Though chronic upper back pain is not as commonly experienced as lower back pain, it is nevertheless as painful as neck and lower back pain. Most often, chronic upper back pain occurs when a person tries to twist the neck or just turn it and because the upper back is not used to being turned or twisted it can lead to pain in the upper back. It is only when such pain persists and lasts for more than ninety days that the condition is called chronic upper back pain. In other instances when the pain does not last for so long, the common term used is acute back pain.

Proper Diagnosis

To effectively treat chronic upper back pain requires that the symptoms be properly diagnosed and the root cause isolated, both of which usually occur because of irritation of muscles and even malfunctioning joints. Joints only begin to malfunction when the joints that lie between the ribs and the upper back become strained or injured. On the other hand, irritation in the muscles is caused by lack of proper activity or even because the muscles have lost their strength, especially near the shoulder girdle.

Other possible reasons why chronic upper back pain occurs include disks that have herniated or become ruptured; though these reasons are less common and in fact only one percent of herniated disk patients also report suffering from chronic upper back pain. In a similar vein, degenerative disk diseases are another reason why a person may suffer from chronic upper back pain. Though, here again this is a rather less known reason for the condition.

There are several ways to treat chronic upper back pain and among them are chiropractic care, physical therapy, acupuncture, deep muscle massage and drugs. Professionals such as chiropractors, osteopathic doctors and even physical therapists are all able to manipulate a patient’s upper back in order to loosen the affected muscles and to also help the muscles regain their strength.

When the pain experienced in the upper back becomes intense and shows no signs of disappearing, it is time that a patient takes step to learn how chronic back pain management can help in obtaining relief. Some people prefer resorting to drug based treatments to get relief from chronic upper back pain and they may even take steroid shots in the affected area to get relief. Others opt for deep muscle massage or even physical therapy and if the condition has become very serious it would require more stringent treatments including taking of stronger medications.