# Pain in the shoulder blade



## chopeth (Mar 4, 2017)

Lately I'm feeling pain as a cramp or contracture in the part between my right shoulder blade and the column. I usually suffer from back pain but never had this problem before and in fact my back is now giving me a break. Now it's mainly my shoulder blade and my neck. I think part of the neck issue is from tension in life in general, bad pillows or whatever, but I don't know about the shoulder blade one. If my girl presses there, it aches a lot and my right arm goes numb.

I guess I should go to a physiotherapist, anyway, any advice, solution, exercises recommended?


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## buffa d (Mar 4, 2017)

Is your strength and elasticity in balance? 
That is always a good place to start.


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## Grindspine (Mar 4, 2017)

I have two physically demanding jobs and do not get enough sleep, so go to a massage therapist every few weeks to have my shoulder treated.

The trapezius, upper rhomboidal, and levator scapula muscles all cross near the area that you mentioned. Any of those three muscles can lead to back, neck, and shoulder pain when stressed.


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## buffa d (Mar 6, 2017)

Massages are always good. I've got a lot of relief from it after having my shoulder surgery. As for a longer period, I'd suggest a long-term program for body maintenance incorporating a lot of stretching and strength building. 
Ideally you'd have a fully balanced strength on both sides. Same goes for the elasticity of the muscles. This would prevent most of the issues and injuries that people have. 

If it is really acute now, you might also want to try acupuncture.


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## chopeth (Mar 7, 2017)

buffa d said:


> Massages are always good. I've got a lot of relief from it after having my shoulder surgery. As for a longer period, I'd suggest a long-term program for body maintenance incorporating a lot of stretching and strength building.
> Ideally you'd have a fully balanced strength on both sides. Same goes for the elasticity of the muscles. This would prevent most of the issues and injuries that people have.
> 
> If it is really acute now, you might also want to try acupuncture.



any special stretching routine for the shoulder blade part?


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## buffa d (Mar 7, 2017)

See if you can do that on both sides.

1) I like child's pose as well as the variation where you extend your arm under your armpit.

2) Cross your fingers behind your head and put your elbows on a table or blocks. Lean forward until you feel the stretch. 

3) You can also put the top of your palm to your lower back and push your elbow forward. It is a nice stretch for the whole shoulder area but be sure that it's good pain and not bad pain. 

This is a nice site to check out: https://yogatime.tv/blog/yoga-poses-for-neck-pain/

I'd do at least a min/stretch twice a day. Once you feel like you are making progress, you can always do longer stretches. Just listen to your body


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## chopeth (Mar 8, 2017)

Thank you soooo much, mate! I'm going to try all your advice later. I have a lot of back pain problems, and can't do anything like pilates because my belly has a reinforcement under the skin after being opened 3 times for surgery. But at the moment my back is giving me a break and now the neck is giving me a hell of an everyday pain. Thanks, I'll tell you later if it improves.


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## buffa d (Mar 8, 2017)

No problem! Back and neck problems are very difficult to diagnose since there is just so many things working together. 

I've had some serious lower back issues as well for the past three months. Getting better though! Maybe I can get back to my hobbies soon as well. 

I'd like to hear how yours works out.


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## chopeth (Jun 21, 2017)

Update:

Well, summer is even not here yet (how I hate it, with 35º in the shade) but I started swimming in my neighbour's pool and the pain is getting stronger, although after a couple of days swimming it aches not so much as the first day. One thing that puzzles me is that when I move my whole arm from my right shoulder in circles there's an audible sound coming from it clicking at some degree of the circle. I also have pain when I wake up in the morning, my shoulder seems not to like my good bed either, and as I usually sleep sideways I have to be careful not to sleep over the right side, the one that aches later... Maybe I'm getting old, I never had this problems before.


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## Drew (Jun 23, 2017)

May be worth talking to your doctor. The numbness and increased pain on pressure sort of suggests some sort of nerve pinching, although the clicking noise makes it sounds like some sort of joint/tendon thing, so combined my *guess* would be some sort of tendon iflammation/irritation causing the surrounding tissue to swell, pressuring a nerve. A doctor or physical therapist could probably confirm this for you, but for starters I'd recommend increasing your water intake and starting to take ibuprofin or some other anti-inflammatory, as regularly as you can remember to take it.


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## Silence2-38554 (Oct 2, 2017)

It sounds like you're experiencing very similar symptoms to what I've been dealing with for the past couple years.

First thing's first- find yourself a good sports chiropractor. I've been to so many chiro's over the years & finding a sports chiro specifically seems to be pretty key.

Anyway, after my first visit, it was discovered that the pain I was experiencing directly between my right shoulder blade and spine was in fact a sublimated #6 rib head. Yay! So just pop it back in & off I go, right? Nope. Mine essentially slips in & out of place all the time, depending on what I'm doing. If you lay down on a hard floor & feel a good amount of pressure through the whole right side of your back & over to your side, it's very likely to be a rib issue.

I'm pretty sure I screwed mine up by doing a lot of the wrong exercises, resulting in a muscle imbalance. Bench press, squats, rows. If you do any of those regularly, STOP. I can explain why if you want.

Essentially, you need to strengthen your mid & upper back muscles, specifically your mid & lower trapezius. Also look at serratus muscle exercises. I really like back flys (using TRX straps), pull ups, push ups (not wide-grip) and battle rope exercises.

You mentioned pain while swimming at first with it later diminishing as you swam more. If you can, keep it up! The number 1 thing my chiro recommends to promote rib head health is swimming.


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