Upper Back Tension - Woodland Chiropractic's Approach

My first question - Is this you every day after work? Do you have a constant tension in your upper back and/or neck that won't go away, no matter how much your spouse massages it?

If so.. keep reading!

If you are experiencing upper back tension - we would love to help!

In our practice, we find that the most common reason for upper back tension comes from tight, weaker muscles in the neck/upper back, such as your trapezius and levator scapulae. If you are an office worker, sit for the majority of the day, or are a busy body that doesn't stop, these muscles can become tight and achy, and we are here to help you find relief!

Here are 3 ways that we as chiropractors can help reduce this tension:

#1: Improve blood flow to the tense area: We like to call this 'muscle scraping', where we take a metal tool and 'scrape' the skin to create a blood flow reaction (sounds scarier than it is). I like to say that you don't sit there all day shrugging your shoulders, therefore that area doesn't receive a great blood supply, leading to stagnant tension. This muscle scarping helps boost blood flow to this area to help restructure and reduce tension. This is commonly called Graston. This is a 'feel good pain' treatment, and patients usually feel immediate and lasting relief!

#2: Dry Needling - when muscle scraping just isn't cutting it, we ramp it up a notch and can stimulate the area with needles. Now I'm not going to get into the details of how dry needling works (you can find that here), but I can personally attest to how effective these needles can be for reducing tension. The goal is to help facilitate a controlled injury to the muscles, helping bring flood flow and healing powers to the area. Most patients find relief after only a few sessions!

#3: Corrective Exercises - you thought I'd talk about treatments and not include some form of corrective exercises? As much as we can help out in office, you are going to do a lot of the heavy lifting on your own - this includes various stretches and strength training movements to help loosen up our tight muscles while strength training the weaker ones. Our goal is to a) locate these weaker muscles, b) locate the tight muscles, and c) make a structured plan to help create permanent changes.

If this sounds like you, don't delay your care! We'd love to help out!

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