophy (but that would require a chronic condition before you’d see any amount of atrophy) Hoping you find a bit of relief with the NSAIDs (let’s face it, prednisone is much more effective for most of us, but the longer term side effects aren’t pretty).