How I fixed my mid-upper back pain

I had horrendous back pain for months on end in the thoracic region, below my shoulder blades but above my lumbar area. I found there was very little advice about it and nothing seemed to help, so I share here what eventually helped me, in the hope that someone else will find relief from it too. I initially got this pain by exercising and then it just got worse and worse. I had an MRI done and it showed a bit of inflammation and no other damage but the pain was crippling and got worse throughout the day every day.

what helped:

• Walking - lots of short walks throughout the day (1-2 miles each) not carrying any kind of bag or load. Ideally 3 walks minimum. Get out straight away first thing even if you have to get up earlier.
• prescription strength anti-inflammatory painkillers taken consistently for several days
• modified child's pose. Try doing child's pose (the yoga position) but then get a stack of 2-3 pillows and do it on top of the pillows. Your hips and chest should be on top of the pillows with your legs bent either side - effectively you are straddling the pillows. Move your arms up by your head. Head sort of drops forwards but you can prop it on a small cushion if you need to, but it should be lower than your back. You should have all your back muscles relaxed but also your upper back very gently stretched out - NOT actively stretching like in yoga child's pose though. This helps me straight away - if you don't find a reduction in pain levels within 10 mins then it's probably not going to work for you. If you do find a reduction in pain it can be made even better by putting a bag of frozen peas or ice pack over the affected area while doing it. The goal seems to be to make the painful part of your back the highest in your body. My theory is that this elevation is perhaps why it works because it helps drain inflammation. Hold as long as comfy and repeat as often as you need.

what might have worked:

• low dose of amitriptyline - hard to say. Coincided with an improvement.

what didn't work for me:

• physio - actively made it worse, I had several different physiotherapists over the months
• swimming - ironically though, now that it is fully better my back likes front crawl - but crucially only now, at the time it made it worse
• osteopath and chiropractor
• Yoga
• Pilates

Remember the golden rule of back pain - if it feels good, do more. If it feels bad, stop immediately. I am in no way a medical professional, I simply hope this may help someone and I wish I'd known these things back at the time.

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