Often we ignore simple muscle and joint pains. We think these are just signs of exhaustion, and a little rest will be enough to get rid of them. But ignoring these can be very dangerous.
Most of us have experienced shoulder pain, but we push it to the back of our minds, not paying any attention to it. Unfortunately, most of us don’t know that the causes of shoulder pain can be pretty severe. Most of the time, pain under the shoulder blade is not critical.
But we should always check it out to be safe. When we speak about pain under the shoulders, we are mostly talking about the scapulae. These are the triangular-shaped bones that are responsible for the movements of our shoulders.
Causes
There may be numerous reasons that cause sharp pain in the shoulder blade. The cause may be something as simple as a little direct injury to the shoulder or referred pain from various other parts of the body, mostly the abdomen and the chest area.
There are some conditions too which cause pain to only one side of the shoulder. For example, any heart condition is expected to cause pain under the left shoulder blade, whereas gallbladder conditions may cause pain under the right shoulder blade.
Some most common causes responsible for pain under the
1. Related to Heart (Cardiac) and Lungs
Any heart-related condition may also cause pain under your left shoulder blade. Pain that occurs under your left shoulder might also be a symptom of a heart attack.
Any problems related to the
2. Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a condition where the patient’s spine is curved in a ‘C’ or ‘S’ shape. It may be a result of a congenital disability or genetic conditions, or even other nerve conditions.
In this condition, the level of both the shoulder blades is not the same. Therefore, people suffering from this disease show signs of severe pain under the shoulder blade.
3. Muscle Strains
Muscle strains are one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. It is a result of the overuse of our arms and the upper part of our chest. Muscle strains also cause pain in our back muscles too and sometimes we feel mid-back pain on the right side.
But the maximum effect of the tension can be often felt
For example, if a person sleeps for a long time on their right side, they might experience severe pain under their right shoulder blade. Some things that result in muscle strains are heavy weight lifting, working on a computer or laptop for extended periods, severe exercise, poor posture, etcetera.
4. Rotator Cuffs
The rotator cuffs is a term used to refer to the tendons and muscles holding together the bones in the shoulder joints.
If you ever end up tearing the tendons, the muscles are detached from the bone and thus, we suffer pain under the shoulder blade when we try to move our arms. We also suffer severe shoulder pain if the tendons are ever torn.
Any injury to the rotator cuffs also affects the movement of our shoulders. Since most of us have the most
5. Abdominal Causes
Often many intestinal reasons can result in shoulder blade pain. Stones in
Diagnosis
When you go to a doctor regarding your shoulder pain, they would advise you to undergo specific tests to find out if the pain under the shoulders is a symptom of something severe.
These states can diagnose many reasons for your shoulder pain. But only physical tests are not enough for this. Some other vital tests are:
1. Blood Tests
Blood tests are done to find out if you have connective tissue disease. These tests can also help discover if you have the inflammatory form of arthritis or inflammation of the liver. Inflammation of the liver often causes pain under the left shoulder blade.
2. ECG
Heart pain sometimes causes referred pain under the shoulder blades. Women mostly experience this type of pain. If the doctors have the slightest doubt that the heart is the origin of the sharp pain in the
3. PET Scan
The doctors generally recommend a PET scan if you have a history of cancer. Any form of cancer, like lung cancer or other which affects your lungs, often result in pain under the right shoulder blade. These include an MRI of your chest, a CT scan and also an X-Ray of your chest.
4. Endoscopy
This test is done to mainly look at your abdomen, primarily the small intestine and the stomach. This type of analysis uses a tube and sends it down your throat, through your oesophagus, and into your stomach.
The doctor then carefully checks these areas to make sure everything is normal. Since the abdominal cause is another reason for such pains, the doctor might suggest you do an endoscopy.
Treatments
The treatment for the pain under the shoulder blade depends on what causes it. Different treatments are there for various causes. Those treatments are –
- If the reason for the pain is a muscle strain, exercise is a good solution. Physical activities like sit-ups and stretches will help in making your muscles relax so that the pain decreases. Of course, you should never do this without consulting with a doctor first.
- Another cause could be not following a proper diet. Inflammation of liver is one of the causes of pain under right shoulder. So following a good diet in this situation is a good option. You should avoid junk food and consume more vegetables to prevent inflammation. Also, eating unhealthy food in this condition may also cause the pain to increase.
- If the cause of the pain is cancer, the answer is heavy medication or even chemotherapy. Cancer is a severe illness, and you should take immediate action in this case.
- As we know, heart problems can also be the cause of pain under the shoulder blade. If the reason for your shoulder pain is a heart problem, you might have to undergo surgery or take some heavy medication to get cured.
These are the critical reasons why you should never ignore such pain. It might be something simple. But it can also be something severe and life-changing that requires immediate attention.
