Upper Back Pain
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01 Causes
What Causes Upper-Mid Back Pain?
Similar to Neck Pain and Headaches, the way we use our bodies has large impacts on how our bodies function.
The upper and middle back has many structures influencing it; these are predominantly to muscles and joints associated with:
Neck
Rib cage
Lower back
Shoulders
However, the posture the body holds can also be a result of biomechanics alterations originating from the hips, knees and feet.
Heart: strong pounding heartbeat, breathlessness, crushing chest pain
Lungs: wheezing, constant pains, breathlessness
Stomach: constant burning sensation/reflux particularly affected by food intake.
If you have these sorts of symptoms seeing your GP is highly advisable so that they do not develop or cause longer-term problems.
02 Symptoms
Symptoms of Upper-Mid Back Pain
Pain taking deep breaths
Pain coming round from the back to the chest
Sharp or dull sensation around or between the shoulder blades
Pain leaning forward or backward i.e. putting on shoes or painting a ceiling
Pain raising the arms over head
Pushing or pulling movements whether doors or sport/weighted exercises
Neck pain
Low back pain
03 Treatment
How Can Osteopathy Help Upper-Mid Back Pain?
As mentioned above, once the root cause of the problem has been located, your osteopath will begin working on the appropriate areas.
As mentioned in Neck Pain, the ideal shape of the spine is a thin ‘S’ where a small arch in the lower back is balanced by a small rounding of the upper back. If the lower back has an excessive arch then the upper back will have an excessive rounding, thus causing the head to fall forwards. Therefore, correcting the position of the lower back and neck will relieve much of the tension into the upper back.
Treatment involves release of tension in the front, back and sides of the neck, shoulders, chest, rib cage and lower back. This may involve deep massage techniques, soft tissue work, techniques to improve the movement and function of the spine and ribs such as harmonic mobilisation, osteopathic mobilisation and also spinal manipulation.
04 Management
Treatment plans for upper and mid back pain depend entirely on what is found during the consultation and follow up sessions. This is why, as osteopaths, we will design a treatment which is as accurate and efficient for each patient as possible.
