Relieve Mid-Back Pain with This Foam Rolling Exercise
Video by Dr. John Wertish
Struggling with mid-back pain? This is a common symptom that we see every day. The diagnosis can range but what we do know is that to keep the joints, muscles, ligaments, and nerves healthy we need to move. Our current normal is to sit and work on a computer or phone. This leads to dysfunction in motion and increase in stress from loading the joints wrong. To restore motion, I love to work on extension through the mid back to help joint mobility and opening of the upper torso. All you need is a foam roller to help facilitate extension.
Here are some quotes from an article on thoracic extension.
“The findings showed that reduced thoracic extension was associated with higher pain scores among participants with thoracic pain.”
“We found reduced TS extension mobility to be associated with greater TS pain and increased thoracic flexion mobility to be indicative of lesser pain among participants with TS pain. However, the association with reduced thoracic extension was not systematically found in all our measurements. Spinal degenerative changes may decrease the mobility of the TS [1] and therefore can be one factor causing upper back pain.”
Try the mobility exercise shown in this video to see if it helps your spine.
Research
Juhani Määttä, Jani Takatalo, Tero Leinonen, Tuomo Pienimäki, Jari Ylinen & Arja Häkkinen (2022) Lower thoracic spine extension mobility is associated with higher intensity of thoracic spine pain, Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy, DOI:10.1080/10669817.2022.2047270
Our Message
When you are looking for a Chiropractor near you that you can trust, choose one who will not only get rid of your back pain, neck pain, or headaches but who will also guide you to living a healthier lifestyle to keep you out of pain. Our Chiropractors located in Dallas, near the corner of Mockingbird Ln. and Abrams Rd., will teach you what the research says about how and why we should eat a better diet, move more and have more positive thoughts. By improving these areas of our lives we can become healthier, stay out of pain and reduce risk of diabetes and other diseases!