How do I relieve upper back tension?

[SummerWhy]

It started a few weeks but is now constant and I’m desperate for some relief! No pain, just a lot of discomfort and on the right side of my upper back only.

I thought the problem stemmed from carrying my bag on my right shoulder but I moved to a rucksack a couple of weeks ago and it’s only got worse.

I do yoga regularly and have tried all kinds of stretches but these haven’t helped.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

Two things I do:

Lean against a door frame or an outside corner of a wall (it can be an internal wall) so that the edge is between your spine and your shoulder blade on the niggly side. Let your arms hang naturally and keep your head neutral. Adjust your position so the wall presses into the right area. Lean into the pressure and breathe.

Roll a towel into a sausage about 1' long by about 6" thick. Place it on the floor behind you. Lie back gently. The roll should be above bra level. This is uncomfortable at first. You may need a thin pad under your head at first, but breathe and relax. Visualise your body slumping to the floor with every out-breath. Bend your knees if this puts too much strain on your lower back. Eventually work up to not using the pad behind the head, then to raising your arms over your head and resting them on the floor beside your head.

Third thing I , if these stretches do not alleviate the discomfort:

Go to a physical therapist (physio/osteopath/chiro/massage therapist)

Thank you so much Dilbertian, I will try those! Yes, I’m thinking I’ll need a physical therapist if it doesn’t go away soon… I can’t stop thinking about how uncomfortable I feel!

I lean against a wall and "roll" or press on a tennis ball (a tumble dryer bobbly ball is even better but the dog demolished my last one). I have a fairly sedentary job so sometimes I sit with a tennis ball behind me.

When it hits the spot it's like a weird pleasure-pain.

Look up Yoga with Adriene on YouTube, she has several excellent upper back pain/ tension relief videos. I have chronic pain and her videos help me more than the physio does.

Rolling a tennis ball against the wall as mentioned and scapular push ups.

The tennis ball idea is currently working well, thank you StCharlotte and Lucy.

Good idea Orf1abc, I didn’t think to look up yoga videos specifically for this!

Can you afford a therapy massage at all?

I've been suffering with a really sore shoulder for months. Last week I went for a massage with a really good therapist. She worked on my neck and shoulder for the whole hour which was pretty intense and quite painful at times as she got an awful lot of muscle knots to release.

The improvement in my shoulder is massive though. I really wish I'd gone sooner.

I’ve been thinking of getting a massage if it persists Lindy, good to hear it worked for you!

I get tense when my back is cold. especially after exercise when cooling down.
against all instincts (being a sweaty mess after a run) I need to keep warm after or I tense up.

I have persistent upper back pain, I've had it for over ten years.

One really simple exercise a physio gave me was to put your arms around yourself as far as you can and squeeze.

One exercise I found was to go to the swimming bath and just float on my back with my arms extended for as long as possible. ( Be aware, the life guards may think you've died 😁).

I know what caused mine (the removal of part of three of my ribs), if you haven't had a diagnosis, I'd really advise getting one.

Sorry about your long term back pain user. I will definitely look for professional help if it doesn’t go away.

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated!

Sometimes only a good sports massage will do

I find slow, gentle deadlifts help a lot with bad backs. I do them like they do in Bodypump, starting with a big shoulder roll to set the shoulderblades down my back, then the deadlifts.

Find an Alexander Technique teacher. It's amazing and the only thing that cured my back and neck tension. Stretches and massage etc are great but unless you understand what's causing it, it'll just come back and the AT tackles the root cause. For me, yoga just made it worse and while yoga can really help some people with some issues, it often gets trotted out as the answer to everything which it isn't.