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Pain in upper body
Please could someone help me. A month ago I woke up feeling sore in my left side through from my jaw down to my chest just above the top of my breast. By the end of the day I was in huge amounts of pain and couldn't move. The pain then moved into the front of my left shoulder going over the chest area and under the armpit. It started to get better but then I got the same pain in the right shoulder which travelled down my arm. At this point a lump appeared on my left side accross my 1st rib which was very painful to touch. The doctor I saw said it could be costocondritis. However the lump seemed to go away after a few days but the pain remained in my right shoulder. It then moved through my chest area around my heart and I had difficulty breathing as it hurt too much to expand my lungs fully. The pain then moved into the back of my head on my left side going down my neck and into my scapula. I have been given lots of painkillers but however the pain still remains and I believe it is referred nerve pain. I also got the lump reappear in the same place as before which again lasted for 3 or 4 days and then disappeared. The pain has lessened with the drugs I'm taking but it seems to be constant accross both shoulders, neck, head and chest area and increases in pain if I do anything bar rest and I have started getting pins and needles down my right arm. The doctors don't seem to want to send me for a scan or take me very seriously. However I am fed up of being in constant pain and just want an idea as to what this is. The doctors also said it could be my spine from T1 to T3. I did no physical activity to set this off; it just began one morning for no reason. Please if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong let me no. I just want to have an idea what I'm dealing with.
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What you have is probably Scalene Myofascial Pain Syndrome. When scalene muscle is the cause of pain, the pain is referred to chest, inner lining of scapula (shoulder bone), shoulder, posterior and lateral sides of the arm right up to the thumb and index finger. When this muscle shortens, this can press on brachial plexus a(bundle of nerves and blood vessels in the armpit) and the subclavian artery and can compress or irritate these structures and cause symptoms such as abnormal sensation, cold extremity, claudication, and lymphedema (swelling of lymph channels) in the involved extremity. This is a major cause of TOS or thoracic outlet syndrome.
The other possibility is a boil or abscess with infection of the surrounding skin. This can also cause similar pain. It can also be pinched lower cervical or upper thoracic nerves. Costochondritis too is a possibility. A MRI of the affected area or a CT scan where the lump appears may help reach the diagnosis. TMJ with inflammation of sternocleidomastoid muscle is another possibility that should be considered and a dentist or ENT consulted. Take care!