I used to have such trouble with upper back pain when I worked in tech! As a something, I worked long hours in front of a computer with an aspirin bottle next to my keyboard. I eventually learned that a lot of my issues were due to Upper Cross Syndrome, and that massage was an excellent way to dial down neck and shoulder pain.
Tight: Muscles along the black line are super tight and over working: in the front of the body, the Pecs are Short and Tight hint: these are the real key to the issue! Inhibited: Muscles along the blue line are inhibited. That's the neck flexors in the front of the body, and Lower Traps in the back of the body. Limited range of motion, ex. Head forward posture is part of the muscular pattern of the startle response.
Staying engaged in this muscular pattern can cause your nervous system to assume you are perpetually in Fight or Flight, and to release the associated stress hormones. Tech workers who are stationary for long periods on laptops, or at a desk. New moms. Holding a baby in your arms for long periods of time, with head to one side, looking down at them. People with skeletal issues, like extra degrees of curvature in the thoracic spine read: a rounded upper back. Over time, Short and Tight muscles are unable to return to a resting state, which inhibits the muscles responsible for opposing movements.
The pecs act as pulleys - they pull the upper body and neck forward, sometimes with great force, causing muscles on the upper back to stretch all the way to their end range and beyond, and stay there.
So, upper back muscles become overstretched, tight actually taut , and painful. When your chest caves in from tight pecs, your head moves forward of your body. And it takes a lot more strength to keep your head up and your eyes level to the horizon from here. Think: the strength it takes to hold a bowling ball up, with the weight centered over your forearm, versus holding it shifted a few degrees forward. Stabilizing your head becomes more difficult, and your body begins recruiting nearby muscles to help, usually those overstretched upper back muscles - Total overload!
