Upper Back Pain – 2 Ways to Find Relief

Asma Heath Tip, Training

The best way to rehabilitate upper back pain and find pain relief is by knowing the various root causes of the tension.

 

 

Possible Root Causes of Tension

Upper back pain can have multiple roots such as: 

  • Direct trauma:
    • Motor-vehicle injury 
    • Sporting injury
  • Indirect trauma:
    • Compromised posture 
    • Improper Breathing (see this IG Post)
    • Low strength of core muscles and postural muscles
    • Excessive tightness in the chest muscles
    • Excessive tightness in the back (Latissimus) muscles
    • Mental or emotional stress

Once the root cause(s) is identified

Regardless of the cause, once past the acute stage (few weeks), the body finds various ways to heal the pain which unfortunately leads to compensatory adjustments from other parts of the body. An easy term I use to explain to clients is – the body essentially steals mobility or flexibility from other parts to make sure you can still turn your head and lift your arms. 

Once injuries set in over months, and years – we start to notice that the head turns less and neck flexibility decreases, and the ease of lifting the arms overhead… isn’t so freely moving anymore. 

Decrease Upper Back Pain

Two of the ways to decrease general/indirect upper back pain are to: 

  1. Open and stretch the muscles of the chest, shoulder, and lats. The lats start from the low back and pelvis all the way up to the back of the shoulders. Shoulders are a key structure that plays a role in upper back pain. 
  2. Bend & Flex your Spine for Vertebral Mobility. If the vertebrae are stuck and congealed, the muscles will remain tight. Here is a ball stretch that myself, and my clients absolutely love to do on a regular basis. It will also help to stretch the chest. Once that starts feeling easy, you can move onto this stretch on the Yoga Wheel. If you don’t have a ball or a Yoga Wheel, you use sofa – see video here!
  3. Stretch the lats! Something to remember, is the pain you feel in your body is likely coming from somewhere else. So incorporating full body stretches like this one 
  4. Foam Roll (the right way)! One of the most effective ways to decrease upper back pain, is Foam Rolling. Here is a copy video I have pulled off my Membership Site that will help you learn how to foam roll correctly. 

Avoiding Ongoing Back Pain

These are the 2 basic ways to find immediate pain relief from upper back pain. Once these are established as part of your daily routine, it is best:

  1. Improve your posture. Remember posture starts at the pelvis, so mobilizing your hips, will be beneficial for the long-term.
  2. Full Body Stretching. Here is a FREE Stretch Guide I created with 5 x 15 min guided stretch videos. 

Muscle Strengthening

Many of the people that come to see us have some level of upper back pain. Because it is extremely important to maintain great back health, we include in a set of specific exercises to decrease upper back pain for personal training clients as well as Active Rehabilitation clients. The exercises consist of:

  1. Thoracic mobility exercises, namely thoracic rotation
  2. Upper back strengthening, done with extremely light weights or bands using proper technique. See this video (strength Serratus Anterior muscle) , and this video (strengthen rear deltoid muscle) 
  3. Core stabilization exercises, done with minimal to no equipment to ensure the spinal system is self-supporting. Here is a video for inspo 

Fascial Stretch Therapy

Often we perform Fascial Stretch Therapy to those that tried the above methods but still have ongoing pain and tension.

The active stretch along with the Myo-fascial Release (seen at the end of this video) provides immediate relief to the areas. 

We then go over 2 exercises or stretches specific for the person, in efforts to decrease and eventually rid-off upper back pain completely. 

 

 

Lastly, because upper back pain can be related to other life factors, we find most of our clients get benefit from awareness on what other factors are contributing to their upper back pain, and guidance on how to truly recover to live a more energetic and pain-free life! These injury rehab coaching sessions are done via zoom, and we would be pleased to assist you if you are in need of support to mitigate the pain long-term. 

Good luck, and feel free to reach out or connect on socials! and remember to download your free stretch guide!

 

 

Asma Kassam, BHK, CSNA, CFST

Former Kinesiologist, Personal Trainer, Certified Sports Nutrition Advisor, Certified Fascial Stretch Therapist, turned Women’s Health & Fitness Coach & Educator

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