If you are one of the millions of people out there who are suffering from upper back pain, then first and foremost you should know that you are not alone. You also need to be aware that treatment is not going to be as simple as you would like. There are a few steps that you are going to need to follow if you want the best, most complete treatment of your back pain.

Causes

The first step for anyone suffering from upper back muscle pain is to determine what the causes of their pain are. This is very important, because this is the only way that you are actually going to be able to deal with the problem from the source. Otherwise you are just going to be masking the symptoms and not really dealing with the problem itself.

There are a few upper back pain causes that you should be aware of. One of the most likely upper back pain causes in your case is a strain or sprain. With a muscle sprain, the muscles in the back become stretched excessively, resulting in tears that develop in the muscle tissue. Therefore if you ever happen to strain your back, you are going to want to keep an eye on it and note if you have back pain that recurs.

Arthritis is another of the most commonly occurring upper back pain causes. Most commonly, arthritis affects the knees and other commonly used joints but the back is often affected as well. The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, so watch out for this, especially if you are not getting enough calcium in your diet.

There are many other possible upper back pain causes as well, such as a herniated disc. Then there is spinal stenosis which is an upper back pain cause that can result with the pinching or nerves and tissue in the spinal column. Your doctor will be able to tell you more about this and offer you appropriate treatment.

There are lots of different possible upper back pain causes, and the only real way that you will be able to figure out exactly what the causes are in your case is by getting in to see your doctor and talking to them about it. They will be able to work with you, perform a few tests on you, and concretely determine what the causes are in your case.