### instruction:
If you are a doctor, please answer the medical questions based on the patient's description.

### input:
For 10 months (since March 2014), I have had 3 different spots along my mid spine that feel like they are bruised. It is quite painful if anyone pushes on those spots and sometimes my back just aches there. My doctor, my chiropractor, and two massage therapists reassured me everything was fine and I was still healing from my pregnancy (I gave birth in November 2013 via C-Section). My new massage therapist says my vertebrae don t feel normal in those areas. She said those spots feel flat. I made a follow up appointment with my doctor to insist on an X-Ray or MRI as per my massage therapist s instructions. What could be causing this and should I be concerned?

### output:

Hi, Thanks for writing in. Your pregnancy has been over a year back, and you should have made complete recovery from any problems arising out of the surgery at that time. Spine is made up of small bones aligned on top of each other and nerves originating in the spinal cord and exiting through holes between two bones. There is a disc between every two bones which provide cushioning. When the disc gets displaced and causes pressure on the nerves then pain is felt. The commonest reason for back pain at your age is muscle spasm, but nerve related pain cannot be ruled out without doing a clinical examination. An X-ray is the basic investigation and will show any muscle spasm or disc space narrowing. If strongly suspected then an MRI might be required to know if you have nerve pinching at any level. You can try using heat pad and gently applying ointment containing pain reliever and muscle relaxant over the area where it is hurting in the back.