Thoracic Spine Pain

Thoracic spine pain is pain originating from the base of the neck to the lower back. The 3 most common causes of thoracic spine pain are herniated discs, facet joint arthritis and vertebral body fractures. To learn more about thoracic spine pain read more below.

Thoracic spine pain has two major (disc and facet joint injuries) and three minor causes (fracture, infection and tumors). Roughly 85% of chronic thoracic spine pain comes from disc injuries. Discogenic pain originates from inflammation within the posterior annular tear of an injured spinal disc. Disc injuries that can cause pain include disc bulge, disc herniation, slipped disc, disc protrusion, disc extrusion, disc prolapse, spondylosis and degenerative disc disease. Old trauma is the cause of most symptomatic disc injuries. Some disc injuries also cause pain to radiate around the ribs. Painful disc injuries have been underdiagnosed by most doctors who cannot identify the source of pain. Deuk Spine Institute was one of the first in the world to identify the injured disc as a major cause of spine pain. Deuk Spine Institute pioneered the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® to cure discogenic pain.

A healthcare professional examining a patient's upper back where the thoracic spine is located, the patient's back is highlighted by a pink glow indicating pain or discomfort.

Thoracic Spine Discogenic Pain

The most common cause of back pain, neck pain and thoracic spine pain is an injured spinal disc. Thoracic spine disc injuries account for 85% of chronic thoracic spine pain. Discogenic pain is pain originating from the disc. It turns out annular tears can be very painful when they are inflamed. Remember how tender pimples can be? Redness, pain and swelling all come from inflammation, your bodies way of fighting off foreign invaders trying to enter your body. Only problem is that the disc is not a foreign invader but part of yourself. So why does your body’s inflammatory system attack the annular tear? To heal the tear. Problem is that the herniation is stuck there and will not go away. Your body sends the inflammatory system in to clean up the herniation. Unfortunately, all that happens is a lot of inflammation, pain and swelling which then puts pressure on the nearby nerve root causing radiculopathy.

igital illustration of a thoracic spine showing discogenic pain with a focus on a herniated disc

What causes Thoracic Spine Discogenic Pain?

Thoracic Deuk Laser Disc Repair®

Removing the source of inflammation in the posterior annular tear, the interposed herniated nucleus pulposus, should eliminate annular inflammation and thoracic spine pain. Deuk Spine Institute was the first to prove this in 2008 when we discovered that laser energy applied to the posterior annular tear and interposed herniated nucleus pulposus cured back and neck pain completely, immediately and permanently in patients undergoing the Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. In this revolutionary new procedure, the Holmium YAG laser was used to surgically debride the inflamed edges of the painful posterior annular tear, remove interposed herniated nucleus pulposus and scar tissue stuck in the tear and shrink the annular tear so it would heal faster. Remarkably, the surgery worked.

Laser energy debriding the annular tear in the thoracic spine during Deuk Laser Disc Repair surgery.

How Deuk Laser Disc Repair® can cure Thoracic Spine Discogenic Pain?

A detailed medical illustration showing a model of the thoracic spine highlighting areas affected by facetogenic pain, which are marked in red on the facet joints.

What causes Thoracic Spine Facetogenic Pain ?

Animation showcasing deuk plasma wond burning the nerves completely to cure pain.

How Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® can cure Thoracic Spine Facetogenic Pain?

A picture of a doctor diagnosing a patients thoracic spine pain.

Accurately Diagnose the Cause of Chronic Back Pain

Deuk Spine Institute specializes in accurately diagnosing the sources of chronic back pain so you can learn exactly what is causing your back pain. Our Free MRI Review includes a videoconference where our spine specialist will virtually examine you and with the help of your MRI scan, diagnose your actual back “pain generators”. Pain generators are the specific joints, muscles and nerves causing your pain.