Chronic back pain

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.

If you have ever had an accident that led to an arching in your neck in a backward direction you will have most likely become a victim of chronic neck back pain. Whiplash or cervical acceleration-deceleration injury is one of the foremost reasons why people suffer from chronic neck back pain and though the amount of damage caused to your back and neck will vary, it will nevertheless lead to much discomfort and require finding a suitable treatment method.

Different Factors

There are several factors that come into play when it concerns suffering from chronic neck back pain as a result of whiplash and these include the mechanics of your crash, your height, the position of your neck at moment of impact and also the position of your arms at the time of the accident. Your state of health is another important consideration as also understanding whether or not you were aware that a collision was going to occur.

It is surprising to learn that the speed of the car that collided with your car may not have a very significant effect on your chronic neck back pain, as the speed won’t determine the extent of injury that you have sustained. What does matter is the amount of damage done to your soft tissues and also resultant misalignment of your vertebrae. In case you have suffered from rupture to ligaments, fractured vertebrae and injuries to your spine, you would experience more chronic neck back pain.

After you have suffered an accident that has resulted in whiplash, you would at first be in a state of shock and at first the neck may not hurt very noticeably. It is only when the damaged soft tissues begin to get inflamed and there is greater pressure on the joints of the neck and on muscles that your chronic neck back pain will become more noticeable.

Depending on how serious your chronic neck back pain is, you may require emergency care or simply need to take medications to get immediate relief. Among common pain relievers that are prescribed by physicians you can include muscle relaxants and in other cases it may require application of ice on the affected areas. Chronic upper back pain is another though less common form of back pain that can be quite painful and not any less discomforting as compared with neck pain and even lower back pain.

Though emergency care can provide relief from chronic neck back pain, the symptoms will still persist, may also be accompanied by headaches and in a few cases there may also be tingling and numbness of the upper extremities. To get your chronic neck back pain properly diagnosed and treated it is often necessary to show your injury to a chiropractor who is qualified in handling such cases and is also the best person to recommend suitable treatment options to deal with chronic neck back pain that has occurred because of whiplash.