Back Pain

Lower Back Pain

This is one of the most common types of back pain. Lower back pain can present as acute (less than 6 months) or chronic back pain (more than 6 months) and it can also be mechanical in nature such as spine, muscle or disc related but can also be non mechanical such as pain from kidney stones.

With acute lower back pain, early treatment and accurate diagnosis significantly reduce the chance of chronicity and with proper management, acute back pain that is mechanical in nature will heal.

When left untreated or ignored, acute back pain can linger and eventually become chronic low back pain. Management strategies are often different and involve physical rehabilitation exercises, short training programs and guided physiotherapy and chiropractic sessions to ensure treatment is moving in a positive direction.

Middle Back Pain

There is certainly less data and research done on mid back pain since this condition is not as prevalent as upper back and lower back pain. Our mid back, also known as thoracic spine generally has less mobility, is less prone to conditions such as disc herniations and muscle strains compared to the other regions of the back.

However, certain conditions such as postural strain, car accidents, rib joint dysfunctions and scapular dyskinesis can present as pain in the mid back and impact an individual’s ability to perform their day to day tasks with ease.

Upper Back Pain

Upper back pain involves pain in the upper thoracic and lower cervical regions of the spine. Many individuals also describe pain in their upper trapezius muscles and levator as upper back pain.

Through clinical practice, we see that this type of pain is more common in females than males and is predominant in those individuals that perform office type of work, working in front of a computer for prolonged periods of time. Therefore, a large number of upper back pain and even neck pain can be considered postural and due to muscle fatigue from prolonged strain and immobility.