Back pain in the shoulder blades has been reported by both older and younger people. Pain in the interlobal area does not indicate any specific disease, but is a manifestation of many abnormalities in the work of organs located outside the area of concentration of pain.
If the back hurts in the area of the shoulder blades, then the probable pretext for pain may be muscles, nerves, facet joints, ligaments, pathological changes in internal organs, the consequences of blows and injuries and more.
The nature of pain
In medical practice, the patient's rational description of his low back pain is of great importance. Pain between the shoulder blades is a symptom of a number of diseases or pathologies, it is possible to determine the cause of the appearance with an accurate description of its nature, its type, frequency of occurrence and disappearance. Properly diagnosed will eliminate the burning sensation in the back, shoulder pain, the causes will be determined with the help of a doctor and diseases will be prevented in the future.
The nature of the back pain syndrome is:
- chronic - mild pain is typical, bothers for a long time, practically does not stop;
- acute - specific pain, suddenly striking and subsiding, much stronger than chronic.
When the back hurts in the shoulder blades, the localization of painful sensations occurs in different places. This gives grounds to classify shoulder pain into three types:
- pain under the shoulder blades (right or left);
- pain between the shoulder blades;
- pain in the shoulder blade on the right or left.
The back hurts under the shoulder blades
The causes of pain may have absolutely nothing to do with the spine. If a person has back pain under the shoulder blades, then a number of concomitant signs, without examinations and tests, it can be assumed that there are typical common diseases.
Pathologies causing pain under the left shoulder blade:
- Stomach ulcer. It is characterized by regular, increasing pain, weight loss or disappearance after vomiting. The sensations of pain in the epigastrium are localized, but penetrate the left shoulder blade.
- Psychological problems. They cause barely noticeable or sharp sensations of heaviness, congestion in the chest, numbness in the heart, compression in the chest. There are cases when such symptoms catch the area of the neck spread under the left shoulder blade.
What causes pain under the right shoulder blade
The way a symptom manifests itself determines the causes.
The list of causes for pain under the right shoulder blade is extensive. Examples of the most common:
- Dull, constantly disturbing, constant pain on the right side of the back can be caused by the usual muscle spasm due to prolonged uncomfortable posture of the body or associated with internal organs: kidneys, pancreas, gallbladder. In most cases, the pain appears unexpectedly, with a sharp turn of the head, sneezing, coughing.
- Acute, stabbing pain, acute or increasing, located on the right side of the heart or in the interscapular space, may be the result of disease of internal organs and is not related to the spine. Many body systems due to deviations from the norms of functioning cause pain under the right shoulder blade - cardiovascular, excretory, digestive and others.
- Pulling and cutting pain under the right shoulder blade makes you think about the appearance of diseases of the musculoskeletal system: chondrosis, osteochondrosis, spondylosis and others. This type of pain can be caused by neuralgia when pinching nerve roots. The causes of such painful sensations may be oncological tumors, not often, but such phenomena are present in medical practice.
- The patient has pain in the muscles of the back under the shoulder blades, then you need to consider diseases of the respiratory system. Pain under the shoulder blades can be caused either by muscle overload in this area or by the chest.
- Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. It often provokes unilateral painful, dull pains that are concentrated below the occiput. Their peculiarity is that they appear in the morning, pulling the patient to sleep. The pain syndrome is especially strong in sharp bending - lengthening the neck. Exposure to heat on the painful surface (hot tub) suppresses the pain. Patients respond to this pathology by complaining of pain under the shoulders, flow of pain in the arm or head.
Causes of pain between the shoulder blades
Intercostal neuralgia is manifested by shooting pain in the waist. On deep inhalation, a sharp turn of the body, on palpation of the inflamed area between the ribs, the pain increases.
Lung diseases are accompanied by pain between the shoulder blades when inhaling, with deep breathing the pain intensifies, there is fever, cough.
In case of aggravation of the pain with shallow breath, more often given under the right shoulder blade, there may be a diaphragmatic abscess.
When the usual tilt of the head causes pain between the shoulder blades, it is associated with an inflammatory process in the muscles of the shoulder blades, as well as damage to their tendons and ligaments.
Pain between the shoulder blades sometimes occurs when swallowing, its origin is caused by diseases of the esophagus (inflammation or ulcer); inflammatory processes in the organs located between the two lungs; damage to the diaphragm.
Burning sensation between the shoulder blades causes attacks of renal and biliary colic, osteochondrosis of the cervical or thoracic spine and reflux esophagitis.
Pain in the shoulder blade on the right and left
The reason lies in getting hit in the shoulder blade or falling on it. An awkward fall on the arm or elbow will result in a shoulder blade fracture. Trauma causes severe pain syndrome, the intensity of pain increases with the movement of the arms. Swelling develops.
Pterygoid scapula. It occurs as a result of muscle paralysis - trapezoidal, diamond-shaped, anterior dentate, or is the result of multiple bruises in the forearm, damage to the long thoracic nerve.
Shoulder crunch - crunch in the shoulder joint.
Methods of treatment
At the beginning of treatment you should determine the condition of the lungs and heart. The cardiologist and therapist will most likely prescribe an ECG or ultrasound procedure. After consulting a specialist, you can safely not consider these organs as causes of pain between the shoulder blades.
When the pain occurs when the spine is moving near the shoulder blade, the cause is usually sought in the back. The pain is sometimes so severe that it can be confused with the symptoms of panic attacks.
The usual X-ray in the diagnosis of the spine is often not enough, the full picture is given by MRI of the chest area. At this stage of clarifying the diagnosis, a consultation with a vertebrologist is necessary.
It is possible to get rid of pain in the right shoulder blade by treatment only when the reasons for its occurrence are clarified. When this pain is associated with diseases of the internal organs, it is necessary to treat. Which doctor will treat depends on the specific organ. The pain under the right shoulder blade will disappear by itself when the treatment of the affected internal organ is successful.
If there is a link between pain in the right back and in the interdulobular area with diseases of the spine, then medical care will be directed to the source of inflammation. Analgesics, chondroprotectors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids are used to eliminate the inflammatory process.
Dull pain that does not go away for a long time as a result of muscle spasm or neuralgia is effectively treated with warming ointments with analgesic effect. Patches are also used that provide a warming and analgesic effect.
Prevention
The back in the area of the shoulders will not hurt if a person moves a lot and follows a healthy lifestyle. The movements provide an even load on the muscles, proper weight lifting, massage sessions and various types of physiotherapy. Sport is the best preventive measure.
It is recommended to beware of currents, hypothermia. And most importantly - follow a proper diet.