Many people experience back pain in their lifetime. They can be located in different areas for a lot of different reasons. If a person 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 has passed quickly and is no longer felt is not a cause for concern. On the contrary, anxiety is caused by systematic pains, regardless of their intensity and nature. Consider the causes and methods of diagnosing pain, let's talk about its nature and methods of getting rid of it.
The nature of pain
Pain is not an independent disease - it is just a symptom. The onset of back pain can be due to a multitude of factors, ranging from pain after sleeping in an awkward position to serious pathological processes in the body.
To understand why the back hurts between the shoulder blades, it is important to know the cause of the pain. But first, it is worth considering another important question regarding the nature of painful sensations, which helps to establish the main cause of this symptom.
Thus, doctors distinguish the following gradation of pain according to their nature:
- Acute- different brutal start, but still very intense. Whether the back hurts below, above or between the shoulder blades, the pain arises spontaneously. At the same time, a certain feeling of "pulling through" appears, a person can scream, twitch with his whole body, bend sharply. Such a reflex reaction is caused not only by the suddenness and intensity of the painful sensation, we instinctively try to avoid unpleasant sensations.
- Dull- is fundamentally different from the previous paragraph. It develops gradually and haunts the patient for a long time. Dull pain is characterized by its monotony, it varies in intensity. In some cases, the painful sensation is so sharp that it prevents a person not only from moving or performing actions, but even from sleeping. Dull pains indicate muscle problems or depend on pathologies affecting the tendons or ligaments. It tends to intensify during a movement or physical effort, it is localized on both sides (at the level of the two shoulder blades).
- sharp- not much different from strong, but still has certain characteristics. Acute pain, as the name suggests, also occurs suddenly, but varies in intensity. It can be a sudden strong lumbago, causing the reflex actions described earlier. But in some cases, sharp pains are rather weak, although they bring a lot of discomfort. Often appears when performing an action, lifting weights, awkward movements, etc.
- stab- it is not rather about the nature, but about the specifics of painful sensations that manifest themselves depending on a particular disease. Stinging pains are spontaneous and undulating, cyclical. It is they that are often radiating, localized in the back under the shoulder blades, give, for example, to the lower back, the level of the sacrum. Feeling high-intensity throbbing pain, patients say that a knife or needle was stuck in a certain place.
- Sore- one of the types of pain of a dull nature. These painful sensations are also characterized by constancy and duration. Aching pain is debilitating, it follows a person everywhere, regardless of their actions, even in the absence of physical movement and effort. Localized between the shoulder blades in the spine, aching pains radiate to the chest, patients feel that the heart hurts, although there are no cardiac pathologies. For aching pains, cyclicity is also characteristic, they are constantly present, but they have a habit of changing in intensity.
- Tie rod- this type of pain is characteristic of bone, muscle and ligament structures. The specificity of pain is associated with the name, patients feel that someone or something pulls a muscle or bone in the place of localization of unpleasant sensations. Severe pain of a pulling nature brings a lot of discomfort, hinders movement, often radiates to neighboring areas.
- Burning or burning pain- a rather rare type of pain, usually called "burning back". Such sensations are characteristic of certain forms and stages of osteochondrosis, they also cook the back with ischemic pathologies of the heart. In the second case, the pain that appears in the shoulder blades is radiating;
- strong or weak- it is this indicator that is both the key and the most controversial for any doctor. If the back hurts badly, it brings maximum discomfort, exhausts the person, makes him incapacitated. Weak pains are easier to bear and less complicated in life, but in most cases they are the longest and most difficult to treat. Subjective indicators of the intensity of painful sensations are due to the fact that each person has a different degree of pain sensitivity, a different pain threshold. In such cases, it is better to pay attention to where it hurts, in the middle, closer to the left or right shoulder blade.
It should be remembered that it is impossible to make an accurate diagnosis only by the nature of the pain. Moreover, even the concept of "character" is subjective, since each person has an individual threshold of sensitivity, and even the same disease can be accompanied by different symptoms.
In addition, pain in various pathological processes is often accompanied by other symptoms. We will now look at what clinical signs may be present with the pain:
- Numb back- a clinical sign indicating neurological disorders. It is often observed with intercostal neuralgia, osteochondrosis of the chest region, spondyloarthrosis.
- Freeze back- Another symptom of a number of neurological, which is combined with painful sensations. According to medical reference books, such a clinical sign is inherent in only two pathologies. In the first case, we speak of damage to the nerve roots of the spinal cord, in the second case, the symptom is associated with an inflammatory disease, pyelonephritis.
- Increase in body temperature- with 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, pain in the shoulder region is accompanied bynausea, but such a clinical sign usually occurs with very strong painful sensations.
In the vast majority of cases, pain between the shoulder blades indicates diseases of the spine. However, it is still possible that painful sensations radiate due to the development of other pathologies, for example, diseases of internal organs, among which pathologies of the heart and lungs are most likely.
Why does the back hurt in the shoulder blades
Even taking into account all the variety of characters of back pain in the region of the shoulder blades, it is impossible to make an accurate diagnosis on the basis of this symptom alone. At the same time, in order to completely get rid of pain and not temporarily relieve it with painkillers, it is necessary to find out the true cause of its occurrence.
To understand why there is back pain in the shoulder blades, it is necessary to highlight the main causes of their appearance:
- Mechanical damage to the spineespecially in the cervical or thoracic region. It's not just about recent injuries, including bruises, dislocations, sprains and broken bones. Old injuries can be remembered years later or serve as a development for 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 back.
- Postural disorder, that is, any pathology that can lead to a curvature of the spine. First of all, scoliosis is involved in its various manifestations, but curvature can occur even due to banal flat feet. The most severe forms of curvature of the spine are kyphosis and kyphoscoliosis;
- Herniated discin the thoracic spine also causes the development of pain. At the same time, the pain intensifies with movement, and the pathological process itself is dangerous by pinching the nerves with the addition of neurological symptoms to the clinical picture.
- Periarthrosis of the shoulder or scapular joint- a disease of the musculoskeletal system, characterized by an inflammatory process of the periarticular tissues. Pathology is accompanied by symptoms of sharp pain in the region of the scapula and upper extremities, significantly impairs hand movements.
- Intercostal neuralgia- the pathological process is caused by disorders of neurological origin, pinching of the nerves in the region of the ribs (chest). At the same time, the pains are belting, affecting in particular the shoulder blades.
- Migrating or radiating pain in the shoulder blades is often found withheart diseasesamong which ischemia and myocardial infarction are often distinguished. In such cases, the pain "radiates" from the heart to the back.
- Pregnancy- Another cause of back pain, especially 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 scapulaThis area is very convenient for injections, and the fact that the vaccine is administered at the same time only increases the pain syndrome, which lasts 1-2 days.
It is difficult to distinguish all the causes of pain between the shoulder blades, since there are many of them. This list contains only the main ones. As for less common causes, most of them are signs of other diseases. We are talking about diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, liver, kidneys, in each of these cases the pain radiates.
It should also not be forgotten that there are pains associated with intense physical exertion. They can be pathological or muscular, in the second case it is enough to rest the muscles of the back, with pathological pain it is important to consult a doctor.
Diagnostic
The doctor can accurately establish the causes of pain and make a diagnosis only on the basis of obtaining diagnostic data. For a wide range of reasons, diagnosis involves many procedures, of which the following are the most requested:
- Initial examination and history- the doctor asks the patient about the location, frequency, nature and intensity of painful sensations. This is followed by an examination of the patient with palpation of the indicated painful areas and functional diagnoses, including hand movements, tilts, etc.
- X-ray- if a person has pain in the spine below, above or in the middle of the shoulder blades, the easiest way to identify the cause is an X-ray. This method of examination makes it possible to determine the shape of the vertebrae and intervertebral discs, to identify curvatures, injuries, etc.
- computed tomography- a modern and more informative diagnostic method that gives a deeper picture in the presence of pathologies of the spine.
- Magnetic resonance imaging- this method of examination is necessary in cases where X-ray and computed tomography did not provide the necessary information. MRI can detect pathologies affecting the spinal cord and its branches.
If during the examination of the spine the causes of pain are not identified, diagnoses of pathologies of the cardiovascular system, organs of the gastrointestinal tract, etc. are necessary.
What to do if the back hurts between the shoulder blades
If a person feels a sharp pain in the spine between the shoulder blades for a long time, the painful sensations do not go away, or their intensity is so high that there is no strength to bear, consult a doctor urgently.
The fight against most 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 resort to conservative methods of treatment.
The basis of treatment is drug therapy:
- The first task is to reduce the intensity of pain or completely stop pain in the back. For this, analgesics with analgesic or antispasmodic action are prescribed.
- The best treatment for various diseases of the musculoskeletal system are drugs from the group of NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). They are prescribed in the form of ointments, injections, tablets. Thanks to ointments, the analgesic effect is achieved quickly. In addition, these drugs have an anti-inflammatory effect, and also allow you to reduce the local temperature.
- In some pathological processes, in order to cope with the root cause of pain, in combination with NSAIDs, group B drugs are prescribed. They help normalize metabolic processes in tissues, improve nerve conduction and are especially effective for osteochondrosis neuralgia.
If the back hurts under the shoulder blades, in addition to drug treatment, a course of physiotherapy is required, including the following procedures:
- Electrophoresis.
- Laser therapy.
- Magnetotherapy.
- Ultrasound.
The decision on the appointment of each method of treatment is made jointly with the doctor. The duration of treatment depends on the disease itself, its degree of progression and other factors, but the full treatment includes at least 10 procedures. Only then can significant improvements be seen.
In order to cope with the problem even more effectively and quickly, a massage course is added to the complex of therapeutic measures. It should be carried out by an experienced specialist. This procedure helps treat shoulder blade injuries and most back diseases. However, massage is recommended in the presence of positive dynamics of drug treatment and physiotherapy. The course of treatment normalizes blood circulation, speeds up metabolism, reduces pain, restores muscle tone and elasticity.
Subsequently, massages are replaced by physiotherapy exercises, which allow you to consolidate the progress of recovery and prevent the further development of back diseases. The patient performs exercises associated with minor physical exertion, the emphasis is on stretching the muscles and keeping them in good shape. It is important to remember here that the intensity of the exercises increases gradually, the patient should not feel any discomfort. A systematic approach is also very important, but if you experience back pain under the shoulder blades again, seek the advice of a physiotherapist.
Prevention
The back hurts under the shoulder blades or between them - this feeling is very unpleasant, especially if it is associated with the development of any pathological process. To protect yourself from back diseases and pain, follow these simple preventive recommendations:
- Always control physical activity, whether intense sports or intense physical work at work. You can not lift too much weight, excessively loading the back.
- If heavy lifting is unavoidable, do it properly. Only lift weights with a straight back.
- Keep an active life and play sports to maintain the muscles of the back. It is very useful to do exercises daily, go swimming and hang on the horizontal bar.
- When seated, try to keep your back straight, take a break every 1-2 hours, walk or warm up by doing a series of bends and squats.
- To prevent back muscle pain, osteochondrosis and other diseases, sleep on a hard flat surface. Buy an orthopedic mattress and a pillow that conforms to the shape of your head and neck.
By following these simple rules, you can significantly reduce the risk of developing back diseases and pain. But remember, if the pains appear, they do not go away for more than a week or become too intense, be sure to consult a doctor. Prompt diagnosis and treatment can minimize bodily harm and defeat the disease faster.