Injury Finder

Mid Back Pain: Common Causes

Back pain gets talked about as though it all happens down low. It doesn't. The stretch of spine between your shoulder blades bends and twists differently to your lower back, it carries your ribs, and it gets sore for its own reasons, so it's worth looking at on its own terms.

If the pain sits between or just under your shoulder blades, runs through the middle of your back, or tightens when you take a deep breath, you're in the right region. If it's lower than that, closer to your belt line, start with Lower Back instead.

What's causing your mid-back pain?

Mid-Back / Thoracic Pain

Aching, tightness or a catching pain between the shoulder blades that builds over a day at a desk, after carrying a load on one side, or through a long drive. Including what to do if you've been told it's "just posture" and left without a plan to fix it.

Not sure this is your region?

A few things feel like mid-back pain without starting there. Pain, numbness or tingling travelling down from your neck into an arm, tenderness at the front of your chest where the ribs meet the breastbone, or a sharp catch along one side when you twist or cough all point somewhere else. The Injury Finder body map will take you to the right page.

If it is your mid-back, most plans start with hands-on manual therapy and something you can keep doing between appointments. If it's been grumbling for months rather than weeks, chronic pain management is the better place to begin.

That's what an assessment is for: we'll find what's driving the pain before deciding what to do.

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Reviewed by Ahmed Elsayed Principal Physiotherapist at Well Motion