You're welcome, I'm happy to help! I actually just had my second physio session on Thursday so I've got more info!
She said that she's happy for me to self-manage with the exercises they've given me and that I only need to go back if it gets worse. She also said this time that I should get a foam roller to use on my upper back and showed me how to use it, and I felt much looser in my upper back after like a minute or two of using it, so I've got one of those on its way.
Basically, the exercises I were told to do were as follows, and try to do two sets per day:
*Sitting upright with good posture, squeeze your shoulders together. Try to draw the shoulder blades down your back as well as squeezing them inwards. Hold for 5 seconds then release. Repeat 10 times. *On hands and knees with hands shoulder-width apart and knees hip-width apart. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and try to draw them down your back, as in the exercise above. Hold for 5 seconds then release. Repeat 10 times. *On hands and knees with hands shoulder-width apart and knees hip-width apart. Keep your back in a neutral position, so it has that natural curve. Then inhale and arch your back - but you're only looking to raise your upper back and not the lower back. Keep your lower back flat. So it's similar to cat pose in yoga but you need to keep your lower back flat, more like in cow pose. Hold for 5 seconds, (push into the floor with your arms to really get the stretch) then release and arch your back and squeeze your shoulder blades. You're looking for similar to cow pose but draw your shoulder blades back. Hold this for 5 seconds. Repeat the two moves one after the other 10 times. *Lie face-down and flat (this was good on the physio bed because there was a hole for your face, but doing it on the floor or the bed works, whichever is comfortable). Position your hands either side of your head in this sort of position and then raise them up off the bed/floor a few inches to engage those muscles between your shoulder blades. Squeeze and hold for 5 seconds and release. Repeat 10 times.
It really sounds like you've got the same thing that I've got, so these exercises should help you, but be careful with them. I feel a little sore after doing the sets, but it goes away shortly after. I had one day where I hadn't had a chance to do my morning set, so I did a double set in the evening and was pretty sore after that, and my physio said to steer clear of doing that, as there's no need to put unnecessary strain on the muscle. Obviously, once you start getting 'good' at the exercises, you can hold them for longer/do more reps I guess. You're looking to build up the strength in those smaller muscles in the middle, rather than relying on the larger muscles at the top.
Also, a foam roller would probably be a good shout (though I haven't used one for any longer than those couple of minutes yet) and this video is helpful for how you should be doing it.
Let me know if you need any of that clarifying. Hopefully the exercises help you :)
