Back pain in the shoulder blades: causes, diagnosis, full description of the problem

Many people experience back pain during their lifetime. They can be localized in different areas for different reasons. If someone has back pain in the area of the shoulder blades, this symptom should not be ignored.

However, it is important to understand here that a momentary pain that quickly passed and no longer makes itself felt is not a cause for concern. On the contrary, anxiety is caused by systematic pain, regardless of their intensity and nature. Consider the causes and methods of diagnosing pain, let's talk about its nature and ways to get rid of it.

The nature of pain

Pain is not an independent disease, but only a symptom. The appearance of back pain can be caused by many factors, starting from pain after sleeping in an uncomfortable position to serious pathological processes in the body.

In order to understand why the back hurts between the shoulder blades, it is important to find out the cause of the pain. But first, it is worth considering another significant question about the nature of painful sensations, which will help determine the main cause of the symptom.

So, doctors distinguish the following degrees of pain according to their nature:

• Acute- different sudden action, but always very intense. Regardless of whether the back hurts below, above or between the shoulder blades, the pain occurs spontaneously. At the same time, a certain feeling of being "shot through" occurs, the person may scream, jerk his whole body, bend sharply. Such a reflex reaction is not only caused by the suddenness and intensity of the painful sensation, we instinctively try to avoid unpleasant sensations.
• Boring- fundamentally different from the previous paragraph. It develops gradually and haunts the patient for a long time. Dull pain is characterized by monotony and variable intensity. In some cases, the painful sensation is so intense that it prevents a person not only from moving or performing any action, but even from sleeping. Dull pains indicate muscle problems or depend on pathologies affecting tendons or ligaments. It intensifies during movement or physical exertion, and is localized on both sides (in the region of both shoulder blades).
• sharp- not much different from strong, but still has certain characteristics. Sharp pain, as the name suggests, appears suddenly, but varies in intensity. It can be a strong, sudden onset of lumbago, which causes the reflex actions described earlier. But in some cases, sharp pains are quite weak, although they cause a lot of discomfort. It often appears when performing any action, lifting weights, awkward movements, etc.
• thrust- rather, it is not about the nature, but about the characteristics of the painful sensations that appear depending on a specific disease. Stitching pains are spontaneous and wavy, cyclical. They often radiate in the back, below the shoulder blades, for example, giving the lower back the level of the sacrum. Feeling a strong stabbing pain, patients say that a knife or needle is stuck in a certain place.
• Sore- a type of dull pain. Such painful sensations are characterized by permanence and duration. The aching pain debilitates and follows a person everywhere, regardless of his actions, even in the absence of movement or physical exertion. Aching pains localized in the spine between the shoulder blades radiate to the chest area, patients have the feeling that their heart hurts, although they do not have heart diseases. Aching pains are also characterized by cyclicity, they are constantly present, but their habit is to change in intensity.
• Pulling- this type of pain is characteristic of bone, muscle and ligament structures. The peculiarity of the pain is related to the name, patients have a feeling that someone or something is pulling a muscle or bone at the location of the discomfort. Strong, pulling pain causes a lot of discomfort, hinders movement, and often radiates to nearby areas.
• Burning or burning pain- a rather rare type of pain commonly known as "backburn". Such sensations are characteristic of some forms and stages of osteochondrosis, and also damage the back with ischemic pathologies of the heart. In the second case, the pain manifesting in the area of the shoulder blades radiates;
• strong or weak- this indicator is the key and most controversial for all doctors. If your back hurts a lot, it causes maximum discomfort, exhausts you, and makes you incapacitated. Weak pains are easier to bear and do not complicate life as much, but in most cases they are the most prolonged and difficult to treat. Subjective indicators of the intensity of painful feelings exist because each person has a different sensitivity to pain and a different pain threshold. In such cases, it is worth paying attention to where it hurts, in the middle, closer to the left or right shoulder blade.

We must not forget that it is impossible to make an accurate diagnosis based only on the nature of the pain. Moreover, even the concept of "character" is subjective, since each person has an individual sensitivity threshold, and even the same disease can be accompanied by different symptoms.

In addition, the pain of various pathological processes is often accompanied by other symptoms. Now we will examine what clinical symptoms may be present in addition to pain:

• He went numb back- clinical symptoms suggestive of neurological disorders. It is often observed in the case of intercostal neuralgia, osteochondrosis of the chest region, spondyloarthrosis.
• It freezes back- Another symptom of many neurological diseases, which is accompanied by painful sensations. According to medical reference books, such a clinical symptom lies in only two pathologies. In the first case, we are talking about damage to the nerve roots of the spinal cord, in the second case, the symptom is related to an inflammatory disease, pyelonephritis.
• An increase in body temperature- in case of inflammation of the internal organs, the pain is sometimes accompanied by pain between the shoulder blades. Most of these symptoms indicate pneumonia or tuberculosis.
• In some cases, it is accompanied by pain in the shoulder blade regionnausea, but such a clinical symptom usually occurs with very strong painful sensations.

In the vast majority of cases, pain between the shoulder blades indicates diseases of the spine. However, there is always the possibility that painful sensations radiate due to the development of other pathologies, for example, due to diseases of internal organs, of which pathologies of the heart and lungs are the most likely.

Why does the back hurt in the area of the shoulder blades?

Even if we take into account the many characters of back pain in the region of the shoulder blades, it is impossible to make an accurate diagnosis based on this symptom alone. At the same time, in order to completely get rid of the pain and not temporarily relieve them with painkillers, it is necessary to find the real reason for their appearance.

To understand why there are back pains in the area of the shoulder blades, it is necessary to highlight the main reasons for their occurrence:

• Mechanical damage to the spineespecially in the neck or chest region. This doesn't just apply to recent injuries, including bruises, dislocations, sprains and fractures. Old injuries can remind themselves years later or lead to the development of other pathologies in which the spine hurts between the shoulder blades.
• Osteochondrosis- one of the most common causes of pain in different parts of the back. Of course, when it comes to pain in the shoulder blades, it means osteochondrosis of the cervical or thoracic region, that is, the upper part of the back.
• Disturbance of posture, that is, any pathology that can lead to curvature of the spine. First of all, it lies in the various manifestations of scoliosis, but curvature can occur even due to banal flat feet. The most severe forms of spinal curvature are kyphosis and kyphoscoliosis;
• Disc herniationit also provokes the development of pain in the thoracic spine. At the same time, the pain intensifies with movements, and the pathological process itself is dangerous by pinching the nerves, and the clinical picture is accompanied by neurological symptoms.
• Periarthrosis of the shoulder or scapula joint- a disease of the locomotor system, characterized by the inflammatory process of the periarticular tissues. The pathology is accompanied by symptoms of acute pain in the scapula and upper limbs, significantly hindering the movement of the hand.
• Intercostal neuralgia- the pathological process is caused by disorders of neurological origin, pinching of nerves in the region of the ribs (chest). At the same time, the pains are belt-like and affect the shoulder blades.

• Migrating or radiating pain in the area of the shoulder blades is commonpathologies of the heartbetween which ischemia and myocardial infarction are often distinguished. In this case, the pain "radiates" from the heart to the back.
• Pregnancy- Another cause of back pain, including pain between the shoulder blades. The appearance of painful sensations is explained by the growth of the fetus, in which the center of gravity shifts and the load on all parts of the spine increases. Usually, the pain appears closer to the third trimester, when the fetus reaches a large size.
• Pain may occurafter vaccinationunder the shoulder bladeThis area is very convenient for injection, and the fact that the vaccine is administered at the same time only increases the pain syndrome, which lasts for 1-2 days.

It is difficult to distinguish all the causes of pain between the shoulder blades, since there are so many. This list contains only the main ones. As for the less common causes, most of them are signs of other diseases. We are talking about diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, liver, and kidneys, in these cases the pain radiates.

We must not forget that there are pains that are associated with strong physical exertion. They can be pathological or muscular, in the second case you just need to rest the back muscles, in case of pathological pain it is important to consult a doctor.

Diagnostics

The doctor can only accurately determine the causes of the pain and make a diagnosis based on the acquisition of diagnostic data. Diagnostics involves a number of procedures for a variety of reasons, of which the following are the most sought after:

• First examination and history taking- the doctor asks the patient about the localization, frequency, nature and intensity of painful sensations. This is followed by examination of the patient by palpation of indicated painful areas and functional diagnostics, including hand movements, inclinations, etc.
• Radiography- if someone suffers from pain in the spine below, above or in the middle of the shoulder blades, the easiest way to identify the cause is with an X-ray. This test method enables determination of the shape of the vertebrae and intervertebral discs, curvatures, injuries, etc.
• CT scan- a modern and more informative diagnostic method that provides a more thorough picture in the presence of spinal pathologies.
• Magnetic resonance imaging- this examination method is necessary in cases where X-ray and CT did not provide the necessary information. MRI can detect pathologies affecting the spinal cord and its branches.

If the causes of pain are not identified during the examination of the spine, organs of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, etc. diagnosis of its pathologies is necessary.

What to do if your back hurts between the shoulder blades

If someone feels a sharp pain in the spine between the shoulder blades for a long time, the painful sensations do not go away, or are so strong that they cannot bear it, they should urgently consult a doctor.

The fight against the majority of pathological processes with such symptoms does not tolerate self-treatment, the fight against diseases takes place only under the guidance of a specialist. In addition, it is important to understand that in most cases, doctors use conservative treatment methods.

The basis of treatment is drug therapy:

• The first task is to reduce the intensity of the pain or completely eliminate the back pain. Pain relievers or antispasmodics are prescribed for this.
• The best treatment for various diseases of the musculoskeletal system is drugs belonging to the group of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). It is prescribed in the form of ointments, injections, tablets. Thanks to the ointments, the pain-relieving effect is quickly achieved, in addition, these drugs have an anti-inflammatory effect and allow to reduce the local temperature.
• In certain pathological processes, in order to combat the root cause of pain, group B drugs are prescribed in combination with NSAIDs, which help to normalize the metabolic processes of tissues, improve nerve conduction, and are especially good for neuralgia of osteochondrosis.

If the back hurts under the shoulder blades, in addition to medication, a course of physiotherapy is also required, including the following procedures:

• Electrophoresis.
• Laser therapy.
• Magnetotherapy.
• Ultrasound.

The selection of individual treatment methods is decided together with the doctor. The duration of the therapy depends on the disease itself, the degree of its progression and other factors, but the full course includes at least 10 procedures. Only then can significant improvement be observed.

In order to cope with the problem even more efficiently and quickly, the complex of therapeutic measures is supplemented with a massage treatment. This should be done by an experienced professional. This procedure helps with shoulder blade injuries and most back ailments. However, massages are recommended in the presence of positive dynamics of medication and physiotherapy. The course normalizes blood circulation, accelerates metabolism, reduces pain, restores muscle tone and flexibility.

After that, the massages are replaced by physiotherapy exercises, which make it possible to consolidate the progress of healing and prevent the further development of back diseases. The patient performs exercises with less physical strain, the main focus is on stretching the muscles and keeping them in good shape. Here it is important to note that the intensity of the exercises gradually increases, the patient should not experience any discomfort. A systematic approach is also very important, but if you feel pain in your back below the shoulder blades again, seek the advice of a physiotherapist.

Prevention

The back hurts under or between the shoulder blades - this feeling is very unpleasant, especially if it is associated with the development of any pathological process. To protect against back diseases and back pain, follow these simple preventive recommendations:

• Always keep physical activity in check, whether it's heavy sports or hard physical work at work. You can't lift too much weight, it puts too much strain on your back.
• If heavy lifting is unavoidable, do it right. Only lift weights with a straight back.
• Maintain an active lifestyle and exercise to maintain your back muscles. It is most useful to do daily exercises, swimming and hanging on the horizontal bar.
• Try to keep your back straight while sitting, take a break every 1-2 hours, walk or warm up with a series of bends and squats.
• To prevent muscle back pain, osteochondrosis and other diseases, sleep on a flat, hard surface. Buy an orthopedic mattress and pillow that follows the shape of your head and neck.

By following these simple rules, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of developing back diseases and pain. But remember, if the pains appear, do not go away for more than a week, or become too strong, it is imperative to consult a doctor. Timely diagnosis and the start of treatment can minimize the damage to the body and overcome the disease faster.