Troubling shoulder issues

[srhnpr84]

Since I had my son, I have had several episodes where I will get bad headaches for a couple of days.  Then my shoulder, around my shoulder blade, will start hurting really bad.  I have had a clicking sound in my shoulder blade since I can remember.  When these episodes happen, I can look in the mirror and see my neck is crooked, it leans toward my right shoulder.  My left shoulder is always about an inch higher than my right, even when I am not in pain.  Sometimes the pain radiates down my right arm into my pinky and also seems to go straight through my shoulder blade to the front of my chest.  I have seen a chiropractor for it once before but stopped going due to lack of insurance and money to pay for it.  She never gave me a diagnosis but she did say that the x-rays showed that I had a degenerative disease where I have "extra" ribs in my neck where they started forming and shouldn't have.  I don't know if that is connected at all though.  After a couple of days of dealing with this, the pain just gets worse and worse and eventually goes into my left shoulder blade as well.  Any help or opinions would be appreciated.

[srhnpr84]

Do you think the cervical rib issue causes my neck to be slanted to the right or the cracking sound in my shoulder blade?  Just curious.  Thanks for your help.

[Adam Tanase, D.C.]

The extra cervical rib you have is a congenital problem - you're born with it. It can cause a condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) that could be responsible for the pain in your arm/hand.

Unfortunately, this problem will not go away on its own. Receiving chiropractic care, despite lack of insurance coverage, is most advisable. There are exercises you can perform at home that will reduce your dependency on the chiropractic adjustments, and most DCs provide these as part of care plan recommendations.


Adam Tanase, D.C.
www.drtanase.com