Sharp pain in upper back and left shoulder, pain increase upon breathing.

[EcoFeral]

I have been having a sharp burning pain in my upper back mostly on the left side by the shoulder blade.  At times my neck and left arm are effected too. The pain is present upon rising and lasts throughout the day. I am concous of my posture and do not believe it to be the cause. The pain worsens if i am carring anything at arms lengths or even if i am carring a light bag over either of my shoulders.  I have tried; hot, cold, advil and exercise but i haven't seen any releif for the past 5 months. The only thing i think that could have caused the pain is when i moved about 5 months ago.  There was a great deal of lifting and stress. I am 26 years old and feel like this pain is limiting my ability to go about my daily task. Any suggestions please?

[ms_lomax]

Hi my name is Monique and I'm 42 my left shoulder neck back/forearm hurts so bad the pain is unbearable I can't look up nor turn my head and my hand feels like its burning all the time what can I do? I've been to my doctor and had many trips to the E.R and they do absolutely nothing for me. But give me ibuprofen .gabapatin and flexil but that don't work can you give me some advise. please.

[Paingirl9363]

Reading what all of you have written, it is strange. I finally got a diagnoses of CRPS/RSD. I thought I had pulled a muscle. It felt like someone at one point had stabbed me under my shoulder blade. Felt pain under my breast on left side.

[marinerfan]

Hi, I just read what you posted and when I seen what you had said about the weed eater it hit me...about a month ago I was cutting a path through the trees with weed eater/shrub cutter attachment. It sounds ridiculous but, I had cut a walking path on our new property, the path was 5 feet wide, in 2 days I had cut approx. 350 yards of path with no shoulder strap. Right around the time of my pain problems. But if it's knotted muscle why won't strong pain killers put a dent in the pain. I am amazed at how many young people are on this site with the exact same problem. Is it normal for so many young people to be experiencing this pain. When I started reading on this site I expected most people to be my age or older...not the case at all, if anything there are as many people half or less than half my age on here. But one thing they, and all of us on this site have in common, we all use computers, lap tops, or smart phones. It's not like watching television for 2- hours a night, because you are 8-10 feet away from it maybe more, and you can sit back relax, adjust your sitting position. On a lap top or smart phone you are hunched usually and can't really relax your shoulders. There's tennis elbow....how about computer shoulder. If you don't spend 2 hours a night or day on your computer like I do, I'm sorry I wasted your time reading this. But I'm just trying to come up with ideas as to what is causing this obviously very common problem. I just don't understand why pain killers aren't working for me or most of everyone else here. Maybe our muscles tense up and knot up so bad from being in this hunched position for so long that pain killers and muscle relaxers aren't ABLE to fix it.The pain for me has been constant(24 hrs/day) for about a month. I went through the same thing about 10 months ago, after taking pain meds that didn't work for a few weeks the pain eventually went away until a month ago. But when it comes back, it comes back with a vengeance. Like most everyone else, I haven't had a car accident or any bad falls, and I'm not 80 years old or more. So what is causing this?????    

[marinerfan]

Hi, I am experiencing the exact same pain. for about the same length of time it hurts way worse  lying down for   whatever  reason. So bad to the point that in the morning it  feels   like   I've   only  had a true   2-3    hours  of    sleep.  My doctor, like so many  act like  they aren't taking you serious. I've  been taking this pain killer he prescribed that is supposedly stronger than a Tylenol 3. It didn't even  put  a dent  in the pain, then  after the first 60-70  pills, he  increased the dosage  to 2 pills(4 times a day) insisting this will    take care of the pain.... still nothing.  I've even tried 3 of these things, and finally after about 150 of these pills and 4 physio appointments I'm in the same place I was 4-5 weeks ago. I've heard acupuncture  works for some   people,  so I  might try that, nothing else is helping. About a week and a half ago the   pain around my shoulder blade reduced, but then pain shifted to my left arm with numb fingers. Now the pain is shifting back to my shoulder blade area. Very sceptical of chiropractors, but  almost ready to even give them a try. The   pain almost  makes you feel desperate, especially when 3  different  doctors and xrays don't reveal anything. Now i'm on a waiting list of about 8 weeks. Just long enough for the pain to go away, just like it did 8-10 months ago. I'm 46, tired of the pain, because it is constant 24 hours a day. Sorry you're going through the same thing.  

[texTereas]

Do yourself a favor don't waste time with x rays from what I have been reading ask your doctor for a  MRI or referral to a specialist that will .I hurt my shoulder using a weed eater I have lived with pain but this had me running to ER I lost use of both arms in the kitchen on a Saturday night vanity kept me from going that night I could not shower or change clothing next day ER x ray I think they thought I was having a heart attack the first words were your heart looks good and lungs gave me 2 shots and 2 prescriptions I felt a little better for a few days..I stuck it out for over a week not better went to doctor asked for MRI .The doctor did 7 more x-rays and told me I had arthritis if it didn't get better he would do MRI, Well I knew I have arthritis and have bursitis in other shoulder I am frightened that it will get worse because something was overlooked. I love my doctor I new better to get a squeeze in he was leaving on vacation out of the country I'm sure I didn't have 100% I still have the pain in a spot it feels like sharp glass is under my blade pain down arm to elbow 2 fingers on hand go numb. I pray I don't get the hiccups or have to sneeze . I cannot take a deep breath without much pain. I need to take my own advice but for now (Follow your gut). We know when something is very wrong with our body's not always bye the book. Best of luck please post your outcome it may help others .

[jlee58]

I had left shoulder injury for 34 years when I was in military.  after 34 years and a lot of pain they decided to do surgery on it.  over the years I have develop lower  left  back problem.  my back hurt so bad that sometime it take me 3-4 hours to get going after I get out of bed.  I feel my lower back pain is due to my injury left shoulder for 34 years.