Sharp pain under right shoulder blade

[jjknight]

For several months now I have had a sharp pain under my right shoulder blade.  
The pain is constant and gets significantly worse when I'm lying down on either side or my back.  
When lying on my left side, if I reach across my body with my right arm it feels like a knife is being dragged through the muscle.  It has started to feel like something is snagged in the muscle of my back.  
I've been checked for bone spurs and the doctor says no.  There's nothing they can find that seems to be causing this.
Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this without bone spurs?

[Mae500]

I too have been suffering from chronic pain (nerve related pain) for over 8 years now. The pain has gotten worse each year and is now constant and almost unbearable. I am a 32 year old female with two young girls and desperate for some relief. The sharp stabbing radiating pain started under my right shoulder blade, near the tip (scapula, I believe it is called). I also have a very tender and painful area (almost like a soft spot is all I can describe it as, but it takes my breath away to touch it) to the right of my spine in the middle of my back, parallel with the nerve pain.  After finishing 8 weeks (twice a week) of physical therapy, my pain has become even worse. It now radiates down the back of my right shoulder and arm, all around my shoulder blade and over to my spine.  I get some temporary relief from a someone scratching or pinching my back in those areas.

I started going to see an Orthopedic Doctor (was given cortisone shots, had an MRI,  toke anti-inflammatory medication and muscle relaxers, even a pain killer at times) 6-7 years ago, after almost a year and no relief, he wanted to do "Exploratory Surgery". So I stopped going to him and tried weekly massage therapy for a year with only temporary relief (couple of hours at the most).  Then started going to a Chiropractor, who adjusted me once to twice a week for close to two years, using cold packs (don't seem to help) and sleeping on a microfoam support pillow at night. After no luck with the Chiropractor, I got a personal trainer for 8 months...sometimes it seemed to only make things worse. I also, tried to make appointments to see a couple of different Neurologist, but they would not see me because nothing was found on my MRI. After that, I was told by my general physician to try a Pain Management Specialist (Physiatrist). I have been seeing him for over two months, doing physical therapy (he thinks it is muscle related), he prescribed me muscle relaxers and an anti-inflammatory, but now again feel that I am in more pain than ever, that it has gotten worse.  I have also, tried Bio Freeze and several other prescription patches and topical creams.

P.S. Also,  I was diagnosed with a mild case of scoliosis when I was young, and the Physiatrist told me during one of my visits that my right shoulder and shoulder blade were substantially lower than my left.

MRI Notes from 10/20/04
MR THORACIC W/O
Technique: Sagittal T1 and T2 with axial proton density images of the thoracic spine were obtained.
Findings: No focal solid masses are identified within the posterior soft tissues or paraspinal musculature. The thoracic cord is normal in caliber and signal. Thoracic vertebrae are normal in height, alignment and marrow signal.  No focal disc herniation, cord compression, or central canal or foraminal stenosis is identified. Impression: Negative MRI of the thoracic spine without contrast.

Hope someone can help jjknight and myself with our pain

[Dr Vinod]

Any muscle sprain or tendon pull can cause chronic pain. It can be your chest muscle also. This is difficult to diagnose and also remember if you had any injury. This might also occur due to improper position while sleeping. You have to correlate the symptoms and come down to the exact position of pain and show the orthopaedician the positon while lying down on the examination table, it helps in diagnosis. Take care!