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What Causes Upper Back Tightness, Chronic Cough, Neck And Arm Pain?

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Posted on Thu, 12 Mar 2015
Twitter Thu, 12 Mar 2015 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 1 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on
Question : Upper back tighness chronic cough for past several months cholesterol is good bp is around 129 to 135 at times neck pain i weigh 295 and arm aches went to ER several times they tell me im not having a heart attack so why am i getting these symptoms?
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Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Your cough needs investigation

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Your chronic cough needs investigation for its cause. Common causes of this condition include gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and sinusitis. Asthma is another potential (and fairly common) cause. Your doctor has to also consider drugs, laryngeal problems, tumors, sarcoidosis, infections etc. Obese individuals may experience GERD more frequently than non-obese individuals.
A clinical examination and a chest X-ray would be a nice start.

Please note that being obese may make respiratory movements laborious and could even cause a condition caused atelectasis which may cause chest symptoms like cough or tightness.

Regarding your neck pain and arm symptoms: neck vertebrae problems may cause pressure to the neck nerves that come out of the spine and cause local pain (to the neck) and referred pain (to the arms). Radiological tests may prove or exclude it as a cause. You've got to an X-ray of the cervical spine in two levels (face/profile) and depending on the results a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might be required.

I hope I've helped!
I'll be glad to answer any further questions you may have.

Kind Regards!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3815 Questions

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What Causes Upper Back Tightness, Chronic Cough, Neck And Arm Pain?

Brief Answer: Your cough needs investigation Detailed Answer: Hello, Your chronic cough needs investigation for its cause. Common causes of this condition include gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and sinusitis. Asthma is another potential (and fairly common) cause. Your doctor has to also consider drugs, laryngeal problems, tumors, sarcoidosis, infections etc. Obese individuals may experience GERD more frequently than non-obese individuals. A clinical examination and a chest X-ray would be a nice start. Please note that being obese may make respiratory movements laborious and could even cause a condition caused atelectasis which may cause chest symptoms like cough or tightness. Regarding your neck pain and arm symptoms: neck vertebrae problems may cause pressure to the neck nerves that come out of the spine and cause local pain (to the neck) and referred pain (to the arms). Radiological tests may prove or exclude it as a cause. You've got to an X-ray of the cervical spine in two levels (face/profile) and depending on the results a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might be required. I hope I've helped! I'll be glad to answer any further questions you may have. Kind Regards!