Pain Near the Inside of your Shoulder Blade?
Pain Near the Inside of your Shoulder Blade?
Chronic pain near the inside of the shoulder blade is the second leading cause that people seek care in our office (low back pain being the first).
People that have pain here often find themselves trying everything under the sun to relieve the symptoms.
It typically starts with devices like theracanes, percussion guns, and other trigger point items.
When that doesn't provide lasting relief they call on their significant other to hammer away on the spot.
Then--maybe as a result of feeling bad or the eye-roll they begin to receive--people finally pony up the money to get massages or start a physical therapy program.
For some people, this is where their pain ends and that's great news.
However, for many others the pain continues no matter how many visits they try. A lot of people will even begin to get chiropractic adjustments, take medication, or even get injections.
Even despite more invasive treatments, a lot of people still only find temporary relief. So what gives?
The 3 most common reasons for pain in this area are due to the following conditions (and some people suffer with some or all of the problems below):
Cervical disc damage (see pic below) can often cause referred pain to the inside of your shoulder blade. People often describe it as dull, ache, deep, and/or throb.
Accessory nerve entrapment. Adhesion build up around the accessory nerve (see pic below) sticks the nerve to the surrounding tissues. This causes symptoms like tight, tension, achy, feeling like your shoulder is lifted higher.
Local adhesion build in the muscles like the trapezius and rhomboid can create similar symptoms as accessory nerve entrapment, but often are not as severe.
The vast majority of people develop one or more of these problems through repetitive daily tasks--although trauma/injury can contribute.
In our clinical experience, working at a desk 40+ hours/week is the biggest reason for these conditions.
In our office, we help you identify the reason/s for your pain, figure out why the chronic pain is there, then utilize cutting edge treatments to remove the pain!
Let us know if we can help you or someone you know.