Upper Back Pain- Causes, Symptoms and Treatments.

The upper and middle back is called the thoracic spine. There are 12 vertebras, bones that attach your rib cage to the spine, this forms to be the longest part of your back. Discs, are that separate each vertebra and absorb the shocks on the back. Lastly the muscles and ligaments are that hold your spine together. 

Lower back pain is pretty much common among all of us, but upper back pain crops up in exceptional cases. This is because the bones in this area of the back don’t flex or move as much as our bones in the lower back do. Upper back pain occurs when the muscles are strained, overused or may be injured; poor sitting posture may also result in upper back pain.  Apart from this day to day occurrences upper back pain may also be caused by pressure on the spinal nerves, fractured vertebras and also in cases where the cartilage; that cushions the small facet joints in the spine, are disrupted due to Osteoarthritis. In rear cases pain can be experienced by other problems such as gallbladder diseases, cancer or an infection. The most common symptoms to identify an upper back pain are; muscle stiffness or a sharp burning pain. In worst cases the symptoms may weaken and numb your arms and legs and you may also lose bladder control. 

Upper back can be best diagnosed by your doctor for quick relief results. Your doctor may ask you questions with regards to pain felt in your back, the work and the physical activities that you do. Accordingly an imaging test will determine the exact cause of pain and after which a suitable treatment can be given. Upper back pain treatments may include over the counter pain relievers, heat or ice packs for mild to moderate upper back pain. For severe pain, the doctor may give you prescribed medicines or may suggest you to opt for a spinal surgery.

Lower Back Pain - Causes and Treatment.

When you have a deadline to submit your presentation to your boss and you are in the office, late after the working hours sitting on your computer trying to gather some data and suddenly you get a striking pain in the lower back, what are you going to do about it? You cannot give up on the presentation or else you would be fired but you cannot even work on your presentation due to the severe pain. It can be a nightmare, isn’t it?

Rightly said as it is, you better take precaution than cure. But before we can speak about the treatment for lower back pain, we will first consider talking about the low back pain causes. Lumbar strain, a stretch injury to the ligaments, tendons and muscles of the lower back; is considered one of the most common causes of lower back pain. This usually can happen due to improper sitting posture or sleeping positions. Bone and joint conditions that lead to low back pain include those existing from birth, those that result from wear and tear or injury, and those that are due to inflammation of the joints (arthritis). Other causes of lower back pain include kidney problems, pregnancy, ovary problems, and tumors.

Now speaking about treatments, there are two ways the first being non-surgical and the second being surgical treatment. The best non-surgical treatment for back pain is exercise. Here you need to go through a physical therapy, where the therapist will carry out stretching and exercise as guided by your physician. The therapist can also educate you on sitting postures, basic anatomy and instruct you on body mechanics, stretching and exercises. Resting is another way to treat your lower back pain. This will help the injured tissues and even nerve roots to heal over time. However a lot of rest also could be troublesome because it tends to weaken the muscles and in turn affects the support to the lower back. Medicines should only be consumed on your physician’s prescription because sometimes medicines have some unique risks and might possibly have some side-effects.

After trying out all the options available, if the pain does not seem to subside; surgery could be the last and the best option to overcome the chronic pain. Here your physician would suggest you whether you need a minimal invasive surgery or a spinal fusion surgery. Minimal invasive surgery is an operation on the lumbar spine performed using a surgical microscope and microsurgical techniques wherein, a very small incision and will remove only that portion of your ruptured disc which is "pinching" one or more spinal nerve roots; Whereas spinal fusion surgery is categorized based on the approach taken to reach the disc space.