Possible Causes of Upper Back Pain in Vacaville

To receive the best and most effective treatment for your upper back pain in Vacaville, it's important that you know what may be causing it. Going to the doctor is the best course of action, but you should at least know some of the common causes.

Common Causes of Upper Back Pain in Vacaville

Check out the common causes of upper back pain:

1. Improper Lifting - When you're picking something up, it is best that you follow good body mechanics so that you won't hurt your spine. If you don't, then it can easily cause injury and pain.
2. Trauma/Injury - Traumatic events can cause upper back pain for several reasons. There's a possibility that you will fracture your vertebra. In some cases, a part of your vertebrae can pinch on a nerve, thus causing pain.
3. Poor Posture - If you sit with a rounded back and shoulders hunched forward, then it can put stress on your back muscles. Poor posture is a very common cause of upper back pain especially among office workers since they spend the entirety of their day sitting in front of a computer. You can easily fall into a bad sitting habit and barely even notice it.
4. Carrying A Heavy Backpack - If you're using a backpack, you're putting your upper back at risk for pain and injury. This goes even worse for an overloaded backpack because of how it can be dangerous to the spine especially if it's not worn correctly.
5. Infection - If you have a spinal abscess or epidural abscess, then it can compress the spinal cord or spinal nerves in the thoracic spine. This will cause you pain and other symptoms.
6. Scoliosis - This is a condition where you have an unusual curvature in the spine. Your spine will take form in a "C" or "S" shape when viewed from the back. If your spine is curving to the right or left in the upper back, you will experience pain since having a curve can affect the muscles, nerves, and other soft tissues.
7. Osteoporosis - It is a condition that affects the bones and you may not realize that you have it until you suffer a spinal fracture. Osteoporosis can slowly weaken your bones, making you prone to fracture and less likely to carry your weight properly. If you have osteoporosis in the thoracic spine, you might develop upper back pain. A weakened vertebra is incapable of supporting the bodyweight properly, which causes the ligaments, muscles, and tendons to work twice as hard to make up for the vertebrae's function. It will then lead to a sprain, strain, or muscle fatigue.
   • If osteoporosis caused vertebral fracture or fractures, you're going to develop a rounded back, leading to upper back pain.
8. Problematic Kyphosis - When you're viewing your body from the side, your spine should be curving outwards in the upper back region. This curve is known as kyphosis or kyphotic curve. But once it starts curving outward too much, it can become a problematic kyphosis. There are several conditions, such as osteoporosis, that can cause problematic kyphosis in the thoracic spine, which could lead to upper back pain.
9. Other Conditions - There are other medical conditions not related to the spine that can cause the development of upper back pain. This includes the following:
   • Ulcer
   • Acid reflux (GERD)
   • Cardiac conditions like angina