Massage Therapy Journal Spring 2024

16 • Massage Therapy Journal

Additionally, the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute suggests roughly 83 million days of work are lost each year due to back pain, making this condition one of the leading causes of work-loss days. Shoulder pain, although less common than back pain, is still one of the most common regional pain syndromes. According to one study 1 , population surveys show that shoulder pain affects between 18 to 26 percent of adults at any point in time. With so many people experiencing upper body pain, massage therapists have a real opportunity to help clients find some real relief.

says Alicia Durrence, owner and massage therapist at Southern Charm Massage.

Understanding the lower, middle and upper back regions can help massage therapists better pinpoint where pain is occurring: 1. The low back includes the lumbar spine (composed of five vertebrae). 2. The middle back, also called the thoracic spine, is made up of 12 vertebrae and provides support for the majority of your body’s weight. 3. The upper back is part of the cervical spine, which includes the neck, and is composed of seven vertebrae. Each area of the back also includes and is surrounded by various structures, including intervertebral discs, the spinal cord, nerves, muscles, tendons and ligaments, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Because each part of the back serves a different function and supports a different part of the body, the cause and source of pain can be vastly different for each area. For example, pain in the upper back and neck may intersect. “There are layers of muscles throughout our neck and back, many of which are involved in the same activities, like bending, lifting and turning,” says Brandilyn Jobe, LMT. “When tense, over-contracted muscles pull on their attachment sites and the surrounding muscles often over-contract as well.” The shoulder is the most flexible joint in the human body, as well as one of the most complex, which means deciphering the source or cause of pain can be tricky. “Shoulder pain is usually a complex puzzle caused by held tension, repetitive motion, or strain/injury due to some form of over-extension or imbalance in the muscles that provide rotation, adduction and abduction, flexion, and extension of the humerus,” says Dede Dancing, LMT, BCTMB. “Sometimes the biceps tendon is part of the puzzle. Sometimes nerves of the brachial plexus are trapped or compressed by tight scalenes, pectoralis minor or by bones being pulled too Svitlana Hulko / shutterstock.com

Common Types and Causes of Back and Shoulder Pain

The causes of back and shoulder pain are as numerous as the people experiencing it. “I see a lot of back pain from sports injuries, degenerative joint disease, car accidents, bulging and herniated discs, falls, pregnancy, and from sitting too much for work,”

The upper back is part of the cervical spine, which includes the neck, and is composed of seven vertebrae.

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