What"s that Pain in Your Mid Back About?
Written or medically reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Policy.
Updated August 30, 2014.
Thoracic spine pain, or pain in the upper and mid back that corresponds to to the area of your rib cage is not nearly as common as low back pain or neck pain.
Just the same, it occurs fairly frequently, particularly in younger people, older people and in females. Thoracic spine pain affects up to 35.5% of the population per year, according to a 2009 systematic review published BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.
The review also found that teens may be prone to thoracic spine pain - the reason for this was backpack use. Textbooks and other things that go into a student's backpack can get pretty heavy these days, so watching for this risk factor in your child may be a good idea.
Related:Where is Your Center of Gravity?
WHAT IS THORACIC SPINE PAIN?
Let's start with a reliable definition of thoracic spine pain - which necessarily includes a reliable definition of the thoracic region. Thoracic spine pain is defined as pain in the back that is located between your first thoracic vertebra and your 12th thoracic vertebra.
Your first thoracic vertebra represents the place where your neck ends and your rib cage area begins. It is located approximately at the level of your shoulders (or just a little above.) Your 12th thoracic vertebra corresponds to the bottom of your rib cage.
There are 12 rib pairs in all, and in back, each attaches to one spinal bone. So T1, which is your first thoracic vertebra provides, a place of articulation for the first ribs, T2, provides a place of articulation for the 2nd ribs and so on down the line.
The lowest or last ribs connect to T12, which is also the last bone in the thoracic spine. (The bone below T12 is L1, or your first lumbar - i.e. low back - vertebra.)
Because the thoracic region is large, it is often divided into upper and lower areas for diagnosis and communication purposes.
WHAT CAUSES THORACIC SPINE PAIN?
There are a number of possible causes of thoracic spine pain. Mechanically, it can arise when something is going on in your thoracic spine or your cervical spine (neck). But it may also be due to issues in other areas of the body. For example, problems in your gastrointestinal track, organs, cardiopulmonary system (heart and lungs) and/or your kidneys may refer pain to the thoracic region. Low bone density and myelopathy (symptoms that occur when your spinal cord is irritated) may also cause thoracic spine pain.
Related: What is Central Canal Stenosis?
Your occupation may have a lot to do with whether or not your get pain in your mid or upper back. For example, if you do repetitive work or if your work involves bending over for long periods of time, you may be at a higher risk.
Chad Cook, physical therapist, clinical researcher and professor at Walsh University in Canton, Ohio, says that people who have experienced physical trauma or who have other types of musculoskeletal pain are more prone to thoracic spine pain. He also says that illnesses that make you cough frequently (asthma, COPD and/or emphysema, for example) may increase your risk of rib dysfunction and/or vertebral fractures, both known causes of thoracic spine pain.
And finally, Cook says that your choice of sleeping position can contribute to thoracic spine pain. For example, seniors - who are generally at a higher risk anyway - sometimes like to sleep in recliners. But this only increases the types of posture problems that lead to thoracic spine pain, he says.
Related: Back Pain and Sleep
THORACIC SPINE PAIN TREATMENT
Because the amount of neck and low back pain in the general population far exceeds the amount of thoracic spine pain, fewer treatments are available for this area. Doctors and scientists simply know less about T-spine pain than they do about pain in the cervical and lumbar regions. This is partly due to the fact that fewer research studies are conducted on thoracic spine pain.
But if your T-spine pain really bothers you and you wish to seek treatment, to whom do you turn? Generally, physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists are the practitioners with the most knowledge of and skill with this type of back pain.
Sources:
Cook, C. PT, PhD, MBA, Evidence Based Examination of the Thoracic Spine. Medbridge Education. Accessed May 2014
Briggs et al. Thoracic spine pain in the general population: Prevalence, incidence and associated factors in children, adolescents and adults. A systematic review. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2009, 10:77
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