Whether it stems from incorrect posture or the

result of a sports injury, pain in the middle of your back can be excruciating, and will become debilitating if not treated properly. However, chiropractors say pain in this area, which is known as the thoracic spine, can often be remedied with chiropractic adjustments and strengthening exercises. "Thoracic spine injuries are about as common as neck or lower back injuries, but they

often are overlooked, or not taken care of by individuals because they might not have dramatic symptoms, like those that occur in the neck or lower back," says Dr. Steven Caraway, who is a chiropractor with Beutler- England Chiropractic Clinic in Lake Charles, LA. "While people can be in major pain with a thoracic spine

injury, people aren't as concerned with the pain if it's not radiating to another area of the body."

SITTING ON THE JOB

While sprains and strains to this delicate area of the spine can occur as a result of trauma, they also can be caused by something as simple as poor posture.

"Many of us today work at desk jobs where we do a lot of typing, or we're in a factory setting where our arms are outstretched in front of us. This causes our

upper back to be tilted forward. The muscles of the back can undergo a tremendous amount of stress because of

this action," says Dr. Michael Reinhardt, a chiropractor who has a private practice, Reinhardt Chiropractic and Muscle Treatment, in Webster, NY. "When this

happens, the muscle connection can become fibrotic; you can get scar tissue where adhesion has built up in it. This can cause those knots that you often feel when

you ask someone to rub your back. The pain can get excruciating, and in some cases, can be referred down your arm from the thoracic spine."

EXERCISING YOUR OPTIONS

To treat thoracic spine injuries, chiropractors will administer adjustments, and teach patients exercises that will help relieve built-up tension in the muscles. "Resolving complaints about this area of the spine requires treatment of the muscles, restoration of spinal mobility, education of proper ergonomics and usually some form of simple exercise to strengthen the erector spinae and scapular retractors," says Reinhardt.

A WEIGHTY TREATMENT

Because the thoracic spine is very susceptible to trauma, chiropractors have to take special care when making

adjustments to this area.

Scoliosis Helped in Clinical Case Studies

Published in the January 12, 2006 issue of the scientific journal, Chiropractic & Osteopathy from Australasia, comes a report of a series of case studies documenting chiropractic helping multiple cases of idiopathic scoliosis.  In this report three documented case studies are followed and the results reported after chiropractic care.

Idiopathic scoliosis is the most prevalent form of scoliosis and occurs to some degree in approximately one half million adolescents in the US.  Scoliosis is a bending or curvature of the spine.  The term idiopathic means that the origin is unknown.

In this report the three subjects each had uniquely different situations.  The first subject was a 37-yr-old female who came to a private spine clinic with a chief complaint of neck and back pain.  Her history included surgical spinal fusion and implantation of a Harrington rod against her spine.  The second subject was a 30-yr-old male who also went to a private spine clinic with a chief complaint of chronic mid thoracic pain. His history included scoliosis and a previous diagnosis of Scheuermann`s Disease.  The third subject was a 23-year-old female who presented with neck and mid-back and shoulder pain.

The subjects in this study were noted as having curvatures measuring 35, 22, and 37 respectively.  These curvatures were measured using the "Cobb angle" which is a standard technique used to measure the severity of a spinal curve - in degrees - from spinal x-rays.

The chiropractic care consisted of a 12 week period of adjustment and home care treatments. These were followed up by post-treatment x-rays and examinations in order to evaluate the progress. The results were measured using the Cobb angle method and the measurements were compared to the Cobb angles recorded at the beginning of care. 

The results in these cases all showed improvement. The patient with an initial 35 Cobb angle showed a 13 reduction after the 12 week period.  The patient with the initial 22 Cobb angle showed an 8 improvement, and the patient with the 37 initial Cobb angle, showed a decrease of 16 over the 12 weeks. 

The researchers noted that this study was small, and they said that the findings suggest the need for a larger controlled study.  They concluded, " Given the perceived results of the cases outlined here, it is worthy of future investigations in such cases."