Question
Since my mid-twenties I have had almost constant pain and/or tightness in the middle of my back, which at times radiates into my left arm and seems to be irritating a nerve or muscle group underneath my scapula. In the last two years I have also developed serious sciatic pain down my right leg.

MRI's show an obvious injury in the lower thoracic injury, explaining the mid-back pain. The pain intensifies and my back muscles spasm when I do any abdominal exercise.  I've noticed a small bulge (hernia?) in my abdominal wall just above the belly button. Can this bulge be causing or exacerbating the pain in my mid-back?  Also, are the sciatic pain and mid-back pain related.  

Five years ago I had a lamendectomy (sp?) on my neck.  The surgeon was sure this was the problem since the MRI's also showed a slight bulge in the C6-7 area.  I did not agree but deferred to his expertise.  The pain has never subsided.  Was I correct or was the surgery a failure?

Can you please, please suggest some specific, non-surgical procedures to give me help and hope?  I have tried chiropractic procedures, and they have helped, but only temporarily.  Is there a certain chiropractic procedure I should inquire about?  Does acupuncture work?  Are there any exercises I can do to specifically target the mid-back?  I would sincerely appreciate your opinions.

Answer
Hi Jason,

I am sorry to take a few days to get back to you.  Besides the holidays, you have several threads of inquiry.

First, the thoracic spine (midback) has a great deal to do with the digestive system.  The nerves traversing that area control it.  If the nerves are comromised at this level there would be direct effects.

A laminectomy of C6-7 would only have very indirect effect on the midback or digestion.  The surgery was certainly a failure.

Sciatica would also be only tangentially related to midback trouble.

A chiropractic consultation would be the wisest thing that I can tell you to do.  We can evaluate the spine nerve connection and whether acupuncture, etc can help.

You should have a lot of hope that you can get improvement.  Maybe not a cure but a much more livable situation.

Hope this helps.