Associated symptoms and diseases
The dangerous thing about lung cancer is that the disease usually goes unnoticed for a very long time.The main reason for this is the absence of symptoms before lung cancer develops. Back pain is also a very late symptom of lung cancer, even if it is generally a symptom. Back pain caused by a carcinoma in the lung usually only occurs when either the tumor has spread so far that it causes pressure on a nerve tract near the back, or when the tumor has settled and developed metastases and these appear in the vertebral bodies.
In these cases, a pathological fracture of the vertebral bodies can always occur, even if the course of the disease is very severe. When a bronchial carcinoma is diagnosed, the entire skeleton is always scanned to see whether there are already metastases at any point. In the case of back pain, these metastases would then usually be found in the area of the ribs or the vertebral bodies.
After bronchitis or pneumonia, severe back pain can also occur after a severe coughing attack. The reason for this is that with every cough the respiratory muscles between the ribs are massively compressed and stretched so that the coughing stimulus can be implemented with corresponding strength. The cough can become so strong and hard that the ribs can also break.
Such a fracture would also radiate painfully into the upper back. The muscles between the ribs are supplied with nerves that can also pull into the area of the back. A hard cough and irritation of the muscles and nerves can also lead to pain radiating into the back.
Back pain after coughing usually disappears very quickly. If not, a thorough examination of the back should be performed. Symptomatically, this type of pain can be treated with anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen or diclofenac.
If respiratory problems occur in connection with back pain, attention should always be paid to the severity and onset of the symptoms. For example, it may be a postural problem in the area of the spine that leads to shortness of breath due to constriction (in the case of a hunchback, the lungs do not have as much room to expand and breathe in sufficient air), it may also be a dangerous pulmonary embolism if a blood clot has formed in the lungs. Particularly after long journeys to faraway places or with previous leg vein thrombosis, the combination of severe shortness of breath and back pain as well as pain when inhaling can occur.
However, back pain is usually absent in the complete picture of a pulmonary embolism. Furthermore, in case of sudden shortness of breath with severe back pain, an aortic aneurysm should also be ruled out. However, this clinical picture is still associated with severe chest pain.
