Back pains below left shoulder blade
The shoulder joint is actually made up of three joints and one “articulation”, where the head of the humerus (the long bone of the upper arm), meets the articulation with the collarbone and the shoulder blade (scapula). There are 4 main muscles that are involved in keeping the joint together and in the complex movements, whenever the arms are moved. There are of course many other muscles involved, however these 4 muscles play the major role in the integrity of the joint itself. As a group, they comprise the rotator cuff. It is these muscles that are most vulnerable to tears, strains, sprains and inflammatory processes. Where the pain occurs will play an important role in the diagnosis of the condition itself. It is recommended that any individual with shoulder pain be evaluated by their physician. The evaluation will consist of various tests involving the movement of the arm through all range of motion (ROM), and neurological inspection to see if there is any nerve involvement. X-rays and MRI scans may be ordered. The bursa is a small sack of fluid that allows the muscles to glide smoothly as they are flexed or extended. There are two areas where this bursa is located and they can become swollen, inflamed or even infected. In an acute bursitis, the patient generally complains on any movement of the arm, and is generally worse at night, with difficulty in sleeping on the affected side. Pain and tenderness is generally located on the point of the shoulder. An acute bursitis left untreated can develop into a chronic bursitis. Pains that occur along the top of the shoulder, and radiate into the side of the upper arm into the deltoid muscle, and further down the arm, even into the fingers, may be related to nerve impingement (pinched nerve), which can originate in the neck (cervical spine). The pain can be very intense on any movement of the arm and any pressure along the distribution of the nerve pathway. Pains that occur over the shoulder blade (scapula) area can be due to the large muscle (trapezius) and underlying smaller muscles that have gone into spasm. The spasm of the muscles can be brought on by overuse or trauma to the muscle. The muscle will develop a spasm or “trigger point” that often send radiating pains to sites far removed from the trigger points. Pains that occur under the shoulder blade may signal a warning that the pain is not in the shoulder itself, but can be related to a pain from one of the organs in the body. The shoulder where the pain occurs can give the clue which of the organs are affected and causing the radiating pain into the shoulder. Pain under the left shoulder blade can be a signal that there is a problem with the stomach or other abdominal structures (ulcers, pancreatitis, ectopic pregnancy) or in the chest (myocardial infarction [heart attack], pericarditis, pleuritis, pneumonia, pulmonary embolus, aortic dissection). There can of course be many other problems that can affect the shoulders and cause pain of minor or major proportions. Here are just some of those problems that are most apt to affect the shoulder: 1. Rotator cuff syndrome that can either be a strain/sprain, or a tear. Pain in the spine area near the shoulder blade may also occur as a result of primary spine disorders such as degenerative disc disease and osteoporosis.
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