Question
I am a healthy, active, 38 yr old female, 5'5",weighing 117lbs, with 2 young children 4yrs and 6yrs. I have had upper back pain in a very focalized area to the right of (I think) T5. The focal pain is followed by tightness in the mm of my upper back and neck. This occurred after a yoga class where my instructor helped me deepen a twist and I actually felt something shift in my thoracic spine between my shoulder blades. I didn't feel an immediate pain, but the next morning I felt stiff and ever since then I have not been the same with off and on focal pain in the upper thoracic region, though sometimes it will be painful on the left. Then I did a prolonged headstand one night in yoga class and the next morning, the worst pain of my life occurred. I could not move without excruciating pain in my upper back, focally on the rt side b/t shoulder blades. After calling out sick, I immed went to my chiro and had no relief, then had a hot stone massage with no relief. I didn't notice any tingling in my hands at the time, but I've had occasional tingling and weakness in my hands, some days it's the right, others the left. I went to my GP and he rxd PT and I was much improved after 4-6 weeks. Lazy me hasn't been keeping up with the exercises and a month later I feel the dull pain has returned and I feel very tight in my neck. No tingling this time around.  I can't do yoga anymore because the day after I take a class, I wake up with upper thoracic focal pain, and tightness up there and it will last about a week and gradually get better. I feel like this is more than just a muscle issue, something is wrong and is causing my muscles to tighten.

A bit of pertinent background... My back has felt fine my whole life until I started getting occasional neck pain once I started at a desk job out of college.  I have been under chiropractic care for mainly neck issues for the past 2 yrs but I have never had an upper thoracic problem. Also I should mention I have a mild scoliosis that went undiscovered until my 29th year. My lower back is fine except for some sacro-iliac pain which I never had until I started seeing a chiropractor (but that's a whole other question).

My chiropractor doesn't think my yoga teacher could have subluxated anything. She didn't think it was a disk either since I had no pain when she applied pressure around the area.  When I asked why I was waking up so sore in the neck, she wanted to sell me a special pillow and told me to sleep on my back. I didn't buy the pillow and I stopped seeing the chiropractor since PT had helped so much.

Right now as I type, I have the focal pain/soreness without any tingling or weakness.

I guess what I'd like to know is..

1. Could my yoga teacher have twisted a vertebrae out of alignment? Or could it be an off and on disk flare up?

2. If so, should I go back to my GP and get an MRI? Would an MRI pick up a subluxation? Even in a curved spine?
It seems MDs don't believe in subluxations.

3. Am I doomed to a life of Physical Therapy or do you think there is a good chiropractor or MD out there who could possibly cure this?  I want to wake up refreshed with out having to do umpteen stretching exercises for my neck/back! But I will if I have to...

4. If it's disk is it possible I may never be able to do yoga again?

I'm trying to look forward and take the smartest course of action without making anything worse. I just want to feel normal again!

I hope this wasn't too long! Thank you for your time.

Answer
Beth,
Subluxations can have thousands of causes and what most likely occurred is that you were already walking around with an unstable spine to begin with and when you got into this certain position there was enough force applied in the right direction to set it out even further, and enough for you to take notice.
If you could get an MRI of the C-Spine done, I would be happy to look at it for you.  A Neurologist or Medical Doctor will not know what to look for as far as what I would be looking for, so do not take their test reults to heart.
Then if you have a problem that I believe can be corrected, I can have you send me your town and I will locate a good doctor for you, understand?

Yours in Best Health,
Dr Arnone
St Louis, MO