Post: Why Does My Upper Back Hurt Under My Shoulder Blade? How Osteopathy Can Help Reverse the Damage of Sitting All Day

What’s Really Happening When Your Upper Back Hurts

When you experience pain under your shoulder blade, what you’re feeling is often the result of your muscles working overtime to support your head and shoulders in positions they weren’t designed to hold for hours. Recent research from 2024 shows that incorrect posture can put stress on your spine, which can then be the cause of musculoskeletal disorders, and this is exactly what happens when you spend your days hunched over a computer.

Think of your upper back muscles – particularly the rhomboids, middle trapezius, and serratus anterior – like elastic bands. When you sit with your shoulders rolled forward, and your head pushed ahead of your body, these muscles get stretched and strained for hours at a time. Poor posture is the most common cause of pain in the upper back. According to healthcare experts, sitting and staring at a computer screen shortens chest muscles and pulls on the muscles in the upper back.

Your shoulder blades (called scapulae) are designed to move smoothly across your ribcage, but when your posture is poor, they can get “stuck” in abnormal positions. This creates trigger points – those tender spots that feel like knots in your muscles – and can even cause your shoulder blade to stick out more than normal, a condition called “winged scapula.”

The Hidden Damage of Sitting All Day

Here’s what most people don’t realise: the damage from poor posture isn’t just muscular. When you maintain that forward head position for hours, several things happen to your body:

Your breathing becomes shallow: When your shoulders round forward, your ribcage can’t expand properly, which means you’re not getting the deep, restorative breaths your body needs.

Your spine loses its natural curves: Poor posture over time weakens the muscles in your back and puts pressure on the intricate supporting network under and around your shoulder blades. This can lead to disc problems and nerve irritation that refers to pain in your shoulder blade area.

Your nervous system gets overworked: Recent studies from 2023 show that when your upper back muscles are constantly tense, it affects your autonomic nervous system – the part that controls things like your heart rate and stress response.

The scary part? Looking at your cell phone in a head-down position, usually with shoulders slouched forward, loosens and strains the muscles and other structures in your neck and shoulder blade area. Even your sleep position matters – if you sleep on your side with your arm out in front, you’re pushing your shoulder blade out of position for 6-8 hours every night.

How Osteopathy Can Reverse the Damage

This is where osteopathy becomes a game-changer for your upper back pain. Unlike treatments that just mask your symptoms, osteopathy addresses the root causes of why your shoulder blade area hurts in the first place.

Recent research from 2024 demonstrates that osteopathy is effective in pain levels and functional status improvements, with evidence showing significant pain reduction and improved movement. What makes osteopathy so effective is that I don’t just treat your painful shoulder blade – I look at your entire body as a connected system.

Manual Treatment Techniques: When you come to see me, I use specific hands-on techniques to release the tension in your upper back muscles, improve the movement of your shoulder blades, and restore proper alignment to your spine. Studies from 2022 using advanced spinal measurement tools showed that osteopathic treatment was able to increase vertebral mobility concerning tilt and length, evaluated in different positions.

Addressing the Root Cause: Your chest muscles have likely become tight and shortened from sitting, which pulls your shoulders forward. I work on releasing these tight areas while strengthening the weakened muscles in your upper back. This dual approach is crucial because just stretching tight muscles without strengthening weak ones won’t give you lasting relief.

Nervous System Support: One of the most exciting aspects of osteopathic treatment is how it affects your nervous system. Osteopathic manipulations, reporting enhancements in pain management and the mobility of the cervical spine, show that these treatments can help reset your body’s stress response and improve how your nervous system communicates with your muscles.

Beyond the Treatment Table: Your Road to Recovery

The beautiful thing about osteopathy is that it doesn’t stop when you leave my clinic. Part of my job is teaching you how to maintain the improvements we make during your treatments. This includes:

Posture Education: I’ll show you how to set up your workspace so it supports your body instead of working against it. Simple changes like monitor height and chair position can make a huge difference.

Targeted Exercises: You’ll learn specific exercises that strengthen your upper back muscles and stretch tight areas in your chest and neck. Research from 2024 confirms that differences favouring the group, including the postural exercise, were reported for disability and back pain when postural exercises were included in treatment plans.

Movement Strategies: I’ll teach you how to move throughout your day to prevent your muscles from getting stuck in those problematic positions again.

What to Expect from Your Osteopathic Treatment

Most of my patients start feeling relief within the first few sessions, but lasting change takes time. Recent studies show that osteopathic manipulative treatment has been demonstrated to significantly reduce pain and psychosocial factors related to chronic low back pain in both the short and long term.

During your first visit, I’ll do a thorough assessment of not just your painful area but your whole body. I’ll look at how you move, where you hold tension, and what positions trigger your pain. This comprehensive approach is what sets osteopathy apart from other treatments.

Your treatment plan will be completely individualised because no two people develop upper back pain in exactly the same way. Some patients need more work on muscle tension; others need joint mobilisation, and many benefit from techniques that address both the physical and nervous system aspects of their pain.