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• Upper Back Shoulder Pain

Upper Back Shoulder Pain

In addition to upper back problems, shoulder pain can also be a potentially unexpected symptom of spinal deterioration or damage in the cervical and thoracic spine segments. Typically, if you are experiencing a sore shoulder, your first thought might not be that a compressed nerve in your back is to blame, but this is often the case. To better understand this concept requires a closer look at the nervous system and our ability to transfer and receive information throughout the body.

Nerve Roots and Upper Back Pain

The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord, with nerve roots branching off the cord and nerves extending throughout the body. The individual neurons receive motor or sensory signals from the brain and send back pertinent information, providing us with our sense of spatial awareness, touch, and the ability to detect pain. The ulnar nerve in the upper back, for example, branches off the spinal cord between the cervical spine (neck) and the thoracic spine (middle back) and extends through the shoulders all the way down to the fingertips. As everyone knows, when this span of unprotected nerve is hit, a familiar pain and tingling feeling can extend all the way through the arms to the hands.

Causes of Upper Back Pain

Nerve compression at the vertebral level works in a similar way. If a nerve root is compressed in the spinal column it can send pain signals throughout the nerve, causing symptoms to radiate to other parts of the body. Common sources of upper back problems and shoulder pain include:?

• Degenerative disc disease (DDD) or other intervertebral disc problems
• Facet disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Stenosis
• Bone spurs

Click Here to see how you can get your life back in 5 days Treatment for Upper Back Pain

If you are experiencing upper back pain, shoulder pain, or any other symptom of nerve compression, contact Laser Spine Institute (LSI) to learn about our gentle, minimally invasive back pain relief techniques, and to request a free review of your MRI or CT scan.

Please note: Laser Spine Institute currently does not perform endoscopic procedures on the thoracic spine.