Glad it's helpful, loreta 
I've heard that there are ways that compensation measures to support lower back pain can impact higher up, so am not surprised that you ended up with upper back pain! I was told that part of my problem is that since I have lower back problems, I over use upper back with bending, twisting and lifting. Happy that you have found some relief!
Here are some of the thoracic extension and scapular stabilization exercises I've been given. There are probably more advanced exercises to come later but these are the starting ones. Some cover both as the shoulder blades are used to push against the ribs in the thoracic spine. Some are particular to my thoracic misalignments and may not be suitable for all. The rule of thumb that my chiro gives is that if the discomfort level during these exercises is above a 5, don't hold the position or do the stretch for too long. As things stretch and relax, it becomes easier and more comfortable to hold the positions for longer. Going gently in the beginning is to prevent triggering sympathetic arousal that might work against the goal of the stretch by moving the spine back into a sympathetic dominant posture.
As mentioned in the above, the tendency is to want to drop the head down during this stretch, but keeping it level helps to reengage and work the muscles as highlighted in this slide from the article in the last post.
In the following, the towel was too big for me to start with so the chiro suggested I cut 30cms off a pool noodle and use that instead. For my misalignment, the pool noodle was placed under upper thoracic. I really like this stretch and the days when I miss it are apparent for their increased discomfort through thoracic spine. I can stay on the noodle easily and comfortably for 20mins now and will be moving up to the towel soon. This exercise also allows for comfortable and supported extension of the neck.
After gaining more mobility through my neck and thoracic spine using the above and the chiropractic adjustments, the following exercise. I can't find a video that shows it as the chiro has described it but the basic exercise is the cat/camel with some additions to it to increase the movement through the thoracic spine and engage the shoulder blades more that I'll try to describe. Chiro described it as both stabilising the shoulder blades and using them to put pressure on the ribs on either side of the spine which in turn helps with working through the thoracic spine.
Instead of placing hands on the ground, get on your knees next to a bed or couch and place elbows and forehead on the edge. Then bend elbows and place palms on your upper back at the base of your neck either side of your spine. Hold the cat, camel and neutral positions for a count of 5 and for 5 reps stretching into them as far as you can comfortably go. You can deepen the stretch and add some gentle traction to it by pushing your backside towards your feet in the cat portion of stretch.
The next grade up is done with elbows straight and arms out in front on the couch or bed while forehead is left resting on the edge.
Finally, shoulder blade squeeze exercises.
I've heard that there are ways that compensation measures to support lower back pain can impact higher up, so am not surprised that you ended up with upper back pain! I was told that part of my problem is that since I have lower back problems, I over use upper back with bending, twisting and lifting. Happy that you have found some relief!Here are some of the thoracic extension and scapular stabilization exercises I've been given. There are probably more advanced exercises to come later but these are the starting ones. Some cover both as the shoulder blades are used to push against the ribs in the thoracic spine. Some are particular to my thoracic misalignments and may not be suitable for all. The rule of thumb that my chiro gives is that if the discomfort level during these exercises is above a 5, don't hold the position or do the stretch for too long. As things stretch and relax, it becomes easier and more comfortable to hold the positions for longer. Going gently in the beginning is to prevent triggering sympathetic arousal that might work against the goal of the stretch by moving the spine back into a sympathetic dominant posture.
As mentioned in the above, the tendency is to want to drop the head down during this stretch, but keeping it level helps to reengage and work the muscles as highlighted in this slide from the article in the last post.
In the following, the towel was too big for me to start with so the chiro suggested I cut 30cms off a pool noodle and use that instead. For my misalignment, the pool noodle was placed under upper thoracic. I really like this stretch and the days when I miss it are apparent for their increased discomfort through thoracic spine. I can stay on the noodle easily and comfortably for 20mins now and will be moving up to the towel soon. This exercise also allows for comfortable and supported extension of the neck.
After gaining more mobility through my neck and thoracic spine using the above and the chiropractic adjustments, the following exercise. I can't find a video that shows it as the chiro has described it but the basic exercise is the cat/camel with some additions to it to increase the movement through the thoracic spine and engage the shoulder blades more that I'll try to describe. Chiro described it as both stabilising the shoulder blades and using them to put pressure on the ribs on either side of the spine which in turn helps with working through the thoracic spine.
Instead of placing hands on the ground, get on your knees next to a bed or couch and place elbows and forehead on the edge. Then bend elbows and place palms on your upper back at the base of your neck either side of your spine. Hold the cat, camel and neutral positions for a count of 5 and for 5 reps stretching into them as far as you can comfortably go. You can deepen the stretch and add some gentle traction to it by pushing your backside towards your feet in the cat portion of stretch.
The next grade up is done with elbows straight and arms out in front on the couch or bed while forehead is left resting on the edge.
Finally, shoulder blade squeeze exercises.
