01

Causes

Find out what I've noticed causes most upper back problems

Symptoms

Find out what sort of symptoms accompany upper back problems

Treatment

Find out what types of techniques I use in order to alleviate and begin to resolve upper back pain

Management

Find out how I try to manage my patients so that they can maintain the treatment benefits in the long-term

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.

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