Back, neck, and chest pain

[christophonk]

Hi, I'm a 26yr old male in good health. For the last week though I have been experiencing mildly sharp pains primarily in the upper left back, but also in the neck and chest especially when lying down or twisting/sitting a certain way. The pains are constantly present and are located between my spine and left shoulder blade, my left trapezoid, and my left chest between the breast bone and nipple. The pain increases when breathing deeply and also while lying down on my back. But the weirdest part of all of this is while lying on my back or on my left side, if I breathe in deeply I can hear & feel clicking or popping deep within the chest. This also occurs on the deep exhale. The clicking/popping is not heard nor felt when in any other position though.

So this has ovbiously caused some concerns. A brief history, I just recently had endoscopic sinus surgery on June 22nd. Before going under they did an EKG just to be safe and it was perfect. So it doesnt appear to be related to the heart. While I have been recovering from the sinus surgery though, I have had to sleep with two/three pillows to keep my head propped up above my heart (per doctor's order) and so I am wondering if this has cause a strain in my back/neck and is causing all this pain, or if it could be something more serious.

Your answers and advice are greatly appreciated.

[christophonk]

I've been having to sleep like this for about 3-4 months. Before the surgery I was having nosebleeds so I starting elevated sleeping around 4 months ago. I am also having tingling sensations in my left arm which I forgot to mention and pain in the elbow/forearm area. The back pain is primarily when standing or sitting and when I lie down the pain resorts to my chest/abdomen.

[Adam Tanase, D.C.]

I'm inclined to think that this may be a result of the sleep posture... for long long have you been instructed to sleep in this manner?