A difficult period in life comes for a person when the back often starts to ache. This is not easy to bring discomfort and offers a lot of inconvenience, but it can also upset a person for a long time.
With the modern pace of life, the population often neglects their health, referring to lack of time. People try not to ask the question: why does the back hurt in the shoulder blade area?
They prefer not to waste precious time by going to the clinic and are treated at home, not suspecting that this signal could be a symptom of the presence of serious or even dangerous diseases.
Main reason
Why can there be a dull pain between the shoulder blades? Back pain symptoms in many people are associated with various mechanical injuries of the spine, pinched nerves, or muscle fatigue.
It should be borne in mind that the pain syndrome can be triggered by pathologies of the organs of the chest.
The causes of back pain between the shoulder blades can be conditionally divided into three categories:
- Diseases of the spine;
- diseases of the internal organs;
- Other factors.
It should be clearly and clearly understood that pain is a symptom and not an independent disease. Before you start using the medicines available in your home medicine cabinet, you should find out why: Why does it hurt in the back between the shoulder blades?
To do this, you should visit a medical institution, consult a doctor and describe in great detail the symptoms, the time of their occurrence and the possible provoking factors: injuries, professional activities, etc.
This information should help specialists determine the direction of the examination and make a diagnosis.
An inaccurate or premature diagnosis can be harmful to human health. Therapy may be prescribed, which will not bring a positive effect and will lead to the loss of valuable time in treating the root cause of pain.
It is important that a person himself understands the causes of pain and knows the possible list of pathologies that cause it.
muscular effort
Spasm or overload of muscle tissue does not belong to pathologies, but rather they are a symptom of excessive physiological stress, or vice versa, its absence.
According to experts, back pain in the shoulder blade area is often experienced by patients whose professional activities are associated with prolonged static muscle tension.
The risk group includes, first of all, people of the following specialties:
- cashiers;
- Employees;
- Programmers
- Drivers, etc.
However, doctors say that a person's professional activity is not always the root cause of this symptom. In many cases, during the examination of patients who complained of pain in the region of the shoulder blades, most of them presented with dysplasia.
Hereditary pathology, which is characterized by a defect in fibrous structures due to insufficient production of collagen, a substance responsible for the strength and elasticity of the connective tissue.
For this reason, muscle fibers and ligaments simply cannot withstand prolonged physiological stress.
Injuries
Perhaps the most obvious factor causing back pain in the shoulder blade area is injury. Various types of hematomas, fractures, sprains that occur on the back due to mechanical damage are necessarily accompanied by a strong pain syndrome.
Spinal injuries can pose a real threat to human health. Displacement of the vertebral discs or a violation of the spinal cord can provoke a total or partial sensitivity of the limbs, limitation of motor functions and, in special situations, lead to complete paralysis.
If the spine between the shoulder blades hurts for a long time due to mechanical injuries due to emergencies, you should seek medical attention immediately, even if the injury appears mild.
Any bruising or unsuccessful landing from above can cause damage to the vertebral discs, which can only be diagnosed with the help of special equipment.
Only a specialist after a visual examination and additional X-ray, MRI or computed tomography examination can assess the severity of the injury and prescribe appropriate treatment.
Intercostal neuralgia
The second name of this disease is thoracalgia. A disease that practically does not develop in children, but affects the elderly due to age-related changes, bruises and hypothermia.
It is manifested by sharp, aching painful symptoms in the region of the ribs. Back pain in the shoulder blade area is also a concomitant symptom, often manifesting and intensifying at the time of a change in body position.
Patients may feel complaints of pain when breathing, especially at the time of a strong inhalation or exhalation.
Attention! Back pain between the shoulder blades and other neuralgia-like symptoms can be a sign that the patient has heart disease. It is important to recognize the problem in a timely manner and take appropriate measures - this will save valuable time and possibly save the patient's life.
The main factor that causes explosive pain in the upper back with this disease is pinching or squeezing of the nerve roots.
This disease develops against the background of many factors: bruises, osteochondrosis, excessive physiological stress, metabolic disorders, stress, colds.
Muscle spasms or, conversely, excessive muscle tone of the extensors of the back, shoulders and shoulder blades can also contribute to the development of the disease.
The symptomatology of neuralgia is very similar to the manifestations of some pathologies of the heart: ischemic disease, angina pectoris. Timely diagnosis and timely response can save a person's life.
First you need to learn to distinguish between neuralgia and heart disease. For quick diagnosis, two main differences between these pathologies are used.
Neuralgia is characterized by:
- The pain syndrome persists for a long time;
- Symptoms are aggravated by body movements, when trying to take a sharp breath or exhale and press on the ribs.
The difference, for example, angina pectoris, is that neither body movement nor sneezing increase the pain syndrome. However, dynamic physical movements can affect heart rate and blood pressure.
Symptoms partially or completely disappear within minutes of using vasodilating drugs, such as nitroglycerin. To exclude the possibility of heart disease, contact a cardiologist and perform an electrocardiogram.
Spinal osteochondritis
Pain in the spine between the shoulder blades is considered to be one of the main symptoms of osteochondrosis. The disease is characterized by damage to the intervertebral discs.
In the course of development, the disease begins to affect other areas of the musculoskeletal system and can also affect the nervous system of the body. According to the localization of the development of the disease, lumbar, thoracic and cervical osteochondrosis are distinguished.
The main factor in the development of pathology is the malnutrition of the cartilage tissue of the joint. Previously, it was believed that this disease affects only the group of elderly patients, associating it with age-related changes in the body.
However, experts today note an increase in patients at a young age.
Experts refer to the main factors in the development of the disease: a sedentary lifestyle, a hereditary factor, salt deposition, an unbalanced diet.
Attention! If your back hurts in the area of the shoulder blades due to the diagnosis of osteochondrosis, remember: physical activity, the organization of a comfortable work environment and a balanced diet are effective methods of treating and preventing the disease.
Therefore, severe pain rarely appears due to osteochondrosis of the thoracic region. This section of the spine is the least mobile and degenerative tissue changes proceed much more slowly than in the cervical or lumbar region.
Often it is cervical osteochondrosis that is a very common cause of pain between the shoulder blades in the spine. The pain "shoots through" the entire spine, moving down from the upper sections of the spine to the lower back.
Spinal disc herniation
Herniated intervertebral discs, according to some experts, are present in 30-40% of the population at one stage or another.
Most often, this pathology affects young people who lead an active physical lifestyle. It is the injuries or intense physical exertion that are the main cause of the development of the disease.
The mechanism of the disease is simple. The intervertebral disc is a semi-liquid gelatinous substance, which is surrounded by a rather dense shell. The main task of the disc is to soften and absorb the movement of the vertebrae.
Due to various factors: injuries, weakness of the skeletal muscles, severe physiological stress, pathology of the spine, etc. There is compression or decompression of the spine and rupture of the outer shell of the disc.
At the same time, the gelatinous contents protrude into the spinal canal and compress one, two or more nerve endings, causing numbness in the extremities and pain.
Important! In the acute phase of the course of the disease, massage or warm-up sessions are categorically contraindicated.
Contrary to popular belief, in the treatment of the disease it is in no case advisable to give up physical exercises.
Refusal of physical activity has been shown to lead to muscle atrophy and prolong the duration of the disease.
In the early stages of development, a hernia is treated conservatively, but in the absence of positive recovery dynamics within six months, the question of surgical intervention can be considered.
Pathologies of the internal organs
Pain between the shoulder blade and the spine can cause diseases of the internal organs in a person.
First of all, this applies to the organs of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The most common respiratory problems are: tuberculosis, pneumonia.
Common diseases of the cardiovascular system are ischemic disease or, in ordinary people, angina pectoris. It refers to potentially life-threatening conditions.
It has similar symptoms with neuralgia and it is important to learn to tell them apart.
If you have symptoms: severe back pain between the shoulder blades, shortness of breath, cold sweats and a fast pulse, see a doctor right away.
With some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the back also hurts between the shoulder blades. The main reasons for this: peptic ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux, diffuse spasm of the esophagus.
These pathologies often cause the following symptoms: burning in the esophagus, aching pain in the chest.
Patients complain that it hurts in the center of the solar plexus and gives way in the back between the shoulder blades. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that back pain in the shoulder blade area can cause oncological causes.
Prevention and treatment
To determine an effective treatment for a particular disease, it is first necessary to answer the question: why does the back hurt between the shoulder blades? To do this, you should undergo a comprehensive examination by a specialist.
Treatment is prescribed after passing all the necessary procedures and on the basis of a diagnosis made by a specialist. With the development of some diseases, self-medication can be not only ineffective, but also dangerous.
As you know, any disease is easier to prevent than to cure. Back pain in the shoulder blades can have several causes. What to do to eliminate them?
The answer is simple: engage in prevention. Most diseases develop against the background of an unhealthy lifestyle: giving up bad habits, playing sports, eating a balanced diet, and this will reduce the risks of developing various diseases by at least half.