Do you experience recurring headaches, tightness in between the shoulder blades while sitting at the desk, or feel tight and sore from being in the garden for a couple of hours?

Your thoracic spine, one of the most overlooked areas of your spine, might be contributing to your symptoms.

Your thoracic spine is the longest part of the spine, and has many structures which can tighten up which may effect how we move, stabilize and most importantly, breathe!!

Imagine you are sitting at the computer, all morning. You start with an excellent, upright posture, back straight and head tall. Over the first hour you start to slouch a little, and by lunchtime, your muscles are so fatigued you are totally slouched, with your chin poking forwards and head tilting up to look at the monitor. Sound familiar?

In this position, you end up compressing the joints and muscles in the upper part of the neck, which in turn can lead to referred headaches!!

Don’t despair, we have 3 easy tips to help keep you moving and comfortable throughout the day.

1/ Bow and arrow stretches which can be done sitting in the chair. You don’t even have to get up!

2/ Side stretches – again sitting in the chair!

3/ Rolling over a tennis ball, spiky ball or foam roller.

Please seek advice from a physiotherapist who is experienced in assessing and managing problems in this area if you are unsure about exactly what to do!

Of course, these are 3 easy mobility exercises to perform and incorporate into your day. Like all parts of the body, there are many more stretches you can do depending on your exact presentation.