“What does it mean when your mid back hurts?”

Please see a Neurologist, you may need an MRI of your back.

Pain in the mid-back area could mean 100 different things. It depends on exact location of the pain, quality of the pain, frequency of the pain, what makes the pain better, what makes the pain worse, etc, etc. You have to be seen by an orthopaedic surgeon for proper history and physical and then a treatment plan can be created to improve or resolve it.

Back pain can be associated with many diagnoses. My advice is to speak with your primary care physician who will then examine you and determine what possible causes exist and then may refer you to a specialist.

There are several causes for mid back pain such as osteoarthritis of the spine, paraspinal muscle strain, disc herniation. With disc herniation patient usually has numbness and tingling or weakness of the lower extremities, i.e., legs. The most common cause of back pain is muscle strain when the patient perform any heavy lifting, pulling or pushing. Usually, the muscle strain is improving with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication such as Motrin or Advil, exercise and physical therapy. The muscle pain caused by osteoarthritis condition is also relieved by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, exercise, stretching, and physical therapy. However, with arthritis condition also, low back pain will reoccur periodically. Simple X-rays of the lumbar spine can detect also arthritic change of the lumbar spine. An MRI of the lumbar spine usually ordered to detect the disc herniation. Meanwhile, you should avoid any heavy lifting pulling or pushing. I hope that you will feel better. If your back continue to bother you, I would recommend you to see the orthopedic surgeon for further testing. Rarely, some autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis can also cause chronic back pain.