13 Mar Upper back stiffness? Why manipulations aren’t all they are cracked up to be!
Are you someone that sits with a dull ache in between your shoulders day in, day out? Or are you someone who goes to see your physio, chiro or osteo every four to six weeks for an adjustment and crack? A release because of unbearable and unrelenting tightness?
We understand how you are feeling, it is frustrating but what if we told you that there maybe a cheaper and more sustainable option finally fixing this problem!
The upper back or Thoracic region, consists of the 12 vertebrae and ribs that sit between our neck and our lower back. It’s primary function is stability of our body, however it also plays an integral role in the protection of our internal organs. The difference between our Thoracic spine and our neck or lower back, is that it’s movement is inherently dependent on more joints and muscles.
For the majority of us, we spend 95% of our time in a ‘pushing’ position or a position that drives our head and shoulders forward. This includes typing on a computer, driving a car or looking down at a phone. The consequence of this is that our back muscles (pulling muscles), rest in lengthened (stretched) positions. That’s right, not shortened positions! This means they become extremely weak as our chest muscles shorten and also weaken and eventually we find ourselves in a perpetual loop.
If you don’t believe me, try this…. Hold your right arm straight out at shoulder height, with your left hand gently extend all of your fingers on your right hand back towards your elbow until your feel a slightly uncomfortable stretch, hold this position for five minutes and then try to clench your fist 10 times…. Hard right? Now imagine your mid back muscles trying to do that for lets say…. How long is a working day? 8 hours…. Plus the three hours your spend watching TV or doing work at home at night… so 11 hours? They are fighting an uphill battle!
If this is sounding all to familiar read on, because this is the golden ticket to fixing your thoracic spine pain……
The source of your pain is muscle weakness (reduced capacity) in the muscles at the back of your spine
It’s very likely that your thoracic spine and rib joints are not even stiff at all!Yet they are the victim of muscles weakness.
Manipulations or soft tissue massage feel good though you may ask? It feels as though it provides relief as the brain is receiving an input from a sensation point of view from this region. This is often short lived and the relief you feel you may have received is quite often short lived!
So what is the solution?
A progressive strength program where by you work on developing the muscles in these regions, and their ability to hold you upright is the key!
If you have read this far you are obviously looking for more than a quick fix. Are you tired of not seeing long lasting relief? At Stride we have treated hundreds of patients like you and our point of difference is that we treat the source of your problem. This effectively saves you your hard earned money, time wasted and feelings of frustration!
If you no longer want to be the victim, reach out!. Call our friendly team on (03) 9370 0345 or click here and make time to see one of our personalised clinicians.
