Symptom checker
Upper and Mid Back Pain Symptom Checker
The mid back is the least common part of the spine to cause trouble, which is exactly why pain there is worth characterising properly rather than assuming it is muscular. Pain that wraps around the chest wall in a band, or that comes with any leg symptoms, is described differently from a simple ache between the shoulder blades, and this checker separates them.
Free symptom checker, built by spine surgeons
Answer questions about your symptoms and add your MRI, CT or X-ray report if you have one. You get a written summary of what your answers point toward, and what to ask about next.
Start the free assessmentWhat the assessment asks you
- Whether the pain stays central or wraps around the ribs toward the front.
- Whether it changes with deep breathing, coughing or twisting.
- Any numbness, weakness or heaviness in the legs.
- Any change in balance or walking.
- Whether it started after a fall, and your bone health history.
Conditions this can point to
Each guide below is written by a spine surgeon and sets out what the condition is, how it is assessed, and the warning signs it carries.
- Mid-Back
Thoracic Back Pain
Pain in the mid-back region between the shoulder blades and the bottom of the rib cage, most often mechanical but requiring careful screening for serious causes.
- Mid-Back
Thoracic Disc Herniation
A herniated disc in the mid-back (thoracic spine) that can press against the spinal cord, causing pain, leg weakness, or (in severe cases) bowel and bladder changes.
- Mid-Back
Thoracic Radiculopathy
Irritation or compression of a mid-back nerve root that sends band-like pain wrapping around the chest or abdomen, often mistaken for shingles or a heart problem.
- Mid-Back
Thoracic Stenosis
Narrowing of the spinal canal in the mid-back that compresses the spinal cord, causing progressive leg weakness, balance problems, and sometimes bowel or bladder dysfunction.
- Mid-Back
Thoracic Myelopathy
Compression of the spinal cord in the mid-back (T1–T12) that causes progressive leg weakness, balance problems, and in advanced cases bowel or bladder dysfunction.
- General
Vertebral Compression Fracture
A structural collapse of the vertebral body, most commonly caused by osteoporosis, that produces sudden back pain and, with multiple fractures over time, progressive height loss and spinal deformity.
- General
Inflammatory Spondyloarthropathy as a Spine Mimic
Ankylosing spondylitis and related inflammatory spondyloarthropathies cause deep low back pain and stiffness that is often mistaken for a degenerative disc or joint problem until the inflammatory pattern is recognized.
Common questions
- What causes pain between the shoulder blades?
- Most mid back pain is mechanical, coming from the joints, discs and muscles of the thoracic spine and the rib joints attached to it. The patterns worth flagging are pain that wraps around the chest wall in a band, pain that comes with leg symptoms or balance change, and new pain after a minor fall in someone with thinning bones. Those are described in the guides on this page.
- Is upper back pain a sign of something serious?
- Usually not, but the mid back is the region where the threshold for investigating is lower, because it is an uncommon place for ordinary wear to cause pain. Band-like pain around the ribs with leg symptoms, pain after minor trauma with osteoporosis, unexplained weight loss, or night pain that does not ease with rest are the combinations that warrant assessment rather than waiting.
- Why does my mid back pain wrap around to the front?
- Pain that follows a band from the spine around the chest wall tends to reflect irritation of a thoracic nerve root, which runs that course. It can also come from the rib joints. Because a band-like pattern is a recognised way that thoracic nerve problems present, it is worth describing in those exact terms to a clinician rather than calling it chest pain.
Want to read through the possibilities instead of answering questions? The upper and mid back pain differential guide compares the spinal causes side by side with the conditions that mimic them.
This symptom checker is general education, not medical advice, and it cannot diagnose you. It cannot account for your examination findings or your full history. Use it to prepare for an appointment with a qualified clinician, not to replace one. If you have any of the warning signs listed on this page, seek urgent care now.