Mid-back pain

What it usually is

The mid-back is the part of your spine with the ribs attached. That means every breath moves it, so when a joint back there gets irritated, you tend to notice. Most of the time it is a sore joint where a rib meets the spine, or tired, cranky muscles around the shoulder blades. You can substitute "my neck hurts" with "my lower back hurts" or "under my shoulder blade hurts".

What it often feels like

A knot or ache between the shoulder blades that you can never quite reach. Sometimes a sharp catch when you take a deep breath, twist, or reach for the seatbelt. It often gets worse after a long day of sitting, driving or looking down at a phone.

What we look at

How your mid-back and ribs move when you twist, bend and breathe. How your neck and shoulders are doing, since they are all neighbours and they talk. And your day: desk, car, phone, sleep and stress all load this area. I also ask the questions that make sure this pain is actually coming from your back and not from something inside your chest.

What usually helps

Adjusting is often a good fit here, and so is soft tissue work on the muscles around the shoulder blades. Exercise gets the area moving and gets you strong enough to hold positions longer without complaint. We talk about posture, not to find the one perfect position, but because the next position is usually the best one. And stress: plenty of people carry their stress right between their shoulder blades.

What you can do at home

Move it: gentle twists in a chair and a few slow, deep breaths every hour. Set a timer to get up from the desk. Whatever most effectively fills up that pain highway in your spinal cord and makes you feel better, do that!

When it's not a chiro problem

Call 911 for chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or pain that spreads to your arm or jaw. That can be your heart, and please please don't come to my office for that. See your doctor for mid-back pain with fever, unexplained weight loss, a history of cancer, or pain that is constant and doesn't change at all when you move. If you have osteoporosis and your back started hurting after a small fall or even a hard cough, get checked for a fracture first.