Back pain can be a persistent and painful issue to deal with. Middle back pain is caused by some kind of irritation or injury that may have occurred to the nerves of the bones, muscles, ligaments, and disks in the thoracic spine. The thoracic area is below the neck and the bottom of your rib cage. Here, 12 backbones are located that get affected when you feel back pain in your middle section.
So, let’s understand the symptoms, causes, and simple remedies to alleviate back pain in this detailed blog.
Symptoms of Middle Back Pain
If you observe the following symptoms, it may be an indication of middle back pain:
- Muscle aches
- Dull aches
- A burning sensation
- Sharp and/or stabbing pain
- Tightness and/or stiffness in the muscles
- A tingling or numbness sensation in your legs, arms, and/or chest
- Associated Chest pains
- Feeling of weakness in the legs or arms
- Loss of bowel and/or bladder control
Common Middle Back Pain Causes and Reasons
Middle back pain can happen due to a lot of reasons, from bad posture to some form of trauma, the causes and their severity vary. Listed below you will find some of the most common reasons for such aches and pains. This may end up helping you identify the cause of your back pain and proceed with the necessary action:
Bad Back Posture
Bad posture has become one of the major causes of back aches. Staying in a bad posture puts pressure on the spine, affecting your muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These parts of your spine go into overdrive to ensure that your body remains balanced while slouching. The constant pressure of this kind can cause short-term back pain, but overtime, it can worsen if the issue itself isn’t solved.
Obesity
Obesity is a major issue that affects a lot of people all around the world. It may seem like a surprise but obesity can also become an underlying cause of your middle back pain. According to a lot of studies, it has been found that weight and back pain are correlated with one another.
Sprain or Strain in the Muscles
Sprains and strains, while minor most of the time can also cause mid back pain left side, right side, upper back, and also your lower back. Sprains affect your ligaments, causing them to over-stretch and tear, while strains do the same to your muscles and tendons. These can happen very easily and can be caused simply by being in an awkward or unnatural position or by making sudden movements.
Trauma, Fractures, and/or Injuries
The middle back has a much lesser chance of getting injured in comparison to your neck or lower back, but there is still a possibility. These can occur due to various reasons such as a bad fall from a great height, an accident, and blunt force trauma to the area. Sometimes, such traumas and injuries can be severe and lead to major fractures. People with low bone density or people who fall within an older age bracket are more likely to suffer from such issues. At times like this immediate medical intervention is necessary to ensure timely fracture treatment.
A Herniated Disk
Herniated disks can be extremely painful and cause a lot of middle back pain. A herniated disk happens when the internal, gel-like centre (nucleus) of the disk in the spine slips out of the annulus (the layer encasing the inner nucleus), causing tension on a nerve. Herniated disks are sometimes known as slipped discs or ruptured discs. This tension on the nerve can end up causing a painful and tingling sensation in your back, and also in the areas where the affected nerve connects (such as arms and legs).
Osteoarthritis
This is a degenerative joint disease that affects a lot of people and can be a big cause of middle back pain. This disease causes bones to rub against each other as it affects the cartilage coating your joints. It breaks down the cartilage and causes the bones to wear down on their own with time.
Ageing
Ageing is one of the most common causes of any kind of back pain, such as mid back pain right side, left side, in the upper area, and even the lower back area. Such backaches become most common in people from 30 to 50 years of age. Ageing is a natural process that cannot be stopped. With time, it naturally wears the body down, resulting in different medical issues, thinning of the bones, and loss of fluid between the joint areas.
Home Remedies for Middle Back Pain
To relieve back ache, you can follow certain remedies at home only. Below is the list of some:
- Using cold compression and ice packs on the affected area. Later on, you can also use a heating pad or any kind of warm compression to treat the affected area. This is one of the most common home remedies that can quickly provide you with relief.
- Over-the-counter pain medications can be used to relieve pain quickly and swelling in the affected area.
- Regularly exercising and doing yoga, pilates, tai chi, jogging, and swimming can help improve back health by ensuring that your back muscles always remain active.
- Ensuring that you keep your shoulders back whenever you walk.
- Slouching and bad posture can cause middle back pain, so ensure that you do not slouch and keep an upright posture at all times to avoid any pain.
- Applying pain relief gels and massaging the affected area can help lessen the pain and swelling.
Conclusion
When left untreated, middle back pain can cause a lot of hindrance in daily life activities and can turn into a serious issue over time. Ensuring that you identify the exact cause of the issue and proceed accordingly with the treatment is important. Lastly, you should make sure to take proper care of your bone and back health, and also seek medical help for severe injuries as soon as possible.
