Upper Left Back Pain – Main Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Upper left back pains have been one of the most common reasons of bodily discomfort among individuals. While there are a lot of reasons that may cause this pain, leaving it untreated can adversely affect the health of the individual in the long run. But to come up with effective treatment, it is necessary to determine the cause of the pain.

Main causes contributing to upper left back pain

There are a lot of reasons that can bring in upper left back pain in an individual. The main reasons can be classified into three categories. That include:

Injuries

  1. Multiple types of injuries can bring in a back pain in the upper left part of the body.
  2. When you have fractured ribs, bones or vertebrae affected in the left side.
  3. Injuries in muscles, soft tissues or ligaments on the left side of the body. In such cases, the pain is radiated to the left portion of the neck, the shoulder joint, upper back as well as the middle portion of the left side.
  4. If you are an athlete then sports injuries can be a pertinent cause.
  5. Any kinds of wounds, cuts and abrasions in the upper left region of the back.

Musculoskeletal causes

  1. Muscle and joint causes including wrong posture of the body, movement or wrong ways of body twists or lifts.
  2. Sudden pull or strain brought in due to the sudden lift of heavy weights, uncommon movements, stretching beyond the normal levels or overuse of gym equipment. 
  3. Spinal vertebrae disorder that includes protrusion of the inter-vertebral discs and nervous compression.
  4. Conditions related to chronic muscle pains such as myofascial pains or fibromyalgia.
  5. Conditions affecting the ribs or a joint disorder such as conditions of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or associated pain in the upper left portions of the body.

Nervous conditions

  1. Nervous conditions such as pinched nerves in the spinal cord can be one of the prominent causes of radicular pain on the upper left portions of the back region.
  2. Strokes that can bring in weakness, numbness or acute pain on the left back regions.
  3. Spasms or tension built up in the muscles of the upper back portion.
  4. Infections such as shingles that bring in adverse affects to the nerves in the upper left back.

Other Causes

  1. Respiratory conditions including lung infection, cough or fever.
  2. Skin conditions including boils, stings, abscess or insect bites in the subcutaneous tissue layers.
  3. Gastrointestinal issues including indigestion, bloats, peptic ulcers, pancreatitis, etc.
  4. Urinary conditions, menstrual cramps in women, cardiac conditions and some kinds of infection can also induce upper left back pains.