You probably know the back pain I mean. It’s that nagging, cannot-be-ignored pain between your shoulder blade and spine. It often feels like a knot or spasm.
It’s usually on the side of your dominant hand. If you’re right-handed, it will probably be on the right side of your back.
There are two likely causes and one that often gets the blame, but usually isn’t the cause.
The rhomboid muscle (there is one on each side of your back) often gets blamed as being the cause of that pain. The reason for this is probably because the muscle happens to be in the same area as your back pain. This is the muscle most massage therapists will probably try to rub out for you, but it may or may not (probably not) be the cause of your pain.
If this massage doesn’t help, or the muscle “won’t release,” then the rhomboid muscle is not the cause of your pain.
A more likely cause is that the muscles where your knot is located are being overstretched or strained. They are complaining about this by causing pain. Overstretched muscles will go into spasm to keep from being stretched further and torn.
Your back muscles can get overstretched when the muscles in front of your body (your chest and neck) are short and tight. Over-stretching can also occur when you work or play a lot with your arm stretched out in front.
You can correct this by strengthening the muscles between your spine and shoulder blades. The stronger muscles won’t be so easily overstretched and so won’t go into spasm like they do now. Also, strengthen the muscles behind your neck gently so you won’t go into “forward-head” posture, which also strains your upper back muscles.
Loosen, relax and open the muscles in front of your body, too, with stretching or massage.
Another likely cause of this back pain could be the scalene muscles, which are located on each side of your neck. These muscles can harbor trigger points. Trigger points in the scalenes refer, or cause, pain into the rhomboid area.
Often a massage therapist will try to work out a pain by working where it hurts. That only works sometimes, in some situations.
You can see in the two likely causes above, that the problem can be elsewhere. The pain between your spine and shoulder blade may be caused by muscles in front of your body being short or trigger points in your neck.
The first thing I would suggest today would be to begin a strengthening program for your upper back. This will help you get rid of that nagging pain between your spine and shoulder blade.
It doesn’t matter whether you call them “knots” or muscle spasms or contractions, they hurt! And you CAN get rid of them naturally. 🙂 This is good…
Because You Deserve To Feel Better!
Love your site. Could you give a list of suggested exercises and stretches (and how to do them) to strengthen the back and help with shortened muscles in the front of the body?
Thanks,
Susan
Hello Susan,
Thank you for your comments. If you go to http://www.SimpleStrengthening.com You will find all the articles I have done so far about how to strengthen the back of your body. I believe there are also some articles there on stretching the front of your body.
Also, I will be writing about stretching here in the near future.
I am glad you are taking your health into your own hands. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Kathryn Merrow
I am glad I found your site. I started having pain btw. the shoulder blades in Aug. every night when I sleep and the first few hours I am awake and just started seeing a massage therapist and chiropracter in Jan. My pain is on my dominant side, right side. I started having some tingling and my right arm was falling asleep at night. The message has worked to get the knot out and the tingling is mostly gone, as well as the pain btw. the blades. Occassionally I feel like I am having a spasm that starts in my back but goes right through to my sternum. It feels like a muscle or nerve-like pain and goes up my neck a little. There is no SOB or change in HR and it definitley stems from the shoulder blade area. I am going to make an app. with family DR. but does this sound familiar?
Thanks, Maryann
Hi Maryann,
By now we have talked by email several times, and you are doing better. You were able to release a beginning spasm by stretching. You have had tests which came back normal and that is very good! I’ve made several suggestions to you and you are working to take care of yourself. Most recently, I suggested using “tennis ball therapy” to release the painful area on your back, and also massaging your breastbone and the ribs that attach to it. Those tight muscles “pull” on your back muscles and can cause back pain symptoms. You are going to start taking a B-vitamin complex and I also suggested that you have your vitamin D level checked, because many people are deficient in D.
Thank you for your updates!
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
hi, my shoulder blade pain began ealirer today!! But its not on my domanint sde. Its on the opposite shoulder more and travels over to the other side. i also am having issude with my stomach which might play a role in this i dont knw yet? dO have any ideas4 pain relief 4 me thanks
Hello. I have an idea that by now you have seen your doctor. You’re not specific about your stomach issue, but problems in the abdomen can refer pain into the upper back. If your pain is continuing, my current suggestion, based on what you have told me, would be to see your doctor and rule out such things as an tubal pregnancy (if you are female) or appendicitis or something similar. If you are still having pain and want to give me more information, I’d be glad to respond again.
Kathryn
Occasionally I have had this pain between my shoulder/spine on my dominant side (right)… I believe the cause to be either a fast whipping of my neck or from weight lifting “chest”. Typically, it just goes away on it’s own after a couple of days. Just recently, I was doing Jiu Jitsu and felt a “tweek” in the same are of my non-dominant side (left). This is the first time for this side that I can remember. The pain is intense, I have to hold my head to lie down and get up. I can turn my head right with almost no pain. Up/Down = some pain, more on the up side. A lot of pain turning head left. Should i assume that this will go away on its own or should i see a doctor??? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for your help.
Hi Don, I wrote directly to you so that you would have my complete response as quickly as possible. I hope you are starting to feel better by now. Kathryn Merrow – The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn,
Nice and informative wesite. I just wanted to run my symptoms by you and get your opinion. I have this pain between my sholder blades and up my neck, when it is at its worse I even have difficulty breathing and I can feel every heart beat, I can even feel the pain on my arm(dominant) and tingling in the fingers. It started about 3 weeks ago and I had to rush to emergency care once to get it checked out. From x-rays the doctor said it was just a muscle spash and prescribed a muscle relaxor, it took it for a couple of days and it felt better and so I stopped the medication, the pain returned. It has been a few weeks now and I don’t see much improvement so I I visited with my family doctor and she has prescribed a physical therapy.
Thanks
Glad I found you! Your explanation sounds exactly like my case. I have been suffering with these exact spasms for nearly 20 yrs now. I use to work out with weights heavily, my back was very strong but, the more I worked out, the tighter my back would get until it would seize up and I would be in therapy for weeks, physiotherapy, chiropractic, etc… It got to the point that I had to give up exercise completely, for every hour at the gym, it was four hours of therapy. Now, I’m at the point where just lifting my arm or turning my head causes extreme pain between the shoulder blades, it feels like the muscle is going to rip in half. Can you help????
Hi Jon,
By now you have received my email response which was lengthy. I have probably narrowed your symptoms down (in my mind) to the scalene muscles which are on either side of your neck. I hope you will feel better soon.
I did my millionth web search this morning yet again to try to find solution to my pain. I am healthy, active 48 year old. I have complex history of repeated injury to neck and have had pain as long as I can remember in my right shoulder. I was aggressive in sports activities as a child….waterskiing, gymnastics, etc. I had two successive anterior disc replacements at the c-5/c-6 area with a titanium plate left behind and all objective tests done since indicate I am cured. However, I have constant debilitating muscle spasm and pain in my dominant side (right) neck, shoulder & shoulder blade area with numbness and tingling in arms and hand. I have a headache on that side at base of scull that never goes away. I have over the years tried strenghtening the muscles, rehabilitation and massage. The knots will not – ever – go away. I have been under the care of a pain management doctor for years now and am on a regimen of painkillers (hydrocodone) muscle relaxers, xanax and anti-inflamatories. I have been told that there is nothing I can do but manage the pain, which I can anticipate will get worse as I age. I cannot function if I don’t keep up the regimen, but it gets to me. I’m careful to do everything as prescribed because I have a family and work that needs me. But, honestly, I cry alot and am depressed. Its getting to me and I feel so helpless. Every once in awhile I reach out to see if there is something I’m missing…….but there are never any answers. Should I just give up?
My fiance has had bad back pain for the last 7 years. He was in a head on collision around that time. He was also hit by a train when he was 12. I rub his back almost every night. He has many knots spread throughout his back. Lately knots close to his spine have been hurting him so bad he hardly gets out of bed. The massages I give him dont help at all. Heat hasnt really helped either. I am afraid something is seriously wrong. I want to know your opinion on what we can do to help naturally. I also would like to know if you know of any doctors in the harrodsburg, ky area that would be willing to check him out. We do not have insurance and most doctors want an MRI before they see him and we can not afford it.
hi kathryn, my name is martin and im a 22 yyear old professional kickboxer/mixed martial artist. im writing to you as i am in despair. about a 18 months ago i started to develop a very tight shoulder/blade area, i blamed the amount of weightlifting i was participating in for my sport and basicly (and stupidly) just ignored the problem, after a while it got a little worse and the most major problem was the fact that i would struggle to keep my left hand raised during sparring and it would fatigue very quickly, this was the worst of the problem so i simply put up with it for the sake of competing. then about a year ago, i started to develop a pain in my left side, moving from under my lat up and round to just under my left shoulderblade, as at first it was not too bad i again ignored it till it got so bad i could hardly rotate left it was at this point i had to stop training, a couple of weeks later and plenty of rest i was sitting for a long period in an awkward position and was getting a lot of aching in the back under my shoulder blade, and generating through my chest, so i stood up and walked it off, however as i went to walk down stairs i sort of slipped on the step but managed to correct myself using my balance and core, however as i did something in my chest and middle back left side area, went and caused me a lot of pain, i immediately found it hard to breath in or out and moving was also a challenge. this kept up for about a week or so, but gradually i got to a point where breathing and generall movement did not hurt. however i still could not rotate left without pain. i went to the doctors and after numerous pills and rest nothing was making it better. after about nine months i noticed an inprovement in rotating left but i was not fully healed, at this time i would get a sharp pain just under my shoulder blade radiating round to under my lat on the left side, that felt like my ribs, but after extensive rib examinations it was concluded it could not possibly be ribs. i went to see physios and chiropracters and all of them failed to help me. after several more months i was able to fully rotate left without pain, however i did still feel a tightness under my shoulder blade and down from there to the middle of my left mid back, and it was at this time i decided to see someone about my shoulder. i was experiencing a lot of tightness inbetween my shoulder blade and spine on my left side and rear delt along with under my armpit, which was uncomfortable but never painfull. after seeing a massage therapist for this he managed to free up a lot of muscle spasms around my shoulder blade and delt and i immediately felt a releif, however it did nothing for my uncomfortableness in my lower left side under my sh blade and down to the mid part of my left middle back. since the pain in my back was now minimal and i thought my shoulder blade and inbetween blade and spine was now free of pain and spasm, i tried a little bit off training just some ligght punching and kicking of the bags in my gym, the first bit of training i had participated in in a year. however after only a few punches and kicks i felt the muscles inbetween my left shoulder blade and spine tighten up and become very painfull and sore, and also very sore too touch. i again had them released and expected this to be the end of it so i tried again, and again they spasmed and tightened up almost instantly. to date, when i do not train i feel like a normal human being, i feel like i function normaly, however as soon as i start any type of excercise that involves punching or using my arms above my head or forcefully eg grappling mixed martial arts or kickboxing i feel this tight feeling starting to happen and have to stop or it spasms straight up and takes days to return to normal. the uncomfortable feeling in my side and just under my shoulderblade is now only there when i rotate and force my body to stretch to the left whilst rotating, however i do still feel its presance. i have recently been to a good physio and a private consultant who say that they think i have suffered in the past from an injury to the serratus anterior causing it to weaken (along with my left side rhomboids) and let my scapula wing when doing any type of intense activity using my left arm out infront of my body. and that strengthening these muscles will help stop the muscles spasming during the exercise. i am so sorry for the longwindedness of this peice, but i truly am in despair as these sports are my life, and for almmost two years now i have been away from them and i am starting to get into the deepest pits of depression and im wondering now if i ever will be able to return to competition, as i was seen as somewhat of a prospect for UFC contention. i would be eternally gratefull for your feedback and advice on my problem, as i am trying to gain as much info on this problem so i can try and fix it and prevent it happening to me or anyone i know again. i thank you in advance for your time.
martin
Hi Martin, You gave me a good lot of information to go on. I am responding by email.
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn,
I ran across your site, and I have found it truly informational and beneficial to me! I have a couple questions for you. Regarding your article, you mentioned that upper back pain is usually on the same side as your dominant side. I am right handed, but I have had pain in my upper left side of my back, between the shoulder blades and spine for 3+ years now. I have had 2 anterior cervical fusions (C5-C7 now), with relief to some neck pain, but no relief to any of the upper back/shoulder pain. All scans of my shoulder/arm/throacic spine have come back clear. Blood work shows that I am severely anemic and have a very low vitamin D count. I’ve been on every medicine and homepathic treatment I or my doctors could think of (acupuncture, massage, magnents, nerve blocks, epidurals, chiropractors, PT, etc.) I think, to no avail. Seeing a therapist now for depression, and I’ve been sent to a pain management doctor for chronic pain as the doctors I’ve seen have no idea what to do with me. Do you have any ideas? Thank you for your help.
Thank you for writing, Amanda.
I had several thoughts and so sent a personal e-mail to you. What I suspect is that you have a curvature of the spine–a scoliosis–and that no one, including the massage therapist, has properly assessed and addressed that. Without seeing you, just by your description, that’s my best guess. Of course, I also don’t know why you had your neck surgery but it’s most like all related. And that’s good news that the tests come back showing nothing. That almost always means it’s soft tissue (muscles) and muscles are treatable!
You do have a smart body that wants to be well. It just needs a bit of help right now and that could most likely come from a neuromuscular massage therapist or muscle therapist who specializes in postural assessment and corrective massage.
You’re welcome and please write again if you’d like.
Kathryn
Kathryn
My wife is now 3 weeks into a progressive pain between the shoulder blades which has now led to “crying pain” and sleepless nights. She spent 2 days in the hospital being sure it was not her heart, etc. After the hospital stay she developed the typical knot over the scapula as many have noted here. We are assuming now this is a spasm of the right rhomboid muscle. We have done trigger point pressure,heat, massage and some stretching, but she has found minimal relief. We would value your opinion regarding relief of the acute pain and some stretching she can do when she is no in acute pain.
Thank you for a good question. The rhomboid muscles are often blamed for pain and knots in their area. Actually, that area can be the “symptom” and not the cause at all! You are doing all of the right things but perhaps in the wrong areas.
Work (massage) the muscles at the “outside” of her back–the latissimus or “lat” muscles. Try to mobilize her shoulder blade because the muscles between that bone and the ribs may also be tight. The muscle along the spine from the waist upward toward the rhomboid may need massage, too. The front of your wife’s arms and upper chest, too, and the upper back (trapezius muscle.)
And, of course, there is always the muscle in the neck that causes pain in the rhomboid area. When nothing else works, that is the place to go to. If you go to http://CarpalTunnelPainReliefNow.com and look in the Video Category you will find a video that shows a massage professional treating that neck muscle. Also if you look in the Causes Category while you are there, you will find articles about the “muscle in your neck.”
If you go to http://SimpleStrengthening.com you will find articles about how to simply get strong back side muscles which will help prevent future occurrences by correcting posture. Also, stretches to open and relax the muscles in the front of her chest and arms will help, too.
Even now, if your wife can “squeeze” her shoulder blades toward her spine, that may cause some relief.
I hope this helps and wish you the best.
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn,
I love your website! A lot of these symptoms sound familiar and I wanted to touch base with you about my specific issues. For years, I have had a tight neck, upper back, and right shoulder blade that was merely a nuisance. However, during the past two years, the pain has increased to the point where it can be uncomfortable to just sit for a prolonged period of time. My pain is not severe all the time, but comes and goes. I do not feel anything on my left side. Currently, my pain seems to stem from the right side of my spine and runs through my entire right shoulder blade and is more intense around the edges of my shoulder blade – extending to my right side, under my arm. I also feel tightness in my right lower back, but it is not as acute. I feel pain when I breathe in deeply or do any sort of stretching movements (which feels like a good type of pain). Essentially, I feel like the whole right side of my back is very tight. I have been worried that my pain is coming from an internal source but have not yet been checked out by a doctor. My masseuse says that my erector muscles are very rigid and has found some trigger points. Just wanted your input on my symptoms! Thanks again for your website!
Hi Katie,
Thank you for your kind words. I will write back to you privately to discuss your pain. Look for my e-mail in the next few days.
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn,
I have have a history of back pain. Over the last 12 years I have had several extensive physio treatments for muscle spasms. Originally for the lower back. Several months back being the last. However, over the last month I had been getting niggling pain near my left shoulder blade (not dominant side). I had tried stretching this off, and my girlfriend had kindly been massaging the knot. As bizarre as this sounds, two nights ago I was asleep in bed when I must have moved in my sleep and my head and it came off the pillow (lying on my back). My neck dropped back and I remember waking up with the jolt. Next the muscles in my neck and shoulder went from being relaxed into spasm. I couldn’t raise my head from the mattress. As you can imagine I was unable to sleep for the remainder of that night. As a result I have had severe pain in the shoulder blade area and neck. Very limited mobility of the neck in all direction, most extreme when trying to turn my head right. My left arm feels weak. I also have a radiating pain down my left arm, tingling/ numbness in my left hand. Numbness in the left side of my face, along with aching in my left cheek, gum, ear and eye socket area.
I’m worried about several things:
1) will I be able to get. Rid of the nagging pain in the shoulder blade area when this spasm calms down.
2) I can feel the mid and lower parts of my back starting to tense up. With small spasms starting to happen in the left buttock I’m worried this will result in recurrance of my lower back spasms
3) will I have to stop weight training? At the ripe old age of 32 I no longer lift the sort of weights I used to but the back flair ups seem to be happening with more and more frequency.
I work long hours sitting behind a desk. Can you recommend any exercises I can do in this position to help me be proactive and stop this happning again?
Lastly, and most importantly, I snapped at my girlfriend soon after I had the spasm, and now I’m in her bad books. I’m not sure she understands just how painful this episode was and that trying to cope with her passing stinky wind on top of that was more than I could cope with at that time. Under normal circumstances I would have laughed it off. Is it unusual for someone to be unusually irritable soon after a spasm?
Any help or advice you can give regarding the above is very much appreciated.
N.B my doctor has prescribed Diclofenac and physio for the inflamation and pain.
1)
Hello. Well, Rob, I am going to send you a private email to give you all of my thoughts about your muscle spasm. Please watch for an email from me. Since you are familiar with strength training, though, when this passes please devote more time to strengthening the back side of your body–from knees to skull–rather than the front. I have lots of articles at http://SimpleStrengthening.com but I suspect they may be on the simple side for you.
And, yes, when people are in pain they can tend to become short-tempered for a few reasons. The medicine you are taking is an anti-inflammatory. It is supposed to reduce inflammation in the muscle. Physio (physical) therapy may give considerable relief. Talk to you shortly. – Kathryn
Hi Kathryn,
I am a 40 yo female, and I practic martial arts. A couple of months ago, I started gettin a chronic pain along the backside of my shoulder, in my armpit, and along the tricep. I ignored it thinking it would go away, but eventually I began to notice that my arm was feeling weak. It would tire easy when I was holding something up, and the muscles were weak and the pain along the armpit increased. Then, about a month ago, a muscle under my scapula seemed to spasm, and ever since then I have had chronic shoulder pain. Not just in those areas, but all over, often moving from the tricep, to under the shoulder blade, and sometimes along my bicep, and even my forearm. I have rested, taken motrin and mucsle relaxers, and everytime I think it is improved and I try to train (even a little), it immediately gets inflamed and painful. I also have chronic pain up the right side of my neck, and sometimes under the clavical on the front and along the front of my neck. The PT has said it is essentially a stability issue, and because my shoulder joint is a little loose, the capsule is inflamed and referring pain to all the muscles nearby. The scapula area hurts when I raise my hand up and then back. I have been trying to strenghen it, but I have to be careful how much i do because it gets so easily inflamed, and then spasms. Thank you for any suggestions you might have!
Thanks!!
Hi Lee. Long-distance help is always a little tricky but here are my best guesses. If you are a side sleeper, you may be aggravating the muscles where your pain first started. That happens.
With the weakness, it sounds like muscles in your neck may be involved (because they can press on nerves). You can listen to a 1/2 hour episode about the muscle in your neck that causes carpal tunnel pain and knots in your back, too, at http://CarpalTunnelRadio.com Scroll down and you will find this as a “Featured Episode.” (green header) Another possibility because you mentioned weakness would be a partial rotator cuff muscle tear. A partial tear can heal itself if you take the pressure off the muscle. (Please remember I’m not a doctor, I’m a muscle therapist, and this is a long-distance “guess.”)
If it is a “stability issue” the question is: Why? As a fit, strong woman, it seems likely that you use ALL of your muscles and that is as it should be. Instability would indicate that you are using some muscles more than others.
Since this started, more and more of your muscles have joined in to cause pain. Why? Because they are all attached and when one is in spasm it will pull on others. It’s a domino effect.
Physical Therapy will work best AFTER the spasm(s) is released. Here’s where I think the problem started: There are muscles called teres in your armpit. There is a muscle called subscapularis which is sandwiched between your shoulder blade and your ribs. A skilled massage therapist can release these muscles.
Please check out the Massage Category here at Simple Pain Relief. Just scroll down on the right hand side to the Categories. There are several articles including how to find a massage therapist who can help you.
Another suggestion would be to buy the blue trigger point book (find it in the right hand side, also.) It is a great self-help book which explains very well where to press to relieve pain…yourself.
One more thought: It could be the muscles in front on your chest. The scapula has some attachments in the front toward your arm, above your collar bone, that are reachable. The pec muscles also can pull on the back. Your problem may have started in the front–those muscles usually don’t complain; they just cause pain elsewhere.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions about this and how you are doing with this pain around your shoulder.
Best,
Kathryn
Oh, one more thing that I forgot to say. It is particularly uncomfortable if I do any quick, whipping movements with my arm.
I just found this page on google,this page was very helpful! I just wanted to say,Thank You for the information. 🙂
Michelle, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know. My pleasure to help.
Kathryn
hi there this is a very up to date and informative can i put a link on one of my blogs -regards Angela
Hi Angela, Thank you for asking. I would be honored.
Kathryn
Kathryn,
Somewhat similar to the others, I have a severe knot like pain which starts in my left shoulder blade and if I don’t lie on my stomach it will spread across to my right shoulder blade. A trigger for the pain is simply holding anything in my left hand, even something as light as a quart of milk. If I hold my 7 lb dog for a couple of minutes the pain becomes severe and it takes lying down on my stomach for approx. 1 hr. for the pain to somewhat diminish. I have an MRI scheduled later this week but I’m afraid the physical therapy that will follow may not be the answer – based on what I read on your site. Strangely, lifting weights – very controlled but including military press on a machine (pressing weights overhead) doesn’t hurt. I stopped all exercising 3 weeks ago thinking that was the problem. I have been taking muscle relaxers and pain relievers in an attempt to resolve the problem. The MRI is the next step recommended by the spinal specialist I’m seeing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hello Keith, Thank you for asking this question.
Of course I cannot see you and don’t know anything else about you but here is my best long-distance guess.
When you are lifting with your left arm, I’m thinking one of two things happens: (1) Either you are contracting your latissimus muscle on the outer side of your back and that is pulling on your shoulder blade (because it is attached.) In turn, that causes the pain on the inner side of your shoulder blade near your spine. (2) You may be hiking your shoulder. That can aggravate the scalene muscle in your neck (which may already be “on overload”) and that muscle can harbor trigger points which cause pain in the same area of your back.
When you lift weights, you are using your body in a balanced way; neither hiking a shoulder, or bringing one shoulder forward, or contracting the “lat” muscle.
An MRI might show that you have bones which are “out of place.” But the question always (in my mind) is Why? And the answer is: muscles pull bones out of alignment. Also, bodies change all the time. Just because a test shows a certain result today doesn’t mean the result will be the same tomorrow. Releasing the muscles that are pulling the bone out of place will allow the bone to move back into its normal location.
Of course, if the spinal specialist you are seeing is a surgeon, be prepared that he or she may suggest surgery. That’s what they know best and offer most often. Is it needed? Will it help? Is it possible that muscles are actually causing this pain? Are there any non-invasive treatments to try first? Those are some of the questions you might ask.
Physical therapists (just like massage therapists) can be terrific or not help at all. It all depends on their training, etc. I have taken classes in St. John Neuromuscular Massage Therapy with physical therapists who were there to learn more “tools” to help patients with. Some understand how bodies work and what causes pain and how to correct it; some don’t.
Medications won’t resolve your problem; they just mask symptoms a bit. Go to “Categories” here on the right hand side of the page and look for the “Massage” category. You will find an article about how to find a massage therapist who can truly help you. The same questions from that article would also apply to a physical therapist.
I hope this helps with your shoulder blade pain. Please feel free to write again. I’d love to know how close my guesses came to being correct. 🙂
Kathryn
Hola! I happened upon this web site while I was researching several wellness related terms in google earlier today. Given that I ended up here I thought why not stick around and read a couple of your posts… nice stuff. I am going to make sure to come back in the future some time and get up to date.
Thank you for visiting! I love it that google shares my articles so I can help more people.
Kathryn
I stumbled upon your site while searching about spasms between your shoulders radiating to the base of the skull.
At 5 am this morning it was my first experience and somewhat scary.
I was dreaming a weird dream and I squeezed my shoulder blades together. Right when I did this I woke up hurting. It is on my dominant right side and it radiated into the base of my skull. I was very aware of every heartbeat then and felt a little twinge in the front chest wall on the right side also. I laid there wondering what have I done….I got up and rotated my shoulders, stretched my back and even hung onto the door frame while stretching the shoulder muscles but it still was aching and hurting; even a slight burning sensation. I laid back down and started praying for it to go away and I was able to fall back to sleep.
When I got up a couple hours later it wasn’t hurting as bad but it feels like sore and overstretched muscles by the shoulder blade, right side of the neck and base of the skull. I took two Doan’s pills hoping that will alleviate it soon, but if it still persist by the time I get off work I’m going to see the massage lady in the mall.
The only thing I can think of that could have trigger this, is exercising on my Cardiofit last night. I haven’t used it in awhile but I wanted to start using it again to help lose some weight. I didn’t want to overdo it and work up to 30 minutes, so I only used it for 15 minutes and felt the workout all over. Could this have caused it? I do a lot of lifting anyway so I feel my back and shoulders are already pretty strong. Can this happen by putting your shoulders in an awkward position like I did in my sleep?
Hi Cindy, Good questions.
By now I hope you are starting to feel much better. My best long distance guess is that you were in a strange position in your sleep. Sometimes we do things like that. And when your moved and squeezed your shoulder blades together a muscle spasmed.
There is a muscle on the sides of your neck called the scalene. It will create chest pain as well as a knot in your shoulder blade area near the spine. I think you did all the right things. Maybe it was from the workout, especially if you were straining your neck muscles during the workout. Sometimes we move our heads forward when exercising without being aware of it. But I’m leaning to sleeping in perhaps a “forward head” or head tilted position.
If you were sleeping in an awkward position that may have caused the weird dream. Pain butts into our dreams.
I hope you felt the massage was helpful if you ended up going but if not ask the therapist if she knows how to treat the scalene muscles. This is not done by stretching them but rather by pressing into them to release any trigger points.
I hope this helps and hope you are already feeling much better.
Kathryn
Hi Eric, Thank you for your question. When you are right handed, the muscles on the front of your right side/chest/upper arm tend to be tight. Since bodies work on “equal and opposite” that means that the LEFT side of your back (the opposite side) is tighter. The two areas of muscle that need to be released/relaxed are: the right front side and the left back side.
It’s possible that you do something with your back muscles on the left that cause your knot/tightness. Perhaps you tense those muscles when you carry something?
Yes, nerves can be pinched or compressed by knots or tight muscles or even by bones which are being moved by those tight muscles.
Also, the lower back spasm may be part of the problem with the upper back knot. The upper back muscles actually attach quite low on the spine and the lower back muscles reach up to “talk” to them. You may be very surprised when you relax the muscles on the left side of your waist. It can cause a lot of relief on that whole side!
Hope this helps.
Kathryn
Hey Kathryn,
I was stretching, touching my toes, and really reaching out, when I had a major spasm between my blades.
From what you said I’m going to start stretching my chest and neck instead. I’m also going to learn to keep my head up and work on strengthening the back of my neck. I do a lot of sailing so I’m always pulling on lines under heavy tension, so I’m assuming this area of my back is really strong. I also do a lot of yard work and cutting, hammering, digging, etc. – hands out in front of me I also sleep on my sides equally. Age is 40.
Is there anything else you suggest?
Best Regards,
Greg
One thing to add. I notice when I’m sleeping and move around there is creaking in my neck, so the muscles are definitely too tight. Perhaps this is where I need to focus/stretch? If so, which work best?
Hi Greg, Thank you for asking! If I pretend that I am pulling on lines under heavy tension, I can really feel my muscles in my chest and the fronts of my arms working as well as the back muscles. All of the activities you mention use the front-of-body muscles, too.
Strengthen the muscles on the back side of your body from your knees to the base of your skull. More info on how at http://SimpleStrengthening.com Lengthen your calf muscles with thoughtful stretches.
Lifting your breastbone will take some pressure off your neck by positioning your head more over your body (like a toddler.) Your neck muscles won’t have to work so hard to hold up your head.
Yes, stretching the muscles in the front of your body from your knees to your ears will help complete your “muscle balancing.”
You may find more helpful articles at http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com Also, yoga can be really great for balancing, lengthening and strengthening muscles all over your body. Could be something to consider. 🙂
I hope this helps!
Kathryn
wow, so i over did some yoga last weekend and have this pain going on right now …. but i was wondering why my right side was more painful and going down my arm. ive had back pain for years after a car accident but have been doing pilates and yoga to help this is the first time in years ive had something this nagging happen …it SUCKS im more annoyed that i have to miss yoga than anything ….
all i can do is take advil and epson salt baths help ALOT … same with hot water bottles ….
i been doing mild stretches in the shower in the am as well with really hot water that seems to help as well ….
all you can do it take it easy and try not to aggravate it any further wich is what i did …i went to a pilates class and it made it worse …
sigh …..
Hi Leelaa, Probably one of the best long-distance suggestions I can make is to keep not exercising right now. Give your muscles a chance to settle down and get back to normal.
A muscle that I would guess might be causing your right side and arm symptoms is the lat (latissimus) muscle on the right side. If you can get someone to grab the muscle (not pinch–grab a handful of muscle) below your armpit on the right side and squeeze for a minute or two, that may cause the lat muscle to relax. If it’s very tender that could be the problem.
You might also want to try ice. It’s not as pleasant as heat though. There are articles here in the Category called Ice & Heat for more information.
Also you can go to http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com where there are more articles about natural relief for knots in backs and other back pain.
I hope this helps and I think you will recover really quickly.
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn,
I’m so glad I came across your site. I tried the “The Tennis Ball Therapy” and it definitely began to alleviate the pain around my shoulder blade. While this has helped, and I’m relatively certain I know of a few culprits that contributed to this pain, I was wondering if you may be able to clarify something for me.
The morning I woke up with the pain, It was literally unbearable. It faded (Over a month) into discomfort, then almost gone (without me doing anything). The pain seemed reminiscent of a muscle tear or muscle strain. It would come back as mild discomfort if I would help move a table or something like that.
My question is this: Can the muscle knot be bad enough to feel like a muscle strain/tear? Again, the tennis ball therapy definitely helped, and I’m HOPING it’s just a bad muscle knot!
Thanks!!
Hi Mike,
Thank you and you are welcome! I am so glad you had benefit. Perhaps in reverse: The strain in the muscle could feel like a knot (a spasm.) It’s truly amazing that we can hurt ourselves in our sleep. 🙂
Sometimes it’s from something we did the previous night but often we just sleep “crooked.” Maybe we laid too long with an arm out in front as we slept on our side and that strained the muscle. Or perhaps you slept with your neck tilted to the side and that caused an unhappy scalene muscle in your neck. If it gets trigger points, the scalene can cause a knot in the same area.
Even though it’s settling down, it could be coming from the neck.
I hope you will be able to take the time to go to http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com and look at the articles about knots there.
This could be an isolated issue that will never happen again after it’s done healing. Or, it could be a sign that there are muscles elsewhere pulling on that area which needs to be “released” to prevent recurrence.
I hope this helps.
Kathryn
Thank you so much for the advice. Over the past two days, I’ve been essentially “Releasing” a lot of tension all over my back and neck. I’ve been making sure that, If it felt like there was a knot there, I hit it with tennis ball therapy. I’ve noticed that since I did that, I’ve felt a lot less pressure in my back, and I seem to have loosened up. I’ve also noticed that I’ve had a sore feeling all over my back. It seems to be a good sore, like the feeling I get after working my back at the gym.
It feels a bit tender, and a good sore. I know that deep tissue massages sometimes leave you sore for a day or two, because you are not used to that level of pressure on muscle tissue. Is this normal, and should I take this as a good sign, for tennis ball therapy??
Again, thanks so much!
You are welcome. And Yay!!! You hit the nail on the head! Good job, Mike! Your muscles are not used to this new pressure or position and you are releasing them effectively.
Thank you for sharing your success. And remember, now it’s time to start stretching the muscles in the front of your body, too, so you will be well balanced muscularly.
Kathryn
Wow am I glad I found this site. I have been having pain in between my shoulder blades for almost a year. The pain only happens when I am actively moving around and goes away if I lay flat. I’ve been to the doctor and no heart problems. I’ve wondered if its from poor posture and started doing a few back strengthening exercises and tried the tennis ball approach too. The tennis ball helps temporarily. I can’t even stand to make dinner without taking a break and laying down now. Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated! Carie
Hi Carie,
The Tennis Ball Therapy helps most when the muscles or knot in the back is actually tight. Most likely, your problem area is TAUT rather than tight. Taut is like this: Imagine a rope and people are pulling on each of the two ends of the rope. That rope cannot relax because it is being pulled on both ends. Muscles are like that, too.
It’s likely that the muscles on the arm sides (the outside) of your back and the front of your chest and arms are pulling. Also, if you stand, sit and work with your head in front of your body, that causes taut muscles in your upper back (muscle strain.)
If you do too much back strengthening without giving your muscles a change to adapt, you will have soreness. It will be different from your usual pain and it will go away within a couple of weeks.
When you stand at the kitchen sink or counter, try placing one foot on the inside bottom of a cupboard or a small stool. That will take some pressure off your back.
Also, your counter may be too short for you. Perhaps you can put something safe and secure to lift the counter height?
Look down with your eyes rather than your whole head.
Use ice or cold therapy on your neck (all the way from your collar bone notch in front to the back side.) Use heat on the tops of your shoulders. There is a Category here, on the right hand side, which has articles for Ice and Heat.
When you lay down, don’t just lay there. Instead use that time to strengthen your back side. You will find articles to help you do that at http://SimpleStrengthening.com It will help you feel better faster.
And there are even more articles at http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com to explain the causes of upper back pain and natural remedies.
Carie, I hope this helps and thank you for writing. I also sent an email to you so you would have a quicker response.
Warmest,
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn,
I found this page very interesting. A lot of people here seem to be having the same or similar problem to me. I’m 24 and before my back pain I was very active and in good health. My pain is on my right side (dominant) between spine and shoulder blade and have had it for 4-5 months now. It’s a very painful sharp pain when I’m not on medication. I’ve had an MRI scan and it showed nothing, which didn’t make me feel any better! I can’t sit in a chair for more than 30 minutes and standing/walking for any length of time is painful also. I often get a itching sensation, which gets worse when I’m stretching my arm above my head or bending, but I try not to take anti-inflammatorys as I sometimes have a bad reaction. More recently, for the past couple of months I’ve noticed my right arm feels heavy, sometimes with a dull ache, and sometimes very slightly numbed which I found odd. It does sometimes hurt when I breathe in, but it’s not always which I also find odd. When this happens the pain gets worse the more I breathe in. Lastly, I sometimes feel as if the pain is behind my chest rather than in my back, I don’t know if that info helps. I am a tall guy, 6’5″, and my job was in a kitchen which of course means I was bending over/forward a lot because the surfaces are low for me. As well as that I have been told I have a postural problem, I sort of hunch my shoulders forward, perhaps because I feel self conscious about my height. I have had some osteo, it didn’t help but I was told that my back was very tight around the area. Previous to the pain, I had been doing free weights and push ups/sit ups for about a year. I’m scheduled for physiotherapy but honestly I’m not hopeful, and it’s making me very depressed indeed as I feel I can’t function (which upsets me because I have a history of depression, and life was good before this happened!). If I’m not on medication I’m in too much pain to do anything other than lay down, and when I’m on medication I’m pretty much useless! I try not to take too much codeine because I don’t like it’s side effects, but I do notice that if I don’t and I let the pain get worse I become very irritable and emotional. Something else that caught my attention was when you mentioned neck trigger points? For years I’ve had a habit of laying on my bed watching my tv in front of me as I don’t have comfortable chair to relax in, I’ve often wondered if it was bad for me to have my neck angled up like that or for me to be resting on my elbows for such long periods. Also you mentioned about short muscles in the front of your body. Which ones exactly? And how does this happen? I wonder as I’ve been building my chest and stomach up with exercises as best I can.
Thanks for the information thus far and any further points of view would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Ross,
Lots of good points and questions in your note. You have put your finger right on the potential causes and cures.
Your knot or pain is on your dominant side and that’s the most common location. Yes, your television viewing position is most likely adding to the problem. Yes, your tallness and posture are also part of the problem. Yes, working to create short, strong, tight muscles in the front of your body can also be part of it.
Strong muscles in front pull us farther forward. And a forward head posture causes pressure on the scalene muscles. They, in turn, press on nerves that run from the spine in the neck to the hand. Those are the uncomfortable sensations you are feeling. Nerves HATE pressure!
Physiotherapy will probably be designed to help you get straight and tall with a strong BACK. If it’s not, it should be. And the muscles in your neck are called the scalenes. I wonder whether your therapist will know how to help you “release” or relax those muscles. As I read your note, I thought several times, “must be scalenes.”
Because you are scheduled to go to therapy already I am hopeful for you. With a good therapist you will be able to get beyond this.
You can try laying on your opposite side to watch television. That will give your muscles some balance.
Strengthen the muscles in the back of your body. Include the muscles in the back of your neck and that will help you hold your head up over your body (instead of out in front.)
Muscles get used to the positions that we use most often. The short ones don’t complain but they cause problems elsewhere. The muscles that are weak and a bit too long are the ones that complain–those are the areas in which we feel uncomfortable symptoms.
I put together a program that can help you get rid of this discomfort. It’s called Knots In Your Back. And you can find many more articles about this problem at http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com
And the reason that the MRI didn’t show anything is because it a muscle strain. But that’s good news because that means it can get better!
I hope this helps and please feel free to write again.
Best,
Kathryn
Hi, I was wondering if you can help. I have been under a lot of stress but then pulled myself into a high truck and felt like I had hurt a muscle between my shoulders. It started with a pinching and then went into a complete spasm. I rested and it felt like it was getting better then someone failed to show up to clean a condo I had so I cleaned it with the same arm, my left. Since then I had had very bad pain across my shoulders and into my chest it is very scary. Should I see a chiropractor or have a massage what should I do. Thanks Helen
Hello Helen,
In my opinion, your best bet is a massage therapist. And it may be the muscles in your chest that are pulling on the muscles in your back. You can explore your chest and rib muscles yourself by pressing thoughtfully in all of the areas you can reach.
Muscles move bones so, in my mind, the first step is to see a massage therapist. But since this involved your pulling muscles (chest and arm) be sure that the therapist also checks out and treats those areas, too. If the therapist presses only onto your back, and if it seems painful but not like “good pain” (Ow, that hurts, don’t stop) then she is working on the wrong area.
In that case, guide her to the areas in the front of your body that seem tight and painful.
Thank you for writing and I hope this helps! (And feel better soon!)
Kathryn
I have what I think is a slightly different problem from everything I see here. For the past 16 years, I have suffered from very severe pain under and around my right shoulder blade and when it’s really bad, it radiates to my right side and lower side ribs and middle back. Massage therapists think it’s all muscular and doctors think it’s related to a torn rotator cuff (which has been partially fixed through surgery). I have had physical therapy, massages, sports medicine adjustments and now am on pain meds. I would not be functioning without them the pain is so chronic and severe. To me, it feels muscular but how can muscle pain be this severe? And when a massage therapist works enough of the muscles, the pain feels much deeper inside and more intense beneath the shoulder blade. If it matters, I also have sarcoidosis (in remission for years) on that same side), and broke that shoulder thirty years ago and a very slight pinched nerve on C7. I do try trigger point therapy and tennis balls, the works. I feel like I’ve tried everything out there. I can’t live like this. Everything I’ve looked up doesn’t seem to address this “spreading” type muscular problem that is so intense. And why such a stabbing pain underneath it all under my shoulder blade? I’ve had MRIs, xrays, the works.
Hello Anne,
Here’s my best long-distance guess:
Is your pain on the top front of your shoulder?
Do you have pain on the side of your arm that is closest to your your body when your turn your palm forward and your thumb away from your hip?
And do you feel pain or discomfort all around your wrist like a bracelet?
When you said “beneath” the shoulder blade do you mean on the inside of your body?
If so, this is what it is.
There is a muscle that is sandwiched between your shoulder blade (scapula) and ribs. It is the subscapularis. It can refer pain to all of those areas.
If all of the surrounding muscles are relaxed with massage but it is not, it is being allowed to go into even more spasm.
Some massage therapists know how to apply pressure to the subscapularis muscle to allow it to relax. They apply pressure between the scapula and ribs either through the armpit or from the spine side.
Muscles don’t tend to show up on medical examinations.
What can you do for self help?
Do you know how a tiger walks? It walks on all fours and ROLLS its shoulder blades. If you do that you will be stretching, warming and moving that subscap muscle. ‘Walk’ on your knuckles with your wrists straight. If you cannot get on the floor, move and roll your shoulder blades.
Here’s a video that may help: http://budurl.com/CircleArms It moves all of the muscles around the shoulder blade.
If this doesn’t sound like your symptoms, please write again. Give me more details about exactly where you feel your shoulder blade pain and we’ll start over.
Warmest,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi, I’ve been doing some searching on the net trying to find an answer to what I experienced last night. I had what I think was a charlie horse in my back, under my right shoulder blade and beside my spine. I know it was muscle as I was able to manipulate the pain to either a dull ache or a full spasm. It was hard to take a deep breath when in full spasm but on manipulation it was ok.
I have a history of back problems for the past 20 years or so. Right at this moment I’m dealing with a herniated disc and a trapped sciatic nerve as well as degeneration of the joints/spine/discs. I use a cane to walk when I am able to walk and since I am right hand dominant I lean on my cane that way. I’m used to lower back pain but this pain I experienced last night was the most excruciating pain ever. I have had chest wall muscle pain before too but even that was nothing compared to that.
I called the public health nurse here where I live and she agreed it was muscle since I was able to manipulate it and if it were heart pain it would not be able to be changed. I was very relieved to hear that!
I took some ibuprofen and put heat on it and it eased. Today I have the dull ache that is left behind after a muscle spasm. I’ve done some stretching and even managed to vacuum a little as well. It’s feeling tender but nothing horrendous.
Do you have any ideas what may have brought this on or how to help prevent an onset of another spasm? I’m unable to do much activity with my current back problems.
Thank you so much for all your help.
~JosieH
Hi Josie,
My best long distance guess is that you moved in such a way that it caused the muscle to spasm or contract. I don’t know whether you were asleep at the time. We do things in our sleep that we might not usually do.
You handled it well. Muscles do cause most of our pain. I found that Aleve (sodium naproxin) works very well for me when I have had muscle injuries (like falling.)
Here’s what you can try. The plan is to keep this from happening again so try these things to help the muscle finish relaxing:
1. Use ice or cold on the area, or alternate cold and heat.
2. I’m guessing that you cannot get up and down from the floor, right? But could you possibly lean against the wall with a tennis ball behind your back? If you can do that, apply pressure from the tennis ball (or a similar type of ball) to your area of spasm. Just lean on the painful area for several minutes. Then you will notice that you really don’t feel the ball much anymore. That is because your muscle is relaxing.
You might find more than one tender spot to lean on. It is not necessary to roll around, just lean.
Would it be possible for you to trade off sometimes and use your left hand for the cane? When we always lean or sit in the same positions, muscles can get pretty cranky.
Also try gentle, slow, thoughtful movements. If you watch the video at http://budurl.com/CircleArms it will give you some ideas. You don’t have to do extreme movements but muscles do like to move. 🙂 Even breathing deeply helps relax muscles on the chest and back.
I hope this helps, Josie, and I hope you feel better.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Pain sucks. 🙁
Hi Theresa, It sure does!
And that’s exactly why I write and explain WHY we get pain and HOW we can get rid of things like headaches, carpal tunnel symptoms, back pain and other uncomfortable symptoms.
When people understand the why and the how of how muscles and bodies work, then very often you can become pain free.
Best,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi,
I work 2 jobs; one fulltime 8 hour position with heavy computer work involved and one parttime position at home, but I work it as if a fulltime position (about 40 hours a week). The at home job is also computer based. I spend an average of 14 hours a day in front of the computer Monday – Friday, and Saturday and Sunday an average of 20 – 24 hours. I slacked off about a month ago when I could not hear my alarm sound in the morning. I also started experiencing tightness in my upper back and a painful pull at my right shoulder blade. My office at work is sometimes really cold and when i am there, it seems as though the tightness is worse. I just realized that i was not ergonimically set up at my professional job or at home. At my professional job, i moved out the computer desk with the keyboard tray and put my desktop and the keyboard on my desk. The monitors (there are two) had to be placed to the left of my desk so that i could see the people coming into my office. I realized my elbows were not at a 90 degree position while typing (my desk was too high for that) and my mouse is corded so i always had to reach for it. I have since moved my computer desk back into the office! My keyboard is in the keyboard tray now. At home, i have bought an office chair with arms and i work more at my desktop computer with the keyboard tray rather than at my computer that is positioned on a table. The keyboard is on the table which causes my arms to kept in a awkward position to type. I have started seeing a massage therapist…the first one that i went to, after 3 sessions, i realized she was not hitting the right spot. I went to a chiropractor who told me i was out of alignment and recommended a massage therapist. I went to the new therapist yesteray and the tightness in my upper back and right shoulder seems to have faded away! She said that i had tight muscles in my upper back, and she worked a spasm or knot for a while and it was painful but it hurt good. Today it is a little sore but much better. Also, one last thing that i left out – for about a year i was cradling the phone between my shoulder and ear. I was fed up with buying headsets for my at home job so i did this but it finally caught up with me. The chiropractor and the massage therapist told me to get a headset. I was doing the cradle method at work also and even on personal calls. I am afraid to do the cradle thing now! Also, because I sit for so long, I have to remember to get up and walk around which is what i was not doing. Any suggestions?
Hi Angie,
You are a busy lady!
An experiment was done with healthy college students. When they were deprived of sleep, they developed whole body discomfort. I know that either you totally love your work or need the money but sleep is as necessary as water is. I’m glad you slacked off. It’s hard for muscles to function properly and without pain when they aren’t rested.
The office coldness can be remedied by using things like a sweater. You have probably done that but how about a lap blanket or neck scarf? Don’t be shy–it’s your comfort that’s important.
I’m glad you found a good massage therapist. They are not all the same. It’s not uncommon to have some soreness following a massage. The tight areas weren’t used to being touched in that way. Please be sure that she also works on the muscles in the fronts of your arms and chest (you will be covered modestly.) Those muscles cause tight back muscles.
I cannot do the cradling thing either. Necks tend to get cranky when we cradle the phone between the ear and shoulder. Headsets are THE way to go! (Or speaker phones, when possible.)
Try this for your keyboard: I am able to place my keyboard in my lap and keep my elbows at the correct angle (and next to my waist) and my wrists straight when typing. Depending on how you are built, this might also work for you.
You are absolutely right. You need to get up and move around and put all of your muscles in positions which are different from your working position.
In order to be pain free, we need to have balanced muscles. That means we USE them all (we have over 600) and on all sides of the body. There are articles at http://SimpleStrengthening.com which will give you ideas about how to strengthen the muscles in your back. You can do them at home and at work. Once you get the hang of strengthening your back, it will feel so good that you will do it often!
If you set a timer for 15 or 30 minutes, it will remind you to get up and stretch and strengthen. “Just one more minute…” well, you know how that goes. And the next thing is that we have pain.
When you walk, stretch. Stretch your arms up and out and behind your body. Stretch your legs behind your body, too. Those front of body muscles need to be stretched and the back muscles need to be strengthened.
Thank you for writing. I hope this will help.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Thanks Kathryn for the insight and suggestions. I will take heed to what you have told me. I am a “just one more minute” person, and I end up glued to what I am doing. I even miss lunch sometimes trying to give it just “one more minute”. Not anymore. Thanks so much! I am so glad that I found this website. I have marked it as a favorite so that I can visit it regularly. Thanks again.
Hi Angie,
You are most welcome!
If you go to http://KathrynMerrow.com you will find tabs that will take you to all of my pain relief websites.
Thank you for your kind words,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn, I have been trying to find some googe answers and stumbled across your very helpful site.
I have been having problems following a fall at work. I fell backwards down a slight slope landing on my right shoulder and hip, then my head- hitting hard enough to send my glasses flying across the room. I ended up with concussion. I have had right shoulder issues diagnosed as a depressed shoulder, impingement and possible bursitis and have been going to my chiro wich has bought some relief, and physio which has been less succesful. THey have been strapping behind my shoulder blade and upper arm to neck which has helped.
Last week at physio they pressed a spot on my upper back which immediately cramped the muscles. This dissapated, but built up the next day and resulted in a Dr visit and valium. The next day the cramping had extended to the front of my chest and upper abdomin with a pain as bad as childbirth! This would seem to be related, but was wondering how can I avoid it happening again. The rest and valium are helping, but not bringing full relief. I am fed up as this has been ongoing since April.
Is there anything or exercise you could suggest, I am a chef and really need to use this whole arm and shoulder to do any/everything. I was wondering about tai chi or pilates?
Thanks for your time. R
Hi Reb,
Rather than tai chi or pilates how about yoga? The reason I suggest yoga is because it is full-body movement while tai chi tends to be more lower body. Pilates tends to be more aggressive than yoga.
Here are my best long-distance thoughts about the cramp. 1. The therapist accidentally pressed on a nerve which caused the cramp. If nerves are involved, the treatment of choice is ice/cold packs. 2. A trigger point is somehow involved. Trigger points are very irritable areas of muscle that cause pain. Often the pain in not where the trigger point is. 3. All of your muscles act as a unit so when one was aggravated it pulled on others who also became aggravated.
What I would really suggest for you is to see a highly skilled massage therapist. Massage therapists come in all varieties–some know how to do a relaxation massage only. That is NOT the person you need. You need one who specializes in trigger point therapy or neuromuscular massage and pain relief. You need one who can assess the cause of your pain and knows where to work to release the muscles that are at fault.
You might also find relief from a cranio-sacral practitioner since you had the concussion. They work to normalize the cranio-sacral fluid in the brain and spine with gentle, subtle movements.
I do have a video that might help at http://budurl.com/CircleArms Watch it and practice in your mind before you actually do it. Better to do too little at first than too much.
And if you scroll through the Massage Category here, you will come across an article about how to choose a massage therapist.
Also, thoughtfully try shoulder shrugs–up and back and down, up and back and down. Bursitis is often actually muscle pain. But when we feel the pain in a joint, we are diagnosed with bursitis. Muscles cross over joints.
I hope this helps. I look forward to you feeling better soon, Reb.
Best,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
hi there. I’m 33 and have been working at a desk for 14 years. the last few months I’ve developed a tightness between my shoulder blades. I’m right handed and it’s more off the left side but really feels like it’s generally in the middle. I feel it most when I arch forward and pull my shoulders together like I’m hugging myself. I had a massage done and it felt perfect for like 2 days but came back. I’m a VERY stressful and anxiety ridden person. the therapist said I had lots of knots. I also started lifting weights 4 months ago and worked heavy biceps and chest but never my back. the pain is not “pain” but a tightness feeling when I stretch it. and suggestions?
Hi Aaron,
Thank you for writing. You put your finger right on the causes of your problem.
1. When you round your back forward you stretch the muscles between your shoulder blades. This aggravates and strains those muscles.
2. When you work your biceps and chest but not your back, the front of body muscles get stronger. The poor back muscles get strained because now they are not ‘balanced’ with the stronger front muscles.
Knots come from over-stretching muscles. They will keep coming back unless you strengthen your back.
Bodies are really logical and you are going to feel better but you will have to do what your muscles require. I have very simple exercises/movements in articles at http://SimpleStrengthening.com but I think you can use weights if that is what you prefer.
Try this now: Squeeze your shoulder blades toward your spine. Wow! Does that feel as though those back muscles just ‘woke up’? That’s what they need. When they are stronger and more in balance with the muscles in front, they will be able to hold their own and be much less likely to get muscle strain.
Here is something else interesting: When your muscles are happy, you will most likely find that you feel a bit less anxiety. One layer of your discomfort will be gone and everything in the body works together.
I hope this helps you get rid of the tightness between your shoulder blades.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn, I see lot of people getting benefit from your advice.
I have this pain just below shoulder blades on the right side of spine. It started after a football match in weekend. In afternoon when i lied down, i feld its difficult to lift the head. I believe the cause is some jump during the football match. The pain is intense. first night after that I had to hold my head to lie down and get up. Turning head right or left i get pain below shoulder blade and is concentrated at one point. It seems reducing slowly, but i would like to know what is the reason? and what can i do so that it doesn’t happen again.
Hello Nilesh,
It sounds as though a muscle spasm happened in your neck. Or it might be a little farther down your spine. I think it will probably take about 5 days to go mostly away.
You got the spasm because something happened that moved your neck in the wrong way. This can happen from something as simple as sneezing and letting your head shoot forward. (I did that once. I will not do it again.) The spasm is often a way of your body trying to protect muscles or nerves from tearing.
The advice is usually to use ice for the first 48-72 hours after an injury such as this. Ice or cold will settle down the nerves in your neck or the back of your upper back. After that you can continue to use cold or switch to heat. You can even alternate cold and heat after 72 hours.
Even though you are feeling it below your shoulder blades, it may be coming from your neck and upper back so those are the areas to treat. You might also treat the symptom areas if cold to the upper back doesn’t seem to be making a difference.
Since you were involved in a very active, intense sport you did not have much control over your movement. The best thing you can do is to be sure to exercise and move ALL of your muscles in your neck and chest and back. Keep ALL of them strong and supple.
The people who are most likely to be injured in accidents are the people whose muscles are not well-balanced. You want the muscles on every side of your body and neck to be strong and happy. That’s the best way to prevent future injuries.
Thank you for writing and for your comment. I hope this helps you get rid of the pain below your shoulder blades.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi again Kathryn, just to say thanks for taking the time to get back to me. It seems my back problems are actually all sorts of tears and stuff in the shoulder that need surgery to be fixed. The back pain is getting checked out with CT scans just in case there’s any compression issues, but it’s probably all connected through the muscles and tendons etc. with the shoulder. Thanks for you reply, and I’ll certainly be back to your wonderful site after my surgery for tips on getting back on my feet as quick as I can.
Hi Reb, you are very welcome!
I wish you the best with your surgeries and speedy recovery. While you are recovering, do check out and read as much as you can about how bodies work and why we get into pain. You don’t want that to happen again.
Best,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn,
I was reading through some of your posts and am hopeful you might be able to help. I am a 37 year old female mother of two young children (1 and 5) and am otherwise healthy. Over two years ago, during the night I started having strange spasm like chest pains which radiate to the back of my shoulder (left side) and then my neck kinked (possibly from yoga earlier in the day). I went to the ER, had a work up several times as it didn’t ease up. I got pregant and it felt more like a left shoulder issue by then even though the chest pain didn’t go all the way away. I got a large knot behind my shoulder blade and a constant nagging ache and pain in my upper left chest. PT, chiro – no improvement but I was functional. Because of the injury and breast feeding, I noticed I had pretty badly rounded shoulders and it hurt to pull them back. During the weaning process I wore a tight sports bra with underwire and noticed I felt better – however it started to hurt to take it off – I believe it is the band that I became dependant on which went very low (I am only five feet tall). It feels like nothing is supporting my ribs in the upper left chest or something. My posture improved nearly overnight with the weaning. Since then I have had unbearable pain and difficulty breathing if I take off my bra (now wear non wire normal one) while upright – it acts as a brace on my ribs or something. Also, the knot is gone behind my shoulder after trigger point injections but afterwards my pain is increased significantly. There is a spot that any pressure is excruciating behind my shoulderblade – hurts to lay on my back more than on my sides (which also hurts) – injections were over a month ago and were mostly anesthetic and a tiny bit of steroid done by an anesthesiogist with an excellent reputation. Since then it feels like my shoulderblade is super weak and that I can’t pull it toward my spine without great effort and pain – before the injection I at least had the strength. I also have pain if there is any strap over my shoudler like a purse – trapezoid I think (before injection and after). Even before the injection (which the doctor says has nothing to do with the increased pain) it hurts to push a broom, vaccuum, etc. Now I can’t bear more than a few pounds of weight and can’t lift my 1.5 year old. All the docs, chiros, an PTs think it is strange and don’t know what to make of my symptoms. 1) Why does my pain hurt worse without the support of the bra and 2) why does the spot behind my shoulderblade hurt to have any pressure on it – not like a triggerpoint I don’t think – worse with massage, etc. and 3) how do I get better – I am so motivated and am running out of ideas to try. Four months of PT made me stronger (before injection set back) but never decreased the pain. Thanks for reading this and I look forward to your feedback!
I want to add that I have had every test under the sun – blood work all great, heart cleared, GI cleared, Rheumatologist cleared, MRI shoulder showed very mild peritendonitis of rotator cuff, MRI of thoracic spine showed mild degeneration T-9 through T-11 but no compression, Chest CT, Abdominal CT and MRI clear, HIDA scan..you get the idea. Tried several chiros, massage, PT, injections, not picking up kids for last month (lots of babysitters). Thanks again!
Hi Elana, Here is my best long-distance thought.
Most doctors don’t know much about muscles. I have a strong feeling that it is the muscle that is sandwiched between your scapula (shoulder blade) and ribs. That muscle is the subscapularis. A skilled massage therapist can press into that muscle from the sides to cause it to relax and relieve symptoms.
That muscle may have trigger points. Not only do trigger points cause pain, they also cause weakness in a muscle. And, they can cause additional trigger points and pain or dysfunction in other muscles. (Trigger points are hyper-irritable areas of muscle that cause pain elsewhere and are tender to pressure. But the key is that when a tender area is pressed, it causes your discomfort. If it doesn’t, then it’s not a trigger point.)
I’m glad your posture improved. Perhaps muscles around your ribs are complaining. Either they are short (in front) or weakened from your old posture.
Also, there are muscles in your neck called the scalenes. Please go to the Categories on the right hand side and go to Videos. Scroll through the videos and you will find a little video about how to release the scalenes. That will give you a good idea of where they are. Most doctors, etc., don’t know much about muscles and pain but these muscles can cause the knot in your back and pain in your chest and arm and hand.
The back pain is probably just a symptom. That is why it feels worse with massage. The massage has to be directed to the muscles that are causing the problems–not to the symptoms.
It’s hard to find a really good massage therapist but please try. That person can help you ‘unlock’ your muscle spasms. I’m guessing that it actually started in your neck and the shoulder blade is a residual symptom.
If a massage therapist (or any professional) just works where it hurts, they are barking up the wrong tree. If you go to http://StJohn-ClarkPTC.com and contact them, they may be able to give you references to good massage therapists who have had extensive pain relief training.
You are looking for a massage therapist who practices trigger point therapy or neuromuscular massage therapy. But don’t just take their word for it.
Ask lots of questions (see the Massage Category for an article about questions to ask your massage therapist.)
The bra question is very interesting. If I come up with a logical reason, I will get back to you.
The good things are: You are young and healthy. You just need to find the correct professional to help. Also if you buy a self-help trigger point book like the blue one in the right-hand column, you may discover a lot of your own trigger points and exactly how to treat them yourself (or with help; sometimes we have to explain to the persons who help us what they must do.)
Thank you for writing and I hope you find relief quickly.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
More good news, Elana. Since the tests showed ‘nothing wrong’ that almost always means muscles are to blame. And that is truly good news because muscles can be treated naturally.
Best,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi there
I’m 21 and have had a lot of shoulder pain, originating from around the acromioclavicular joint, which as the day goes on, spreads into my arm and hand, and into the top of my chest. My physio thought I had a C7 impingement but nothing has shown on the MRI. This pain has come on very gardually, starting a few years ago. It used to come on only when I had done something to obviously irritate it, carrying etc, but now is there from about midday each day. I’m taking a lot of painkillers now and don’t know what else to do. I had been referred to MSK consultant but as spinal MRI was normal they have discharged me. Any ideas what might be causing this? Now the GP is talking about nerve conduction studies….
I also had some spasms between the scapula around one month ago, on the same side as this pain (right).
Thanks!
Hello Sam,
You didn’t tell me exactly where in your hand or arm you feel the pain as it travels. That would give me more clues. But here are a couple of my best long-distance guesses. Please write again with more clues if neither of these is correct.
1. In medical terms ‘deep’ means behind a structure. There is a muscle that is deep to your collar bone called the subclavius. It refers pain to the area of the breastbone, the inner part of the upper arm, the thumb side of the lower arm and the thumb and first two fingers on the palm side of the hand.
Pressing up into this muscle from under the collar bone would release the trigger point that causes all of the above-mentioned pain.
2. The coracobrachialis muscle in the upper part of your arm on the front side creates a lot of pain in the AC joint vicinity on the front. On the back of the arm, it causes pain in the triceps, lower arm, and middle and ring fingers. The trigger point to press for this muscle is in the center of the coracobrachialis near where the pectoral muscles attach on the upper arm.
If one of these describes your areas of pain, and if your physiotherapist is not very familiar with exactly where these muscles are, get a good anatomy book or google them so you have a good visual.
If your symptoms are for areas different than these, please write again. There are many muscles that cause pain around the acromioclavicular joint.
Trigger point therapy will probably end up being your drug of choice. It’s a natural way to get rid of pain. If you scroll down on the right hand side of this website, you will see a blue self-help trigger point book. It is well written, easy to understand and to put into action. Just click on the link. The author actually cured his own shoulder (it’s a very interesting story!) by finding 20 trigger points and treating them himself.
I hope this helps. Pain pills aren’t the answer. Nerve conduction tests? How about finding out what might be causing pressure on the nerves first? That would be your friendly muscles, betcha!
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn
Thanks so much! Hard to describe…say your arm is relaxed by your side, the pain is down the front. If in anatomical position with arm held out and palm of hand upwards, the pain is lateral/outer. The hand pain is less specific and more of a general ache, but more so on thumb side I suppose…
Thanks very much!
Hi Sam,
I apologize for my long delay in responding! Please forgive.
Here are my best long distance guesses based on your description:
1. The muscle on the lower 2/3’s of your shoulder blade.
2. The muscle that is tucked behind your collar bone. You can reach it by going thoughtfully under the collar bone and upward.
3. The muscle that is on your lower upper arm which, when you are in anatomical position, faces forward and is above your elbow crease.
Press into these areas to check for tenderness or tightness. If you find tender areas you can apply pressure for 10-12 seconds.
Any of those muscles may be causing your discomfort. I am basing this on the supposition that you have the discomfort in your arm as well as in your palm?
Also, you may find more information at http://CarpalTunnelPainRelief.com
I hope this helps.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hello,
Lots of good advice here…..a few months back my husband had a bad attack of heartburn and pain in the upper right quadrant of his chest near his armpit. He thought he was having a heart attack….had tests and showed nothing….he worked construction for years and has always had a bad back with lots of disc problems, neck, shoulder, etc. this pain in his chest happened not long after he had been going to the Chiropractor for Sciatica and he had actually been pain free after a few visits. He went to family physician and had all kinds of tests and he told him it was a type of acid reflux and prescribed Protonix….it would act up and get very painful in his chest shortly after he went to bed…..started improving some but still bouts of real pain. We have an excellent Massage Therapist in the family and she wanted to see what she could do. Her findings were that he had several trigger points in the right side of neck and upper right back/shoulder blade area….after a couple of days of deep tissue massage and a couple of days of working on the trigger points plus massaging in Voltaren Gel seemed to help him so much for the first time. She explained that the pain in his back and neck was triggering the sometimes excruciating pain in his chest. It started up again because he had surgery on his kidney and has been walking hunched over for awhile now so I could just see that it would get bad again. The Massage Therapist lives too far away to have her help him any time soon so I am hoping if we use the tennis ball therapy and anything else you can refer me to would really help. She believes that the chest pain he has had is probably not heart burn but a pinched nerve somewhere in his back causing the pain. At times the feeling he gets in his chest is best described as short shocking sensations. The sad thing is he probably does not need to be taking this medicine. Physicians just don’t even think of things being caused by muscle spasms or pinched nerves. The doctors wanted him to have surgery on his back years ago and he refused. Chiropractors have been his answer for years but then as he got older he quit going as much as he used to and everything has caught up to him I think. He is 65 years old. What do you think? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated and video links to help would be great.
I sure hope this site is still active although I notice it hasn’t been used in awhile….well here’s hoping.
Thank You
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for writing and for your comments.
You are right; most doctors don’t think of symptoms being caused by muscles. They mostly think of what drugs they can prescribe to treat the symptoms because THAT is what they learned in med school. Somehow, the possibility of a cause doesn’t come up in the diagnosis.
There are excellent self-help trigger point books. I like the blue one by Clair Davies. You can see it on the right hand side of this page. Just scroll down and click on it. You can order it from Amazon or ask your local library. This book is excellent because it is easy to read and he explains exactly where a trigger point would be for specific pain and exactly how to get rid of it. I have it in my home library because it’s a great reference.
Mr. Davies had shoulder pain and discovered that he had over 20 trigger points causing it! He treated all of them himself because he couldn’t find an excellent local therapist like he had previously (she moved.) And then he wrote this book to help other people treat themselves and get rid of their pain.
Tennis Ball Therapy may help. Ice may help, too. But knowing where to press or apply the ice or tennis ball can help even more.
How’s your husband’s posture now? That is a good place for him to start working, too. There are simple ways to get a strong back in the articles at http://SimpleStrengthening.com
When backs are bent over or slouched, the muscles in the back get over-stretched and unhappy and they can develop trigger points. Avoiding this by having a strong back is a good idea.
I’m happy that you already have a good understanding of trigger points and how they cause pain elsewhere. Understanding that is half the battle. Maybe more!
It could be pressure on a nerve causing the chest sensations but guess what causes pressure on nerves? Usually it’s muscles! 🙂
The scar from the kidney surgery could be pulling on the rest of his body, too. Massaging the scar (if it’s all healed) and pinching it can help it relax and take pressure off the rest of the body.
Age 65 isn’t old and bodies heal all the time. Sometimes they just need a little help from an excellent author or therapist. Try to get your hands on a good trigger point self-help book like the one I recommended above and study it. Between you and your husband, I believe you can get rid of his symptoms.
Best to you both,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I can’t believe that you are still responding to these responses. Sounds like you are helping alot of people.
I’m approaching 40 and have a history of lower back issues for almost the last 20 years, since I herniated a disk in a car wreck. Recently I herniated a disc (L4-L5), again, and it was pressing on my sciatic nerve. It was debilitating. Sitting was excruciating, and there are some things you can only do sitting down without some sort of medical help. So before it came to it, I got a cortecosteriod (sp?) epidural injection. The next day I was 50% better. Things slowly improved over the next 2-3 weeks, but I had to shift my slipping habits to sleeping on my back or stomach. Sleeping on my side brought back all the pain.
What does this have to do with middle back pain? Well, now laying on my back, I get severe pain in my mid back, when I go to get up. It takes all my strength away–I can barely get myself to my feet. I have to wiggle and squirm to roll over on my chest, then put my elbows under me, bring my knees up, then I can stand. If I take a deep breath, my bid back hurts. I don’t recall doing anything to hurt it, except maybe lifting a 2 foot concrete well cap–but I standing straight. I know this sounds crazy/stupid after a herniated disk, but it really didn’t feel that heavy. I lifted it with straight arms, just shoulder strug and calves. Could that really be the cause? I seems fine until I lie on my back, or take a deep breath.
I’m taking some muscle relaxers now (Cyclobenzeprine (sp?)). Not sure what else to do.
Hi Jack, Thank you for writing. I do get messages from all over the world saying that my information helped and that is a very good thing!
The deep breath thing makes me think of the diaphragm muscle. It’s below your lungs and tucked up into your ribs. It also causes mid-back pain when it is in spasm. Some massage therapists know how to access it and cause it to relax. This is the muscle that allows you to breathe deeply.
Here are some suggestions for sleeping:
“Prop” your back slightly to that it is either level-flat or very slightly raised in the area between your shoulder blades and hips. Do this with something that feels comfortable, like batting that a quilt would be filled with.
Lay on the floor with your knees propped up onto a sofa or footstool or chair. You want your knees to be at a 90 degree angle to your hips. This position helps relax the back muscles because it takes the legs out of the equation. (Leg muscles attach to spines.)
There are muscles along your spine that could cause these symptoms, too. I’d really strongly suggest that you seek a massage therapist who can help. Ask friends for referrals or look for one who is a neuromuscular massage therapist or trigger point specialist. And ask whether they can do a diaphragm release, just in case that’s what’s needed.
I don’t think, personally, that there is anything wrong with using your muscles after you have healed from an injury. Just be thoughtful and pay attention to your body. If you stop moving you will start to lose muscle tone. Just hold in your stomach when you lift heavy things.
Also, disks don’t move on their own. They move when muscle tension pulls on them. Muscles move disks and bones.
Just keep it in your mind that this, too, is only temporary. Your body can heal. Bodies heal all the time including herniated disks and severe back pain.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach