Thoracic pain occurs in the thoracic or middle region of the spine. It can be felt in the spine behind your chest, rib cage or thorax, as well as between your shoulder blades. It typically extends from the base of your neck to the beginning of your lumbar spine, or around the waist level.
Although pain in the thoracic region of your spine is less common than neck pain and lower back pain, there are many people who suffer from it, but thankfully there are ways to treat it, which will be discussed further down below.
Causes
Common causes of mid back pain in adults people can include:
- A bout of shingles
- Osteoporosis
- Thoracic spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the canal through which the spinal cord passes
- Compression fractures of the spine (including the thoracic vertebrae)
- An infection in the spine
- Disc problems such as herniated discs and prolapsed discs
- Spinal osteoarthritis
- Inflammation of the joints between the vertebrae (ankylosing spondylitis) as well as that of the facet joints
- Scheuermann’s disease
- Tumours on the spine.