Between shoulders pain/burn?

[Elkmasterwyo]

Went to Alaska in August with a kuiu icon on a dall sheep hunt, the longer the hunt went on, the worse it got. It was getting to where I couldn't look down without it being pretty bad. I got home and it's slightly better, but still tender to the touch. I've done two trips with a stone glacier since then and while miles better than the kuiu, it still seems to agitate it and after a couple days it's burning pretty good again. Anyone know what it might be and what can be done to help it?

 

[afteamroper]

I have the same issue I have been to physical therapy several times for it, they say it is from a foward head position. I have some exercises that help. I am working on a video of things to do while hunting/pre hunting tactics.

 

[5MilesBack]

My upper back is always a wreck after a month of carrying a pack. A couple days after the season this year I was just taking my shirt off and it felt like someone just stuck a hot poker in the flesh above the shoulder blade. I've had a buddy that's a massage therapist working on it for a couple weeks and it's still tender as heck. By mid Nov I should be back to normal though.

 

[BackcountryMT]

I have the same issue with my shoulders. After a long day or a hard pack out I can barely lift my arms above shoulder height. Hurts like a bitch.

 

[Elkmasterwyo]

@afteamroper, I'd like to try some of these exercises, is it a video your going to post on here?

@5milesback, it must be nice having a buddy like that!

 

[afteamroper]

@Elkmasterwyo, yes it will be posted on here when I get it done. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

 

[hflier]

I believe you are experiencing what I have wrestled with periodically over a few years. It is a strain of the rhomboid muscles. I is common to back packers and it is a bitch. I have finally gotten it under control. What I did was spent weeks alternating ice and heat a couple times per day until the pain is gone. Then I started recommended stretching exercises that are posted on the internet. I did these several times a day, if I felt any pain, back to the ice and heat. Then after a bit I move to lightly weighted stretching exercises like dumbbell rows. The last thing I did was start training with a light pack that fit me right and allowed me to walk completely upright with no forward lean of the shoulders/neck/ head. Then I gradually increased the weight. I also realized I need to stay trained all year and not try to do it a few months before hunting season. After several years of pain, I at least am to were I don't think of it much, but I am careful to do the right things. I also am very careful during the lifting of a heavy pack to put it on my back, because this was often where I would often reinjure it.

 

[afteamroper]

One thing that helps me keep it at bay during a hunt is when I think about it I stretch my neck and shoulders while hiking. I do this by looking down as far as possible, while looking down look right and left. Then with my head in a normal position look left and right has far as possible. Then look up, turn right and left. I hold all these position for 10-30 sec. each. It sometimes is really painful to look down the first couple of times, but all this can be done with your pack on.

Hflier is defiantly on to something about it being rhomboid muscles that are being stressed and strained.

 

[highhunter84]

I just finished a 7 day trip with an Icon 7200. I had the same problem. My buddy said... "dude, stand up straight". Absolutely corrected the problem and put all that excess weight from my chest and transferred it to my lumbar. I lengthened my trekking poles to help keep me more upright.

 

[gholpump81]

Does this give u headaches up the back of your neck and skull. It does for me

 

[Elkmasterwyo]

Yup same here, pretty miserable really

 

[fair-chase]

I suffer from the same or a similar issue. Between the shoulder blades as well as the inner most part of the shoulder where it meets the neck. Can barely look down and my shoulders are screaming. I'm thoroughly convinced it is due to my poor posture. If I make a conscious commitment to keeping my posture upright and straight, the issue does not present itself regardless of the load being hauled. But if I start slipping back into the poor posture I'm accustomed to, even for a short period of time with a pack on, it will come back with a vengeance.

Not sure where my poor posture comes from. I was introduced to a ruler on more than one occasion as a child for slouching. Guess it just never took.

I have found that my fire pack does not give me these complications. It is a completely frameless day pack with only a single webbing running up to the shoulder harness. If any of you cannot find relief in this area. You may want to give a similar pack design a try. Mine is a frankenpack with an obsolete Coaxsher suspension and Mystery Ranch bags. Something along the lines of a Bison Gear First Trip Explorer or a Monster Fanny pack would be the closest comparison. Obviously their not designed for heavy hauls. But it may give you some relief if used as a day pack.