Mid Back Pain

Are you not able to continue your cherished hobbies or everyday activities because of sharp pain in your mid back when you move? With our expert doctors’ help, you can get to the root of your symptoms and get back to doing what you love quicker and easier.

If you’ve got lower back pain, stiffness or an ache – it’s very tempting to think that it’s nothing, that it will go away on its own. Or, you pass it off as having just “slept awkwardly”, or that it’s just a “spasm” or a bit of stiffness that “everyone” your age suffers from…

There’s no obvious reason why it happened – but it doesn’t seem to be shifting

If that’s happening to you, you’re not alone – and we hear this type of thing all the time. In fact, Lower Back Pain and Sciatica is THE most common problem that we see in our physiotherapy  clinic

Most people think that when they get Back Pain, it’s just going to go away on it’s own.

That they’ll wake up one morning and like “magic”, it’ll be as if back pain never happened… But then 6 months later you’re still living with back pain – often even worse than it was when it came on.

Does That Sound Like You?

Another scenario we see all the time in our Physiotherapy Clinic is when people go to the Doctors, and the Doctor tells them to rest and “try these painkillers” and “see how it goes”.

But this is rarely ever the best advice and often 6 weeks later, they end up going back to the Doctor again because it hasn’t got any better. Worse, they’re often given yet another prescription of even stronger pills, and advised MORE rest. This is madness and explains why so many people aged 50+ are suffering with chronic lower back pain.

Has This Type Of Thing Happened To You?

Why else does back pain last longer than it should do? Well, it’s easy to get confused because you’ve been told different things, by different people. There’s lots of people out there who are happy to dispense advice – but not all of it is credible.

Maybe you think your back pain was caused by doing something – like lifting or sleeping awkwardly – but really it was caused by years and years of poor posture that caused the muscles in your l​ower back to become weak and the lifting of the awkward sleeping position was just the EFFECT of that.

If you don’t know what you’re doing – back pain can be very confusing and because of this, many people just end up accepting it as ‘part of life’ – as if it’s normal, and ‘just the way it is’.

Do You Feel That Way Too?

This is Steve. Steve suffers with low back pain!

Don’t Be Steve!

Steve is dealing with annoying low back pain for months now that is not going away.

He gets intense low back pain with prolonged sitting, when he gets up out of a chair at work, when he is walking outside, and he even sometimes gets pain radiating into his glute and leg.

He can’t exercise anymore.  He can’t enjoy his favorite activities and live an active lifestyle like he wants too.

He has problems traveling now due to his pain and he can’t enjoy time with his family without getting bad flare ups of debilitating low back pain.

He doesn’t want surgery.  He doesn’t want injections, but he doesn’t know what else to do?

He is hoping that his low back pain is just going to go away. But it’s not.  Don’t be like Steve

1. You thought it would go away on its own – but it didn’t​
2. You went to the Doctor who told you to rest and take painkillers – but the pills did nothing to help your back, and as soon as they wore off chronic Back pain struck again
3. A family member, or friend, told you that everybody gets Back pain as they get older, so you just accepted it
4. You tried other Healthcare Professionals, or a Physiotherapist in the past, but nothing they said or did seemed to help
5. You tried YouTube exercises but they either didn’t do a thing, or made your Back pain ten times worse
6. You thought it would be a good idea to rest because your Back pain was so bad, but all that did was make it feel even more stiff and tight
7. You decided to get a few “massages” hoping that would fix the pain, but all they did was feel nice and relaxing, and didn’t do anything to fix it long term…

If any of these have happened to you – we would love to help you by inviting you to book a call to talk with one of our Doctors at our Physiotherapy Clinic to find out what can be done to help you. The fact that you’ve tried any or all of these things already is actually a GOOD THING because when you know what doesn’t work – you are closer to finding the thing that does!

 

Click the link below to book a call with us if you would like to get some solid advice given to you over the phone……. Our goal is to help you make the right decision about what to do next for the best results

Here’s just a few of the things our Physiotherapy Team can do for you:

• ​We can quickly take away the pain and stiffness – often inside a couple of sessions
• ​We can help you find out what’s really going on, and get to the root cause of your Back pain once and for all – often inside 20 minutes
• ​Pain can “zap” you of energy and limit a peaceful night’s  sleep – we can help you to enjoy sleeping at night and living with more energy each day
• ​We will ensure that your problem is “corrected” and “healed” properly – and we will provide you with the perfect set of exercises that will speed up your recovery
• ​We can help you put an end to taking all of those painkillers that are no good for your health long-term
• ​We can help you avoid dangerous spinal surgery – and painful injections
• ​We can help you keep out of the Doctor’s waiting room or from making repeat visits only to be given more pills!
• We can help you get back to enjoying quality time with family and friends that back pain has stolen from you
• We can help you to finally get a good night’s sleep without tossing and turning trying to find that one position that feels right
• We can help you to sit more comfortably and walk longer than 15 minutes without your back feeling weak and painful or like it is going to “give-way”…

Basically, we can help you get back to living life free from the curse of chronic back pain

Compare how our treatment approach differs from standard care:

Here Is Everything You Need To Know About Mid Back Pain from Sitting, What Causes It, and The Best Way to Treat It

mid back pain at work, at a desk, or when watching TV is a very common symptom. It may be caused from poor posture, from a strained muscle, or it can be referred pain from the neck. People who sit for long periods of time, or individuals with arthritis in the cervical (neck) region can also be affected. Conservative care, including physical therapy, can help reduce symptoms. A physical therapist can help alleviate the acute neck and arm symptoms that result from the condition, as well as improve general strength and function. Most cases of cervical radiculopathy are resolved with physical therapy and do not require surgery.

What are common causes of mid back pain from sitting?

Cervical radiculopathy occurs when a nerve root coming off the spinal cord becomes compressed. The compression can occur for various reasons. In younger people, it may occur when a cervical disc herniates due to trauma. In older individuals, it commonly occurs spontaneously as a result of arthritis or decreased disc height in the neck region.

The cervical spine consists of 7 cervical vertebrae (the bones that form the neck region). Each vertebra is separated by a gel-like disc. The discs provide shock absorption for the spine. The spinal cord travels through a canal in the cervical vertebrae. Spinal nerve roots extend from the spinal cord and branch off going to specific locations in the arm. The spinal nerves send signals to our muscles for movement as well as sensations that we feel in the entire arm. The spinal cord is like a tree trunk, and the spinal nerves are like the tree branches. If an impingement or abnormal pressure is placed on a branch near the trunk, everything along that branch will be affected.

Spinal nerves can be impinged by:

• Arthritis or disc wear-and-tear with age
• Herniated or bulging discs from trauma or degeneration
• Spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spaces in which the nerves travel
• Tumor, which can be benign or malignant, impinging the nerve root

When the spinal nerves are impinged, they cannot properly send messages to the muscles from the brain, nor receive proper sensation from the specific arm location the nerve travels. Everywhere the spinal nerve travels will be affected. That is why a pinched nerve in the neck can cause pain, weakness, and loss of sensation in the arm, even though the pinch is in the cervical region.

Where does it hurt?

In most cases of sitting mid back pain, patients report a dull ache or burning right in their middle back area in between their shoulder blades or slightly lower. Usually it is worse with sitting and when at work. Sometimes, the neck can cause pain to radiate into the mid back area. Because of this, it’s possible to feel pain of an injury in other parts of your body. This is called referred pain. Understanding the root cause of your pain is fundamental to treating your pain in the long run & will decrease your dependence on painkillers or treatment that only addresses the symptoms.

What are common symptoms of mid back pain from sitting?

Symptoms of cervical radiculopathy vary depending on the nerve root involved, and commonly occur on the same side of the body as the affected nerve. The symptoms may include:

• Pain in the neck, shoulder blade, shoulder, upper chest, or arm, with pain possibly radiating into the fingers following the path of the involved nerve root.
• Pain described as “sharp” or “pins-and-needles” or “popping sensation” in cervical or mid back region.
• General dull ache or numbness anywhere along the pathway of the nerve.
• Weakness in the shoulder, arm, or hand.
• Pain that worsens with certain neck movements.
• Pain that improves when the arm is lifted over and behind the head (relieving tension on the spinal nerve).

Can mid back pain from sitting be treated?

What if mid back pain from sitting goes untreated? What can I expect from treatment?

Yes, sitting middle back pain can be treated and with great results. Even better, many times it can be treated conservatively without needing injections, pain medications, or surgeries if you catch it early enough. The key to treatment is to solve the root cause of your pain so you can get the best results and a long-term outcome.

Some root causes of sitting mid back pain can be:

Decreased shoulder blade range of motion

Poor posture in sitting

Rounded shoulders with impingement

Weak mid back and shoulder blade muscles

Overload to the shoulder joint with active motions

Tight neck and mid back

Poor biomechanics causing impingement

Decreased mid-back rotation

Tight rotator cuff muscles

Poor workplace ergonomics

If you have failed multiple treatment approaches already, your clinician missed the real root cause of your pain and was just chasing the symptoms. The pain or symptom is the effect, not the cause. What do I mean by this? Say your fire alarm goes off in your house. Its purpose is to protect you and make you aware that something is wrong, i.e., that there is a fire in your house. The “alarm” is like your pain (your body’s way of telling you something is wrong) and the “fire” is the root cause. When the fire alarm goes off, you don’t run upstairs and just turn it off, right? You run through the house with the fire extinguisher, trying to find the room where the fire is at. You try to find out what caused the alarm to go off so you can put it out. Once the fire is out, then the fire alarm can go off. Solve the “root” cause of your pain, and then the pain (“the effect”) eventually goes away.

Additionally, there is a common root cause which many clinicians misdiagnose. They treat the mid back pain with a cookie cutter approach, hoping it will work and treat it as a simple muscle problem. They tend to rely on stretching, ultrasound, massage, and focus treatment directly on the mid back. However, often the root cause is missed and the symptoms return. If you can normalize shoulder and thoracic range of motion and biomechanics, you should be able to decrease your pain and increase the range of motion. So many healthcare clinicians treat pain like this and thus show poor treatment outcomes which results in the pain coming back. Why? They missed the root cause of your mid back pain. This is also the case when patients turn to injections, nerve blocks and other surgeries which are still not effective because the actual problem still is not solved, their treatment was just chasing the pain.

The first step in treatment is to identify the root cause of your pain. A specific and individualized treatment approach for your type of pain can lead to a successful outcome for you and resolve your symptoms for the long term. This is why you can’t rely on a standard cookie cutter approach; you need a customized and individualized treatment approach specifically for your type of middle back pain.

What happens if it goes untreated?

Minor case – If it is a minor case of sitting mid back pain, research shows that many acute cases of pain may spontaneously go away in 4-8 weeks. The key is to solve the root cause of what is causing the actual mid back pain? But who wants to wait 8 weeks to get pain free? Let’s try to solve the root cause of your pain in 2-3 weeks and address all of the risk factors present (so it never returns!) and get you back to your favorite activities faster! We still recommend that you get it checked out by one of our board-certified physical therapists to ensure that it is just a minor case, to solve all risk factors, and to get the optimal outcome in the fewest visits needed. Most minor cases resolve on their own in time or get better with some stretching and strengthening. But, the sooner you take action, the sooner you are pain-free. (And research supports this!)

Severe case – If it’s more of a severe and chronic case of mid back pain, your pain will probably start to worsen and increase because the root cause of the pain is not being treated. Many people turn to pain medication at this time but this only blocks the pain for short term. You may not feel the pain when taking pain medications, but the underlying problem is still there. Many people say after the pain medication is stopped, then usually the pain returns and sometimes it returns even worse. This is when you will get increased muscle tightness, muscle burning from overload, chronic trigger points in postural mid-back muscles, and it may start to get painful at rest. Even though it’s more chronic now, we can still help. Once the root cause and all risk factors are addressed, then we can start decreasing your pain, regardless of how chronic and severe the pain is. This is the crucial first step. It just may take more time to recover from a chronic case. Usually with chronic and severe cases, the longer you have your pain and injury, the longer it takes to resolve.

What outcome can you expect from treatment?

As we’ve discussed, the first step is to solve the root cause of your sitting mid back pain. This is the most essential step to plan a treatment specialized for you and your unique type of pain. Your root cause will guide your treatment and dictate what is the best way to treat your pain. This, along with identifying risk factors that may be predisposing you to have your pain and injury, will allow you to start getting pain free again. The next step is to start decreasing pain, modifying activities, and start addressing all of the impairments causing your pain which we discovered during your evaluation. With each session, pain should start to decrease and you should start to regain range of motion with less pain and symptoms. Any radicular and referred pain should resolve fast as well. At this point, we begin light and basic strengthening only if it does not increase pain. Treatment will consist of  a lot of manual therapy and light exercises.

The next step is to achieve full range of motion, (which should correlate to being pain free) and now we can start progressive strengthening. Strengthening the muscles is crucial and research shows that this gives you the best long-term outcome! As you start to get stronger and maintain your mobility, your pain will continue to decrease if it is not already gone. Your increased strength will allow you to perform more activities and prevent flare ups. This usually does take up to 4 weeks. As you clear our goals, then we can start easing you back into sport, golf, running, and whatever your favorite activities are. This is when we start winding down treatments and getting you back into functional strengthening, sport specific training, return to run programs, golfing, and whatever your goals are. At the end, we reassess everything, making sure we achieved all of our goals, your goals, that all risk factors are gone, and finalize your long term home exercise program. There are many factors which can influence your outcome, but 85-90% of our patients respond well to our treatment approach and achieve a successful outcome when completing their plan of care.

How is it diagnosed?

When you seek the help of a physical therapist, the physical therapist performs a comprehensive evaluation and asks questions about your pain and your daily activities. These may include:

• How and when the pain started: Did the pain begin spontaneously or was there any trauma or popping experienced in the cervical region?
• Where are the symptoms located, and have they changed location or intensity since the onset?
• What makes the symptoms better or worse?
• What type of work do you perform?
• What hobbies or household activities do you regularly perform?

Your physical therapist will gently test the movement of your neck and arms. The therapist will check your tendon reflexes and strength, and conduct special tests on your neck and upper extremity to determine which spinal nerve root(s) may be involved, and to rule out other conditions. To provide a definitive diagnosis, your therapist may collaborate with an orthopedist or other health care provider. The orthopedist may order further tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or electromyography (EMG). An MRI can show soft tissues, including the spinal cord and nerve roots. This test can determine what is causing the compression on the nerves, including disc bulges or disc herniation. An EMG measures the nerve and muscle function. This test can tell how well your spinal nerves are communicating to your muscles.

Do you need an X-ray and MRI imaging for sitting mid back pain?

For most common orthopedic cases, imaging is not needed and the diagnosis can be made with a simple physical therapy evaluation. No need to waste thousands of dollars on unwarranted diagnostic imaging. We also have clinical tests which we can perform to help rule in and rule out pathologies that correlate to MRI findings (which is WAY cheaper than an MRI!). An expensive MRI may just tell us what we already know. Also, often times the positive findings found on x-rays, MRIs, and EMGs may not actually be the root cause of your pain. What does that mean? Many positive findings on an MRI are also found in asymptomatic (pain-free) individuals, so diagnostic imaging may not be able to tell us what is actually causing your pain. For example: many people have a herniated disc in their low back but do not have any low back pain. So if herniated discs can cause no pain, just because someone with low back pain has a herniated disc does not mean that is what’s causing their pain. The key is to find out if your clinical evaluation findings during your evaluation at Pursuit match the MRI findings. If so, then we can decide what is the best way to treat it.

How can a Physical Therapist treat it?

Physical therapy is an effective treatment for cervical radiculopathy, and in many cases, it completely resolves symptoms. Your physical therapist will develop an individual treatment plan based on the findings of your initial evaluation. The treatment plan may include:

Pain Management. The first goal is to reduce the pain and inflammation in the area. Ice packs applied to the neck and scapular (shoulder blade) region during the first 24 to 48 hours following the onset of pain, help reduce inflammation. Moist heat can be used after this time period to help the surrounding muscles relax. Your physical therapist may advise you to wear a soft cervical collar at times throughout the day, to allow the neck to relax. A cervical contoured pillow may be recommended to properly support the neck, and allow you to sleep more comfortably.

Manual Therapy. Your physical therapist may use manual therapy techniques, such as manual cervical traction, to relieve pressure in the cervical (neck) region. This procedure can provide immediate relief of pain and numbness radiating into the arm. Gentle massage may also be performed on the muscles of the cervical spine and scapular (shoulder blade) region. This technique helps the muscles relax and improves circulation to the area, promoting healing and pain relief.

Posture Education. Posture education is an important part of rehabilitation. Your physical therapist may suggest adjustments to your workstation and work habits, to promote good posture to protect your neck. In the early stages of recovery this may mean sitting only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. You will also receive instructions on how to bend, reach, and lift throughout the day in safe positions that place minimal pressure on your spinal discs.

Range-of-Motion Exercises. Your physical therapist will teach you gentle cervical mobility exercises to relieve your symptoms, and allow you to return to normal movement. In the beginning stages of recovery, it is important that none of these exercises increase the pain radiating down into your arm. It is important to communicate your symptoms accurately to your physical therapist. If you spend many hours sitting at a desk during your workday, your neck may become stiff. Your therapist will teach you neck stretches to take pressure off of your neck from extended periods of sitting, to help improve your mobility.

Strengthening Exercises. Your physical therapist will help you determine which muscle groups need to be strengthened based on which spinal nerves are involved in your particular case. When pain no longer radiates down your arm, you may begin more aggressive strengthening exercises. Neck stability (strengthening) exercises will also be performed. You will receive a home-exercise program to continue strengthening your neck, shoulder, arm, and upper back long after your formal physical therapy has ended.

Functional Training. As your symptoms improve, your physical therapist will work on functional exercises to help you return to your job, sport, or other daily activities. For example, if your job duties require overhead reaching, pushing, pulling, and long periods of sitting, you will be taught ways to perform these tasks to reduce undue stress to the neck.

How can it be prevented?

Your physical therapist will educate you on the best ways to prevent cervical radiculopathy from recurring, including:

• Maintaining proper posture. Use a supportive pillow and proper posture when sitting at a desk or in the car.
• Setting up your workstation to minimize undue forces on the spine. You may be advised to use a hands-free phone, or adjust your computer monitor to avoid excessive twisting or extending of your neck in repetitive directions during the workday.
• Continuing with regular exercise to maintain spinal muscles flexibility and strength, including the upper body, middle back, and core muscles.
• Keeping a healthy weight to minimize unnecessary forces on the spine.

I use to have back pain due to sports because, I play foot ball a lot. I was referred by a team mate that have the same issue and got awesome relief from his treatment, very different in terms of handling human and customer relationship I got relief very fast as much as in the same day I visited them and very happy and satisfied with the outcome. Now I do everything very normal ihave gone back to playing active football again which was the cause of my pain. Any one who is in pain should consider Amazing Physiotherapy here have my full assurance that you will get better by the grace of God.
Ikenna N

 

I was diagnosed with lumbosacral disc extrusion and herniation around my L3,L4,L5 Spine, from the MRI Scan and I have been battling with back pain for more than 1 year now and I was recommended Amazing physiotherapy by a friend, initially I was still in a lot of pains and had to plan a surgery in India. The surgery was cancelled and I had to continue with Physio with Dr Nnamdi. I must attest to the professionalism and dedication of the experts, i got good results in 4 months. I can sit; stand for as long as I want now, I have also adjusted my lifestyle. I will advise anyone with such pain to explore physiotherapy plus daily Exercises and prayers.
Abiodun O

 

I had severe back pain and leg pain which resulted in a foot drop and I was diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease from the MRI Scan which has bulged into the nerve of my left leg. The surgeon suggested surgery as the only solution with no guarantee of full recovery, I found Amazing Physiotherapy and decided to try them, the treatment I received was very personalized, Dr Nnamdi took time to attend to me and followed up on my progress from time to time. Initially I couldn’t wear my shoes. But now I can wear it as long as I want, I stand as long as I want, I exercise more now without pains. Anybody with such back pain should please see Amazing Physiotherapy and I can assure you will go home smiling and happy
Oluwawunmi O