Clea Vit

When you look at the senior population, the list of common causes expands. “In elderly people, we have to consider osteoporosis and compression fractures, as well as the rare occasion of a neoplasm, such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma,” Dr. Knight says.

When you’re constantly under stress, sleeping in awkward positions, or overweight, it can put unnecessary pressure on your muscles and joints. The longer you utilize the things that aggravate your posture, the harder the habit is to break. Sadly, you’re causing damage to areas of your body that won’t manifest until later.

Thing is, upper back pain affects everyone differently. Partly that’s because there are so many possible reasons for your upper back (also mid back) pain. The first step in solving your upper back pain problem is understanding why it’s happening. To do that, start with learning your anatomy.

Sit with your back straight. Put your palms on the sides of your neck. Bring your head backward a bit and let it gently drop to the left. Squeeze the left back muscles of your neck so that they feel hard, but pleasant. Then let your head gently drop to the right. Now squeeze the right back muscles of your neck. Keep squeezing the right and left side muscles starting at the bottom of your neck and slowly moving upward.

Put your left hand on the neck muscle that’s located behind your left ear, as shown in the picture above. With soft fingers apply some gentle pressure onto the area. Slowly turn your head to the right while applying the pressure. Make sure your fingers don’t move, and that it’s just your head that is moving. Repeat on the other side.

A towel massage can help you unlock the tight muscles of your neck and bring back mobility. At the same time, a towel is soft and won’t let you apply too much pressure on your neck and harm it.