Mid back pain and stiffness

[ramagu]

This is a problem that has been worrying me for a while (2 years). I have a constant stiffness and pain in my mid back. I have tried different specialists, general practice doctors, pshysiotherapists, acupuncture, massage....they all seem to help momentarily. But after a couple of days the symptoms are back. They include stiffness, a dull pain and a lot of cracking.  I have developed this "tic" of cracking my own back by bending downwards, laterally and by stretching my neck upwards. I feel this is not right but I do it since after this serious cracking I feel some relief for some time.
I do exercise frequently being careful of not hurting myself and focusing on my back most of all.However nothing works. I just would like to know what's wrong with my back or what scientific studies to carry out to know what's going on. Doctors dont seem to be interested in taking even x-rays just to be sure.

Thanks

[bali36]

very clear help. thanks will try

[mike1105]

it sounds to me like you have a weak mid-back/possibly coupled with tight forward neck muscles (scalenes, SCMs) and tight pec muscles. This comes from rounded posture. I have the exact same problem. To fix this, you need to stretch the neck and chest muscles, and do trigger point work on them (myofascial release-- get a book on this by clair davies). You also need to strengthen the mid back muscles with exercises that pinch the shoulder blades together.Most likely it is weakness in the rhomboids, posterior scapular stabilizers and the longitudinal muscles of the spine.  bit of exercise here and there will NOT do the trick. You'll need to focus an hour or 2 per day on the problem for a month or more-- at least this was the case for me. Most likely there is nothing wrong with your spine. thoracic herniations/nerve impingements are very rare. The long term trick is to have good posture ALL THE TIME--- get your head over your spine and KEEP IT THERE. see Jolie Bookspan's website...