Mid back pain is something that we see and help people with on a daily basis at our office in East Vancouver. Mid back pain can be nagging and annoyingly frustrating at times. And it’s something that’s becoming more common especially with most individuals currently working from home. Here’s a quick rundown on what could potentially be causing your pain and what you can do to help reduce it!
Whats causing my mid back to hurt?
Majority of the time most peoples pain is caused by a combination of repetitive stress, poor posture, and joint dysfunction. Repetitive stress can can differ depending on lifestyle. For example, it can be sitting at a computer for work all day, bending over to lift heavy items, carrying a baby, or bending in a weird position to tattoo a client for 5 hours strait. What all of these have in common is a repetitive motion or position that can over time take a tole on your spine or a specific area of your body.
Poor posture can also play a big role in causing mid back pain as well. Specifically anterior head carriage, this is also known as text neck, or when your head comes forward ahead of your shoulders. This puts additional stress and tension on the area between your shoulder blades and on your trapezius muscle.
Joint dysfunction is when certain joints of the spine are not moving as they should be. This aberrant motion causes altered signals leaving the spine resulting in poor function and spinal control. The altered function and poor spinal control can lead to pain signals firing off in the mid back.
What can I do to help my mid back pain?
Gentle yoga can help relieve some discomfort through the mid back. Focus on movements such as cat cow, sphinx, and savasana. Getting this mid back moving will help decrease pain and start improving the joint function through the mid back. **Pro tip: Lay in savasana with a yoga block between the shoulder blades to get an extra big stretch in the mid back**
Using a lacrosse ball on the upper trapezius muscle is another way to help immediately decrease mid back discomfort. The best way to do this is stand against a wall and put the lacrosse ball in-between your back and the wall. Cross your arms and slowly roll the ball up and down your back between the edge of the shoulder blade and spine.
Getting adjusted by a chiropractor can help relive your back pain because we directly work with the spine and correcting joint dysfunction. When the spine is moving optimally, proper signals exit the spine leading to ideal function and spinal control. We also help individuals improve their posture in two ways. One, making sure they have ideal motion throughout their spine. And two, giving great postural exercises to help strengthen key muscles that assist people be in a more upright and aligned position.
If you’re looking to learn more about chiropractic and if it can help you with your mid back pain book our complimentary consult today!
