How to Manage Upper Back Pain and Lower Back Pain

My neck, upper back, and shoulder pain got so bad I suffered from insomnia for almost 2 years.

No matter what I did, the neck pain always seemed to find me. I was sitting down all day at work hunched over a computer. I tried improving my posture. But it didn’t work.

Then I tried getting a standing desk. That only worked for a little bit, and the pain was showing up elsewhere.

I tried buying new mattresses and special tempur-pedic pillows. NOTHING worked. It was quite possibly the most frustrating thing I’ve ever been through in my life.

Later, I learned that I wasn’t alone.

In one study done on office workers, it was found that 58% had eye strain, 45% had shoulder pain, 43% had back pain, 35% had arm pain, and 30% had neck and wrist pain.

Fortunately, I have since healed myself and cured those problems. And I’ll show you how to do it too.

Special bonus download: I’ve included a 30+ page guide on improving back pain at your desk, when sleeping, etc. Click here to download it.

If You Have Lower Back, Neck and Shoulder Pain, it is NOT a Coincidence

For those of you who already didn’t have a “hunch” that your work posture is causing your pain, a number of studies have shown a strong link between computer use, posture while at work, office ergonomics, sedentary life and chronic musculoskeletal pain.

The two are linked. I’m going to show you how and why they’re linked, and how to take care of them.

These are extremely common health issues that occur in people who are sedentary and sit a lot throughout the day.  The reason you’re probably getting that burning in your upper back, shoulder pain (or shoulder injuries), elbow/wrist injuries (if you’re a weight lifter), and that dreaded neck pain is because they are all related.

Check out the two pictures below.

One of them instinctively looks more natural and healthy, right?

 

At it’s most basic level – this is why you may have shoulder and neck pain.

Check out the 60 sec video below where I’ll give you the rundown.

Resources and tools mentioned in this article:

• The Egoscue Pain Relief Book: Pain Free
• Esther Gokhale’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back
• The Trigger Point Therapy Handbook
• The Theracane (for self-massaging hard points)
• The Trigger Point Therapy Ball
• Foam roller for rolling out at the end of the night

Why You Have Back Pain Between Your Shoulder Blades (And Upper Back Pain When Sleeping)

Four things:

1. Misaligned shoulders that are typically hunched, which lead to:
2. A misaligned neck (sticking out forward), which leads to:
3. Tremendous strain on the neck muscles, which leads to:
4. Chronic pain, build up of tension, potential other long term effects (possible headaches, etc.)

Here’s what your upper body (neck, spine, shoulders) is supposed to look like (left):

Here’s what it probably looks like when you’re on the computer or sitting:

Here’s what that does to your neck and shoulders:

Your head is actually pretty heavy. Somewhere in the ballpark of 10 pounds.  Now try doing this: Hold a 10 pound weight straight above your head. Its pretty easy right?

Now hold your arm out at a 45 degree angle. Extremely tiring right? You can feel the muscles in your arm getting exhausted trying to hold the weight up against gravity.

That’s what’s happening to your misaligned neck. It is trying to fight gravity using the muscles in the neck.

Also, misalignment causes nerve impingement, reduced blood flow, and a whole bunch of others things we probably don’t know about.

Then you end up with super stressed out, tight, overactive neck muscles like the Sternocleidomastoid (try saying that 5 times fast…):

The same is true of your shoulder.

When you use your shoulders in a hunched over pattern, you are impairing how they naturally are supposed to glide through their ball and socket motion.

As a result, you get grinding, popping, and overuse injuries – like carpal tunnel syndrome, burning between your shoulder blades, rotator cuff injuries (if you’re active), etc.

The 3 Part System to Help Your Upper Back, Neck and Shoulder Pain

Here’s the way I helped most of my neck pain and how you can, too.

It’s a three part system:

1. Egoscue Exercises
2. Trigger Point Therapy
3. Learn How to Actually Sit Pain Free And Use Your Body (or else it’ll come back)

***

A. Part 1: Egoscue Exercises For Back Pain Between Shoulder Blades

The Egoscue method works for everything I have tried it on.

Chronic lower back pain, neck pain, knee pain, it always provides relief. So let’s start with that.

If you’re sitting over your computer like a hunched caveman, your neck is grossly out of alignment.

The point of these Egoscue exercises is to let gravity re-align your neck and back.

WHY: This is getting your neck, upper back, and hips re-aligned using the wall.

How to do it:

1. Scoot your butt as close to the wall as possible like in the picture above
2. Make sure the back of your head is touching the wall, and pull your shoulder blades back, so they are flat against the wall
3. Put your hands face up in your lap
4. Pull your toes back – so they are flexed
5. Hold for 5 minutes

Resources and tools mentioned in this technique:

• The Egoscue Pain Relief Book: Pain Free
• Esther Gokhale’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back
• The Trigger Point Therapy Handbook
• The Theracane (for self-massaging hard points)
• The Trigger Point Therapy Ball

How to do it:

1. Lay down on your back like in the picture above – and scoot your butt as close to the wall as possible
2. Flex your feet back so they are pulled tight
3. Pull your shoulder blades back, so they are flat on the floor
4. Let your hands rest, palm up at a 45 degree angle
5. Hold for 5 minutes

Resources and tools mentioned in this technique:

• The Egoscue Pain Relief Book: Pain Free
• Esther Gokhale’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back
• The Trigger Point Therapy Handbook
• The Theracane (for self-massaging hard points)
• The Trigger Point Therapy Ball

How to do it:

1. Lay flat on your back, and put your legs up at a 90 degree angle on a chair, couch, or object
2. Roll your shoulder blades back so they are flat on the ground, and let your arms fall naturally at a 45 degree angle
3. Hold for 15 minutes

***

B. Part 2: Trigger Point Therapy For Upper Back Pain Between Shoulder Blades

The next thing you should be doing on a daily basis is employing trigger point therapy.

I either use a theracane, a foam roller, or a tennis ball/golf ball.

We’re all familiar with “tension” held in our backs or necks from sitting all day. Trigger points are basically tension on steroids. They happen at localized places, which is good, because we know where to find them and eliminate them.

Sometimes the site of the pain is not the source though – and referral pain can radiate much farther away.

So you might have trigger points in your upper back causing you neck pain or worsening headaches, and you might have butt trigger points causing lower back pain.

So, here’s what to do for self-massage:

I want you to massage three places (don’t worry, there are videos for each):

1. Sternocleidomastoid
2. Trapezius & Levator Scapulae
3. Suboccipital

#1 – Sternocleidomastoid 

#2 Trapezius and Levator scapulae

#3 Suboccipital

Again, when you’re employing trigger point therapy it’s important that you massage these places hard, and you do it several times per day (the more, the better – they recommend 6-12 times).

So every hour at work, I would spend 5 minutes going through these 3 quick videos and doing a massage session.

I either use a theracane, a foam roller, or a tennis ball/golf ball. You can also just use your fingers for places like the Sternocleidomastoid.

And again, you can use your fingers, a massaging cane, or when you’re home just grab a tennis ball or golf ball and roll your entire body weight over it.

This is critical for day-to-day pain relief.

Resources and tools mentioned in this technique:

• The Egoscue Pain Relief Book: Pain Free
• Esther Gokhale’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back
• The Trigger Point Therapy Handbook
• The Theracane (for self-massaging hard points)
• The Trigger Point Therapy Ball

***

C. How to Sit With Lower Back Pain (or Upper Back Pain)

Posture is the really un-sexy origin of your pain.

People don’t really like hearing that, because it’s not a magic bullet, but ultimately if you sit properly throughout the day, you won’t have musculoskeletal pain. Pretty much end of story.

Ultimately, all of this will work in the short run… but like all things related to your health, you must change your habits.

I’m going to assume that 90% of you sit all day at work, and often at home after work. So here’s how to maintain proper posture for your neck, shoulders, and upper back.

First – I would suggest grabbing an ergonomic stand for your laptop if you aren’t already using one.

Rather than looking down at your computer, you want your head to obviously be upright.

I personally use this stand for my macbook ==>

If you ignore changing your overall posture throughout the day, you’ll just find the pain coming back and you’ll have to begin from step 1.

1. Lower Back
2. Upper Back/Shoulders
3. Neck

Watch This:

Are My Migraines Caused by Neck Pain/Stiffness?

I’ve noticed that many people with chronic headaches and migraines tend to have chronic neck issues.

For example, neck stiffness has been found to accompany migraines, putting a cold compress around the neck has been shown to significantly help with migraines (origin unknown), trigger point therapy (mentioned above) has been shown to be effective for reducing headaches, and headaches have been associated with TMD (jaw) and neck pain.

The link is still up in the air, but I would be thrilled if you went through this, and told me it helped your chronic headaches.

As to whether or not there’s a conclusive link between the two, I don’t know.

Other Resources I Recommend

#1 Tools I Use Daily – Theracane and Trigger Point Ball

The Theracane is the self-massage cane I’ve demonstrated in all these videos, and the primary reason I use it is because it’s hard to get the traps, shoulders, and upper back on your own.

Another creative solution you can use is put a tennis ball into a sock, sling it over your shoulder, then roll against the wall.

For other parts on my body, I use a trigger point therapy ball. This is primarily something that I travel with, so I can use it while driving, on a plane, in hotels, etc.

#2 Inversion Table

I have no idea if there’s scientific evidence supporting the use of inversion tables for lower back pain, but having recently purchased one for my dad, he said there has been a world of difference in the quick relief it can get.

Here’s what they look like:

#3 Supplements That Lower Inflammation

One of the core supplements I usually recommend across the board is Fish Oil.

An interesting feature of back pain is that there are people with structural issues – who have no pain – and people with no structural issues, who have pain.

So it makes one wonder how much inflammation, the microbiome, stress, and emotions affect back pain.

Fish oil and other omega fatty acids help with inflammation, and weight loss too.

Curcumin is another supplement gaining major press lately about it’s ability to lower inflammation in the body.

#4 Books That I Use Religiously

Pete Egoscue – Pain Free:

A few of the exercises demonstrated here are ones that I learned from the Egoscue method – one of the only things that has worked for me.

Consistently, after having spoken with chiropractors and doctors, who gave me zero useful advice about self-treating back pain, this book has come through.

You can read more about the book Pain Free on Amazon here.

Esther Gokhale – 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back

Pete’s book is less about how to walk and move on a day to day basis, and shows exercises you can do right now.

Esther’s book is the opposite – it shows you how to sit, stand, sleep, and move to stop and prevent back and neck pain. It was pretty enlightening to see her research based on third world country populations with minimal back pain.

You can read about the book 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back here on Amazon.

Trigger Point Therapy Workbook

The trigger point therapy workbook is a book I’ve used to learn where to self-massage using the Theracane (above) and the trigger point therapy ball mentioned above.

Personally, It’s a really useful book for learning the locations to self-massage, as well as learning where pain gets referred from other areas.

You can read more about the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook Here.

— Alex