Learning More About Thoracic Mobility

When your thoracic spine is bothering you, you may experience poor thoracic mobility. You undoubtedly spend a lot of time at your desk at work. Everything is good in the mornings, but the muscular rigidity around your thoracic spine worsens in the long run. You don't always know how you'll make it to home time since the dragging sensation between your shoulder blades gets painful. It may also cause neck discomfort and headaches on occasion.

Massage Rx is here to give you some of the best exercises for thoracic spine pain relief and much more!

What is the thoracic spine?

The top and middle parts of the back are known as the thoracic spine. It is composed of vertebrae located below the cervical spine (the vertebrae in your neck) and above the lumbar spine (the vertebrae in your lower back). It serves as an anchor for the ribcage, and the ribs and thoracic spine work together to contain essential organs such as the heart and lungs. And this vast spinal region shields a large portion of the spinal cord — the main line of communication between your brain and your body. It can move in different planes - flex and round forward, lengthen, rotate, and bend laterally (side bend).

What is the significance of thoracic spine mobility?

Adequate thoracic spine mobility is essential for daily living. After all, we aren't robotic people that walk on a straight path. The thoracic spine allows you to twist and reach something overhead, bend and walk around, get out of bed, or do other things.

Increasing thoracic mobility improves dynamic alignment, functional movement, and exercise execution, resulting in a superior workout that effectively transmits weight across the body while decreasing injury risk. Simply, the thoracic spine connects your upper and lower bodies. It is critical for practically every action you take.

What are the common symptoms of poor thoracic mobility?

• Dull, pressing pain on the shoulder blades
• Bent posture
• Neck pain
• Limited upper body movement
• Radiating pain along with rib or chest pain
• Difficulty breathing

If your discomfort worsens when you move your upper body, you most likely have thoracic spine syndrome, which is completely safe. If your discomfort worsens with physical activity, such as climbing stairs, it is more probable that you have a cardiac issue. In that situation, you must consult a doctor immediately.

What are the possible causes of thoracic spine immobility?

There are several causes of thoracic immobility, including the following:

• Poor posture
• Repetitive movement
• Insufficient movement
• Too much strain
• Sports or activities requiring bending or erecting posture
• Vertebra or rib joint blockage
• Degenerative changes
• Fracture owing to trauma
• Osteoporosis
• Inflammatory or infectious diseases
• Cancer
• Internal organ problems

Thoracic immobility is also common among new parents or carers, which is caused by carrying and nursing newborns. Furthermore, if your posture is kyphotic, you will most certainly have limited mobility in your thoracic spine.

What can you do when you have poor thoracic mobility?

Thoracic spine syndrome discomfort usually goes away on its own within a few days to a week. However, you have control over how long this will take and how it will evolve. If you've had bad posture for a long time and it's limiting your thoracic spine movement, you can correct it by investing in massage therapy. Doing focused activities to stretch and develop mobility will also help you regain balance. And this is also beneficial to your posture and biomechanics.

Here are the following exercises to improve thoracic mobility:

• Cat and cow
• Thread the needle
• Downward dog
• Windmill
• Child's pose with exercise ball
• Side angle pose

So if you have limited thoracic mobility, call one of our Massage Rx therapists now! Check out our YouTube video to discover more about how we can assist you! We also provide in-home massage therapy and our popular lymphatic drainage massage!