Hi,

In another thread Colin Campbell posted:

'What we do to compensate us use or diaphragm, chest, shoulder and back
muscles to push the air out.  (This is why chest and back muscle
soreness is a symptom of an asthma flare.)'

I am interested in this as I had never heard of a soreness in the back being
linked with asthma before but, having gone onto a preventer in the last 10
days for the first time in years, I am suddenly aware of a soreness in my
back, now slowly receding thanks to the preventer, that I have been putting
up with now for, well, a good 2 years or more. The more I use my preventer
the more aware I am, if that makes any sense, of the soreness diminishing
and that I had been putting up with it for a long time.

I appear to have, along with an occasional slight numbness or tingleness in
my left arm, put up with this and now, with hindsight, I am very conscious
of numerous times in the past couple of years when this soreness has caused
me minor problems - more of an irritation - when doing exercise, driving or
just general work.

The soreness is/was on the left side of my back up just between the shoulder
blades and I am also now conscious that my breathing was pretty good on the
right side of my chest but, on the left side, it was sometimes laboured and
I often had a feeling of my left lung not 'filling completely' - if that
makes any sense. Since beginning the preventer I have not only noticed this
rear left soreness diminish but the numbness in my left arm has disappeared
and I am now aware of the left side of my chest 'inflating' as equally as
the right side. At the same time my chest has 'loosened up' quite
substantially although, tonight, it seems to be sore and tight again almost
as if the muscles, being worked for the first time in years, are now aching
up like any other muscle that is suddenly excercised.

However, this is the only place that I have ever seen a link mentioned
between such a soreness and asthma but, thinking about, it makes pretty much
alot of sense.

J.