Upper Back/Thoracic Pain | Sparks Physical Therapy

How do we track your progress?

We define patient-centered goals as what you hope to accomplish from physical therapy. While these are typically activity-specific goals, often patients report they just wish to experience less pain.

Benefits of Spinal Manipulation

Spinal manipulations include positioning of a patient and then performing a single, rapid movement to an area of the spine including cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back) and lumbar (lower back).

Physical Therapy for Kyphosis

Kyphosis refers to the normal rounding of the upper back. Occasionally, people will have excessive rounding and in this case the rounding/kyphosis is referred to as hyperkyphosis (hyper = above normal). This rounding increases naturally as we age and there is no standard definition of hyperkyphosis versus normal changes associated with aging. An increase in kyphosis is more common in women than men. The cause of an increase in kyphosis is due to muscle weakness and impairments in flexibility/mobility.

Physical Therapy for Vertebral Compression Fractures

Physical Therapy for Vertebral Compression Fractures What are Vertebral Compression Fractures?Vertebral compression fractures are extremely common in patients with compromised bone density, as in the case of osteoporosis or osteopenia. In patients...

Physical Therapy for Osteoporosis/Osteopenia

Physical Therapy for Osteoporosis/Osteopenia What is Osteopenia and Osteoporosis?Osteopenia is a decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) below normal values for an individual’s age. If BMD continues to decrease, osteopenia can progress to...

Can the neck refer pain to the upper back/thoracic spine?

If your pain is in the region between the neck and the shoulder, between or around the shoulder blades or you have both neck and upper back pain, odds are the neck is involved. This is especially true if you also have neck pain.

When is PT not appropriate for thoracic spine pain?

To determine if a patient needs to be sent to another provider for an X-ray, MRI or other form of medical imaging, we want to be 100% certain a red flag is not present.

What is causing my thoracic spine/upper back pain?

For the spine, there is not always a clear black and white answer of the specific anatomical structure causing thoracic pain/symptoms and patients often get hung up on wanting a firm anatomical diagnosis.

Thoracic pain and mobility deficits

Thoracic pain and mobility deficits We often see patients with both thoracic pain with range of motion/mobility impairments. The first question we ask is whether this person is truly stiff or are their muscles guarding as a protective mechanism,...

Thoracic pain and motor control impairments

Thoracic pain and motor control impairments This is the diagnose classification for patients who have more range of motion than muscular stability. Often these patients present with the following signs and symptoms: Reporting feelings of the back...