Eight Simple Thoracic Spine Stretches to Kick That Upper Back Pain Once and for All
Let’s be honest—upper back pain is something most of us experience, especially for those of us who sit at a desk all day. Sitting for long periods of time can cause tightness and soreness in the shoulders, and research shows psychological stress is also a contributing factor to pain in the back.
Regardless of what’s causing your upper back pain, it’s important to manage it before it leads to injury. Thankfully, there are many different thoracic spine stretches designed to ease tension in that area.
What Causes Upper Back Pain?
The spine has several regions which are cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral. People usually differentiate these locations as neck pain, upper back pain, low back pain or buttock pain.
The cervical spine and lumbar spine have to deal with a lot of different forces which make these regions more vulnerable to spine pathologies, including disc degeneration, arthritis, stenosis and more, Vivek Babaria, DO RMSK, of DISC Sports & Spine Center, explains. The nerves communicating with the upper and lower limbs also have specific locations in the cervical and lumbar spine that correlate to nerve communication.
The upper back (thoracic) is unique in that it does not directly provide nerve innervation to the peripheral joints. The upper back usually causes pain when there is a direct impact, the patient is suffering from scoliosis, or there are fractures related to osteoporosis or cancer tumors, Dr. Babaria states. The patient can also have referred pain from the body, which osteopathic physicians call viscerosomatic pain—this is pain from an organ that transmits pain signals to the upper back and spine. For example, pancreatitis, diverticulitis, gastritis and acute kidney stones can all cause upper back pain.
Spine specialists rely on patient history, symptom reporting, a detailed physical exam and imaging to help clarify the diagnosis or pathology. Depending on your age, risk factors and other medical conditions, further workup may be necessary. Conservative therapies and exercises are meant to strengthen the muscles that support the spine. Once a diagnosis is made, a good back-pain-relief program can be followed, Dr. Babaria adds.
Related: Your Back Will Thank You! Four Restorative Yoga Poses for Back Pain
Why Daily Stretching Is Important
By now you've surely heard the phrase "sitting is the new smoking," meaning that it poses a far greater health risk than people recognize. A growing body of research indicates that sitting for eight hours (or more) a day can be just as hard on your body (if not harder) than doing manual labor.
When you sit and slouch, the muscles in your upper back stretch out, Dr. Matt Tanneberg, a chiropractor and certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), explains. When you do this every day, something called "creep" sets in—that is, long-term stretching of a muscle. When a muscle is stretched out too much, it doesn't want to be torn, and its response is to spasm and tense up so it can't be stretched anymore. It's your body trying to guard and lock down that area. Every day stretches can help relieve creep.
One simple tip to keep yourself from slouching is to put a lumbar support or a small pillow in the small of your low back, Dr. Tanneberg states. The pressure it exerts against your low back will force you to stay upright through your upper back.
Also, try not to sit for longer than a half hour at a time. Set an alarm on your phone for every 20 to 30 minutes. When the alarm goes off, get up, stretch out, get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, do something else to move around. Even if you stand up for 30 seconds and then sit back down, that is much better than prolonged sitting, Dr. Tanneberg adds.
If you’re experiencing tension or pain in the thoracic area, stretching can definitely relieve some of those symptoms. Gently taking the muscles through their entire range of motion helps promote circulation and hydration, and can help restore range of motion—a lovely reset if you find yourself scrunched up at your desk, Jenni Tarma, ERYT500 and Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist, states.
Little movement breaks, in general, can be super helpful—a few stretches sprinkled in throughout the day have the added benefit of breaking up the workday and reducing stress, which research has suggested can help reduce soft tissue tension as well, Tarma adds. Similarly, if muscles get stuck in a semi-contracted or hypertonic state, some simple stretches can act as a sort of neurological reset to “remind” them that it’s also OK to relax.
Eight Thoracic Spine Stretches To Alleviate Upper Back Pain
Dr. Tanneberg recommends the following stretches:
Lateral flexion
How to do it:
Bring your ear to your shoulder, stretch as far as you can without pain. If it is too painful, back off the stretch.
Hold for 15 seconds.
Do two repetitions on each side.
Rotation with flexion
How to do it:
Look over your shoulder as far as you can, then bring your chin to your chest.
Rotate your head to the side as far as you can before pain, if it is too painful don’t rotate the head as far.
Hold for 15 seconds.
Do two repetitions on each side.
Rotation with extension
How to do it:
Look over your shoulder as far as you can.
Then, look up as high as you can. Rotate your head to the side as far as you can before pain, if it is too painful don’t rotate the head as far.
Hold for 15 seconds.
Do two repetitions on each side.
Rhomboid
How to do it:
While sitting in a chair, scoot to the edge of the seat.
Spread your legs out with your feet flat on the floor.
Take your right hand and grab your left ankle, next take your left hand and press down in the elbow crease of your right arm. You should feel this stretch in your rhomboid muscle in between your spine and shoulder blade on the right side.
Hold the stretch for 15 seconds.
Do two repetitions on each side.
Retraction
How to do it:
Stand in a door frame with your head back against the wall.
Relax your arms and pinch your shoulder blades down and back against the door frame.
Hold the stretch for five seconds.
Do 10 repetitions.
Corner
How to do it:
Stand in a corner, put your forearms flat on the wall with your upper arms parallel to the floor.
Lean into the stretch as far as you can, you should be feeling it in your pectorals muscles on both sides.
Hold for 15 seconds, then bring your arms up 45 degrees, hold for 15 seconds.
Then, fully extend the arms overhead and hold for 15 seconds.
Complete two repetitions at each level.
Thoracic extension on foam roller.
Tarma suggests these two stretches to ease upper back pain:
Thoracic extension on foam roller
How to do it:
Place the foam roller (a yoga block works too) under your mid-upper back, right around the bottom tips of the shoulder blades.
Interlace your fingers behind the back of your head to create a “basket” to support your head.
Carefully allow yourself to backbend over the foam roller, keeping the chin slightly tucked towards your chest, and your abs lightly contracted—between these two actions, you’ll be keeping your neck and low back out of the action, so the back-bending movement is more isolated to the thoracic spine. Notice that when you do this successfully, the range of motion available is very small, about 15 degrees for most people!
Thread the needle
How to do it:
From a tabletop position, weave your left arm under the right, bringing your left shoulder and side of your head to the floor. You can simply relax here, take a few deep breaths, and enjoy the passive stretch.
To get a little more bang for your buck out of this, make it active: while in the twist, straighten your arms out in front of you and stack your palms on top of each other.
Press down into the floor through both arms, as though you’re attempting to counter-rotate out of the twist—there won’t be any movement, but you’ll feel the muscles on the left side of your torso and waist engage.
Hold for a few breaths before relaxing into the twist again.
Take a moment to pause and notice how things feel different side to side before repeating both the passive and active stretches on the second side.
Next up: The Eight Best Workouts to Do If You Struggle With Back Pain—and the Ones You Should Avoid
Sources
BMC Muskuloskeletal Disorders: “Psychosocial areas of worklife and chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis”
Dr. Matt Tanneberg, a chiropractor and certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS)
Vivek Babaria, DO RMSK, of DISC Sports & Spine Center
Jenni Tarma, ERYT500 and Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist
