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?

[Laveque]

Hi Aidy84,

I have more than that. In addition to yours I have pain while swallowing anything on my left shoulder blade area and I have it for about 2 years. Did a lot of test but nothing is found. Hope you get well soon and hope I also get well soon.

[aidy84]

Hi everyone. I wonder if anyone can relate to this? I have been getting pain in my left side shoulder and upper left side of the back to the side of my spine, but not the spine itself. It gets worse at night. Had all sorts of blood tests, checked for kidney stones, CT scan, MRI scan, and all results came back totally normal. Doctor has given me co-codomal which helps, and I apply a deep heat rub which also takes away the pain for a short while. I also find a really hot bath takes away the pain. I'm 28 and have had this pain for about 10 months now. Really getting disruptive to my every day life. Does anyone else have a similar experience?  

[Cloe_from_Canada]

I've had these same pains, behind the shoulder blades on both sides many times. I'm only 25, but I'm an aerial hoop artist, which is the perfect sport to mess up your back :)
Getting someone to massage it out helps A LOT, but if the pain gets worse when breath then I would strongly suggest you go see a good chiropractor. I can't count the number of times he has saved my back. It turns out a nerve in my back or neck (depending on what I had done) would get pinched.
Hope this helps! My back is fine now and I didn't have to take anti-inflammatory drugs or go through unnecessary surgery .

[Kristydye]

I have these same pains and I have herniated disc in my neck and pinched nerves also.

[rts3486]

I have an app't with an orthopedic dr. on Thursday (8 Nov).  I'll likely have an MRI.  I'll let you know what diagnosis I receive.

[HappyMikey]

If you ever have pain on the back by the left shoulder blade, do yourself a favor and GO TO THE DOCTOR. This can be a symptom of a heart attack. Search for "heart attack widow maker" and you'll learn that symptoms of some heart attacks start with warning signs like these. A sharp burning pain in the back near the left shoulder blade. The pain may go away or linger. The pain can radiate down the left arm or up the left side of the neck.  Don't take a chance - get yourself checked out ASAP to rule it out.  It's far better to being diagnosed having a muscle strain than an artery blockage that could lead to a heart attack.