In case your upper back has been disturbing you and you don’t know the reason why, think about having your doctor look at it for diagnosis and treatment. If are suffering from osteoporosis or heart disease or if you've constant an injury to your back, you undeniably need to be under a doctor's care.

If your back hurts as a consequence of a mechanical problem, such as strain, underuse or poor posture, here are a few things you can do on your own:

Handle the pain yourself. A minute of self-massage each hour in the problem area of your upper back should help provide relief for muscle spasm, says Morris Mellion, M.D., past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and medical director of the Sports Medicine Center in Omaha, Nebraska. "Deep massage over the most exquisitely tender spot should produce results a short time later," he says. Simply reach across with your hand to the opposite shoulder and rub.

Get the knead you need. Kindly kneading the trapezius muscle relieves pain by stretching the area and increasing circulation, says Patrice Morency, licensed massage therapist and sports injury management specialist in Portland, Oregon, who works with Olympic hopefuls. Ask for a friend or spouse help first to knead the muscles on the left and then the right side of your upper back with the palms of their hands. They should press repetitively and gently in the same way a cat kneads with its paws.

Elbow away pain. One more soothing massage technique for upper back pain employs the use of someone's elbow. Just have your assistant press the point of their elbow gently into your trapezius muscle for between 15 and 30 seconds. Let loose, and then repeat, says Morency. Pressing on the area slows the blood supply briefly and releasing it floods the area with blood and oxygen, often allowing a muscle in spasm to relax, she explains.

Seek a sports bra. Women with large breasts may undergo immediate relief from upper back pain after discarding their everyday bras and choosing a sports bra that has better support, says Karl B. Fields, M.D., associate professor of family practice and director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Hold your head up. While reading at your desk, instead of bringing your eyes and head to your paper, try bringing your paper to your eyes. "People are constantly using poor body mechanics when they read," says Hubert Rosomoff, M.D., D.Med.Sc., medical director of the University of Miami Comprehensive Pain and Rehabilitation Center in Miami Beach. "Instead of holding their heads erect, they tend to scrunch their heads and necks forward on their shoulders."

Hold the phone. Sooner than propping the phone between your head and shoulder, which can strain the muscles in your upper back, hold the phone in your hand. Or better yet, buy a headset or speaker phone, says Dr. Rosomoff.

Improve your posture. Incorrect posture eliminates the natural, weight-supporting S curve of your back, frequently weakening the muscles of the upper back and making them susceptible to strain, says Fred Allman, Jr., M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and director of the Atlanta Sports Medicine Clinic. And on the contrary, healthy posture: chest out, stomach in, buttocks tucked under, restores that S, making it easier on the muscles of your upper back. In case you frequently suffer from upper back pain, ask your doctor to evaluate your posture and, if appropriate, to recommend someone who can teach you exercises that will restore your posture.

Train your upper back. You never know when you're going to put out your upper back or experience a whiplash injury. However, if your upper back and neck muscles are strong, you're less probably to undergo a severe pull or tear in that area. "If those muscles support you, then part of that pressure is absorbed by the muscle and not by the bone or the ligaments or the other tissues," says Dr. Fields. You can strengthen your upper back with this plain exercise: hold a can of soup in each hand, keeping your arms straight by your side, lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears for a two counts, then pull the shoulders back, pinching your shoulder blades together. Then rest and repeat 8 to 12 times.