Question
im desperately in need of answers. i have always had a large chest a 38 DD but never any back problems. it was approximately 4 months ago that this horror begin. i had always sporadically been affected by charlie horses but i never realized that i'd get something so similar in my back. it's similar because both cause soreness the next day. my friend and i had gotten into a car accident. she smashed into another guy's bumper and we were both fine. approximately a week later i was woken out of a sound sleep but what felt like excrutiating back spasms on both sides of my upper back (where the bra opens & closes in the back). it hurt to breathe in and i just started screaming. i couldn't lay on my side because it made the areas feel like they were being pulled and stretched. i layed on my back and did deep breathing, two hours later these horrible pains disappeared. the next day my back felt tight. about a month later before a thunderstorm it started all over again. it woke me out of a sound sleep. it started off slow and before i knew it, there was daggers going through both sides of mid back. i took 2 anaprox and after 40 minutes the pain subsided. last nite was the third random flare up of this mysterious pain. it started off with feelings of tension in both sides of my back then 3 hours later it woke me up out of a sound sleep. this was the most intense i'd ever felt it. i couldn't even breathe in without a sharp pain going through both sides of my back. i was literally rolling around on the floor from pain. it lasted 3 hours and finally with anaprox it subsided. today my back is still sore. these pains remind me of charlie horses. it's like an extremely painful spasm. what could be going on with my back? it feels like a big cramp moving through my whole back. im in alot of pain...sound like a pulled muscle or something? im also very stressed. can stress be the cause? please help

Answer
Britt,
Stress is the cause of ill health no matter what the condition.
Ex.  Physical Stress - Fall, Injury, Car Accident, etc.
    Emotional or Mental Stress - relationship, job, money, death
    Chemical Stress - Medicine, Drugs, Alcohol,Nicotine, Food  
    Additives/Preservatives.
The body is so very complex (700 Trillion Cells) that it only makes sense to go to the source of what runs it and see if that is in proper working order or not.  Since everything in the body runs off of the brainstem it just makes sense to evaluate the brainstem for adequate function.
My guess is that you had an Upper Cervical Subluxation (misalignment in the C1/C2 part of the spine) and then aggravated it from the car accident.
This is actually quite common (8 out of 10 times it is caused from the birth process) and since it involves the Brainstem, literally any symptoms or health condition can be the result of this.  The way for you to have normal function restored is to correct the interference in the upper cervical spine and allow the body to heal itself.
This is something that only an Upper Cervical Specific Doctor of Chiropractic is trained to do.  Therefore, if you would like a referral, send me your town and state so I may find someone that can help you too.
Rather than try and figure out what the effect of this can be and treat that, why not simply correct the cause and get on with your LIFE?
Yours in Best Health,
Dr Rob Arnone