"Whenever I look at my phone, read books, work in kitchen or on my laptop the neck feels stiff and upper back hurts. Any stress be it a mental or a physical one causes flare up in my pain. I can't keep having medicines everyday. I just don't wake up good, it hurts. I feel its endless and pain has become a part of my life."
Do you also feel the same when your upper back hurts? That constant pain almost convinces you to live with it and suffering becomes part of your everyday life. Even when you try managing your pain you end up in frustration because either the pain doesn't change or the relief is very temporary.
Everyone is so keen on diagnosing the problem through investigations such as X-RAYs or MRI Scans showing the blind belief on something so incomplete. Most of the problems depicted by these tests are normal after a certain age and on the other side the results can be totally negative inspite of a bad pain you are complaining off.
Do we really know what is going wrong with the body?
Are we catering to the problem in the best way possible?
Do you really think the solution to the problem does not exist?
Wait!!! This blog may have answer to your problem. Well, we have to break down the problem by looking into the root cause of upper back and neck pain.
What ! what did I just say? ROOT CAUSE...
"Neck and head sits on rest of the spine"
The upper back behaves like a root of the tree for your neck. A healthy strong root is necessary for the tree to survive better. Also mechanically the 7 bones of the neck (Vertebraes C1-C7) moves along with upto 4 bones of your upper back (T1-T4). And they further get support from rest of the spine.
Consider spine like a group of blocks piled up on top of each other and any misbehaviour by one block can affect the other at a different location. A physiotherapist trained in manual therapy can assess and treat such problems by techniques using hands or mobility drills and exercises or a combination of all.
Scary bones can't move alone
Bones never move on their own, they need muscles to move your scary skeleton. Muscles can get tight in response to pain or your inactive lifestyle which may limit the movement and can get weak leading to poor concious control in the spine. Bad movement around spine surely creates trouble because nerves originate from spine which carry sensation of pain.
Manipulating your tight muscles to loosen up their grip on stiff spine or self myofascial releases done at home or exercises specific to the problem or a combination of all can be really helpful in managing pain and restoring spine health.
Deep is the real sleep
Sleep like a child. Sleeping enough is almost like system reset for the brain and the body as it consumes one third of your life duration. When people do not sleep enough, the body cannot recover from the stress given on the previous day. Moreover, sleeping in wrong posture doesn't allow muscles to rest enough and you may get pain as soon as you wakeup. Some of you might have experienced early morning flare ups in upper back and neck pain.
Pillows are nice sleeping fellows
A good pillow support is necessary to make the muscles and joints well supported. Pillow must provide support under the neck more than your head. Pillows are always about hit and trial, so how high or low the pillow should be, is a matter of personal choice.
"Block in mind is a block in the body"
Stress affects far more strongly when you do not realize it is a problem in the first place. When the mind gets blocked with disturbing thoughts consciously or subconsciously, it affects your physical health and also how you perceive pain.
A friend in need is a friend in deed. Truly said, sometimes you need to open up about your problems rather facing alone. You need someone who won't judge any wrong doing against you, by you or around you. This confidence in someone melts you down, you share and take a step towards solution. Trust me at times this is it, your pain dissolves mentally and physically both.
This is just one example of many sufferings the body goes through due to our changing lifestyle, reduced physical activities and gadgets. I think pain is far different from how it is being approached based only on investigations. A lot more things can be picked up and treated using good clinical skills.
This is not a medical advice but generic suggestion on how you can self educate to bring some change in your daily suffering. Kindly feel free to comment here or contact on the details below in case of any doubt or help required.
Dr. Kunal Vashist, PT
MPT (Ortho), Manual Therapy
Dry Needling Practitioner
Movement Specialist (USA)
