Sebastian Brosche · 16 min · 1,349 words
Previously titled: Video 1 – Upper Back Rehab Program
Welcome to our rehab program for upper back pain. Upper back pain can be caused by a number of different things, so as always it's best to start from a proper diagnosis. It can be caused by issues to do with the ribs, with the joints in between the vertebrae or with the many muscles in the upper back. Pain can also be referred to the upper back from the neck and the shoulder and it can be related to issues with the lower back as well.
This is a five-day program, it's suitable for mild to moderate upper back pain that's caused by mechanical issues. If you run into any problems while you're doing it or if things aren't improving then do stop and seek professional advice. You can progress through it at your own pace and if any of the exercises feel too difficult or not right for you then it's fine to substitute an easier version and we'll highlight a few places where you may want to do this. Moving on to the first exercises we're going to start with some basic mobilizations.
I start on all fours, I'm going to do a cat and camel stretch. So the idea is I'm going to arch my back up and drop my head down and then I'm going to go the other way arching my back down and looking up. I'm just going to alternate between these. I'm only going as far as is reasonably comfortable in either direction.
I'm not going to try and force it further than it wants to go. It's not about how much movement I've got. It's just repeating those those straightforward movements until things start to feel a bit freer and a bit easier. I'm going to alternate that with a seated rotation.
So once again I'm just turning as far as I can comfortably and the idea with this I want to feel the movement in the mid back. That's where most of your rotation is going to come from. Once again I'm not forcing that further than it wants to go. Just take it up to the end of range and then back off.
If this is painful when you do it again just make the movement a little smaller and then gradually increase as it becomes easier to do so. I'm just going to go back to the cat camel. And back to the rotations. The next exercise I'm going to need a band.
I've got my trusty length of TheraBand here. And this comes in a variety of different strengths. You can get it very easily on the internet. It's good to have a selection of different strengths so you can progress through as you get better at these exercises.
I'm going to start with my palms facing up. I grip the band about shoulder width apart. Keeping my arms straight. I'm going to bring my shoulder blades back together.
I'm just going to stretch the band out to the side. Touch my chest and then slowly back to the middle. I'm going to take my hands. I'm going to link my hands behind my back and then I'm just going to stretch my arms down and away.
I'm just bringing my shoulders back stretching muscles in the front of the chest. Make sure I keep breathing as I do that. Again just pushing the hands down towards the floor. And pick the band up again.
Just going to do another set. Drop the band, shake the arms out. Once again link the fingers behind my back. And just going to stretch the hands towards the floor.
Rolling the shoulders back. It's important to keep breathing while I do this. And relax. For the next sequence of exercises, I'm going to drop the band to the side.
I'm going to lie onto my front. I'm going to start with the hands at the side of my head and we're going to get into a dorsal raise. This is quite a common exercise. What I want to do is I want to make sure I'm getting as much movement as I can from the upper back.
I will get some movement in the lower back as well. I want to focus on trying to get the upper back involved. Now if it's painful at all when you do that, it's okay to use a little bit of support from the hands. And just turn it into a bit more of a mobilisation.
Like I said, if we can, we want to get the muscles working. From there, like a light weight, it doesn't have to be a medicine ball. It can equally well be a light dumbbell or even a bottle of water. I'm going to be lying onto my back.
I want to keep the small of my back, my lower back pressed into the floor. So I'm not going to let it arch up. Arms overhead. I'm just going to take all back as far as I can without my back coming up and then back up again.
And what you may very well find is that you start getting more movement with each rep. I'm going to put the ball to one side. I'm just going to roll back onto my front. I'm going to go through another set of both of those exercises.
I'm just going to make sure my lower back stays down. I'm going to drop the ball to one side. To finish Day 1, I'm going to attach the band to something on a wall so I can tie it to a door frame or something that's not going to come off the wall. If you haven't got one of these handy, I can always use the edge of a door frame to press against.
But it's quite nice to do it with a band if you've got that option. I'm going to let my arm come up to about 135 degrees here. That angle might be slightly different for different people so experiment to see what works well for you. I'm just going to let the shoulder go back to a point where I start to feel a bit of a stretch and walk forwards into it.
I'm feeling a stretch down this portion of the muscle. Now what I want to do is I want to pull forwards slightly until that stretch comes off a little bit. I'm just going to hold that for a slow count of 10 seconds. Take a deep breath in, breathe out.
I'm just going to relax into the stretch. I'm just going to let the arm go back a little bit further. Just hold that. I'm going to do the same thing again.
I'm going to push forwards. Just hold that. Take a deep breath in and breathe out. Again, you want to be working at a level where you can feel the stretch but it's not painful.
It's painful, it's a bit too much. Just ease back, take it a bit more steadily. Then we're going to switch arms. Again, just take it to a point where I start to feel a stretch there.
Just push into it with a band. Deep breath in and breathe out and relax into the stretch. As I said before, you can push on the side of the shoulder if you want to. You can do this with the shoulder.
Just relax into the stretch. As I said before, you can push on the side of a door frame or corner of a wall instead of using a band. The band is quite a nice way of doing it. Push back in, hold that.
Again, engaging the muscle in that lengthened position. Take a deep breath in and breathe out and relax. Once again, you can play around with this angle here to find which angle gives you the best stretch. That's going to vary from one person to another.
Relax. That's all for day one. We'll see you back here tomorrow with some more exercises.
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