Pain Relief back

Upper Back Pain Relief – Trigger Points & Muscle Imbalances

upper back painWhile lower back pain and neck pain tend to get the most attention because they’re far more common, getting upper back pain relief is every bit as important for those suffering from it.

Upper back pain is less common mainly because your thoracic spine is much more stable than other areas of your back and neck.

Your thoracic spine consists of the 12 vertebrae in your upper back that your ribs connect to – a pair to each vertebra. Since the top nine pairs of ribs curve around to join in the front at your breastbone, mobility is greatly limited while this part of your spine is better protected against injury and degeneration.

Outside of an accident or other form of trauma, most upper back pain is some form of myofascial pain. Thankfully, upper back pain relief is within reach for almost anyone once you address the two primary sources of upper back myofascial pain.

Forward Head Posture DysfunctionUpper Back Pain: Muscle Imbalances

As you continue to use one or more sets of muscles, they grow stronger and tighter. When opposing muscles are underused, they are pulled out of shape by the overused muscles and progressively weaken over time. This leads to unnatural postures, or postural dysfunctions, as the tighter muscles continually pull your body in one direction and the weakened stretched out muscles fail to maintain their position.

Out of the four primary postural dysfunctions, a forward head posture is the one most commonly associated with upper back pain.

Think of how you spend much of your day. In fact, observe how you’re sitting right now as you read this article.

Upper Back Trigger PointsIs your head and neck leaning forward towards the computer screen (or paper if you printed this article)? If so, chances are high that you have already developed significant muscle imbalances between your chest and upper back, front and rear shoulders, and front and rear of your neck.

Now for the good news. Once your muscle imbalances are corrected, posture dysfunctions resolve themselves and the pain caused by these muscle stressors goes away.

You can correct muscle imbalances in three simple steps:

Identify the specific muscle imbalances (which muscles are tight? which are weak?)

Yoga Therapy for Back Pain and Stress Relief with Kanta Barrios
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Arthritic Back Pain Relief

by Generation_X