Midback and Upper Back Stretch

Video by Dr. Antonio Flaquer

One of the common things I see in the office with all of my patients is midback and upper back pain. This is a common thing to see now in today’s world. Why you ask? Well, ever since the coronavirus people stopped moving. The majority of people now work from home instead of having to go into the offices, therefore they usually will sit for hours instead of actually having to get up and walk around their offices. They also may sit on the couch, or just lay in bed, or even sit at the dinner table where they have no support for their backs. All of these locations have kept them from moving like they used to. I have patients now. Who wish they could go back into the office because they were forced to get up and move around in the office and get thousand’s of steps in a day. Now they are lucky if they get out of their pajamas. This has made the world sick, not only in physical ways but also mental. People are now gaining weight faster than ever, they don’t eat the right things, they don’t move their bodies for the muscles to do what they need to do and leads to inflammation all over the body. Any pain to deal with is annoying, but midback and upper back pain is one of the worst things because you need those areas for support of the low back and proper posture. This stretch is an easy stretch to allow those tight muscles between your shoulder blades to really open up and fix your posture. Poor posture will lead to degeneration of your joints down the line if you’re not moving the correct way. So even though stretching and muscle strengthening is all good for you, in order to actually move the joints itself properly, an adjustment is the missing ingredient you’ve been looking for. This stretch will only allow some breathing room for your midback and upper back and give you some pain relief, but in order to make sure it doesn’t come back you have to take care of the root cause and that’s getting adjusted and recreating and maintaining that proper motion in your spine.

 

Reference

Gasibat, Q., Bin Simbak, N., & Abd Aziz, A. (2017). Stretching exercises to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders – a review article. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 5(2), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajssm-5-2-3

 

Our Message

Our McKinney Chiropractors, located near the corner of Eldorado Pkwy. and Stonebridge Dr., know how to get you out of pain through better movement AND making sure you are getting the proper nutrients. We also teach our patients how to manage their stress for optimal health. When you are looking for a Chiropractor near you, choose one who will not only help with your back pain, neck pain, or headaches but who will also guide you to living a healthier lifestyle so you can stay out of pain.