A difficult period of life comes for a person when his back often begins to hurt. This is not easy to cause discomfort and brings many inconveniences, but it can also unsettle a person for a long time.
With the modern rhythm of life, the population often neglects their health, citing lack of time. One tries not to ask the question: why does the back hurt in the shoulder blade area?
They prefer not to waste valuable time going to the clinic and are treated at home, not realizing that this signal can be a symptom of the presence of serious or even dangerous diseases.
main reasons
Why can there be a dull ache between the shoulder blades? Symptoms of back pain in many people are associated with various mechanical injuries to the spine, pinched nerves or muscle strains.
It should be borne in mind that the pain syndrome can be triggered by pathologies of the chest organs.
The causes of back pain between the shoulder blades can be conditionally divided into three categories:
- diseases of the spine;
- diseases of internal organs;
- other factors.
It should be clearly understood that pain is a symptom and not a disease in its own right. Before you start using the drugs available in your medicine cabinet, you should find out the reason: 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 detail the symptoms, the time of their appearance and possible provoking factors: injuries, professional activities, etc.
This information is intended to help professionals determine the direction of the investigation and make a diagnosis.
Inaccurate or untimely diagnosis can harm human health. Therapy may be prescribed that does not have a positive effect and leads to the loss of valuable time in treating the main cause of the pain.
It is important for a person himself to understand the causes of pain and the possible list of pathologies that cause them.
muscle strain
Spasms or overstrain of muscle tissue do not belong to pathologies, but are a symptom of excessive physiological stress or, conversely, its absence.
According to experts, back pain in the area of the shoulder blades is often experienced by patients whose professional activity is associated with persistent static muscle tension.
The risk group mainly includes people from the following disciplines:
- Cashier;
- Office worker;
- programmer
- drivers etc.
However, doctors say that a person's professional activity is not always the main cause of this symptom. In many cases, when examining patients who complained of pain in the shoulder blade area, dysplasia was found in most of them.
Hereditary pathology characterized by a defect in the fibrous structures due to insufficient production of collagen - a substance responsible for the strength and elasticity of connective tissue.
Because of this, muscle fibers and ligaments simply cannot withstand sustained physiological stress.
injuries
Perhaps the most obvious factor that causes back pain in the shoulder blade area is an injury. Various types of hematomas, fractures, sprains that occur as a result of mechanical damage to the back are inevitably accompanied by a severe pain syndrome.
Spinal injuries can pose a real threat to human health. Displacement of the intervertebral discs or injury to the spinal cord can result in total or partial tenderness of the limbs, motor impairment and, in special situations, complete paralysis.
If the spine between the shoulder blades hurts for a long time due to mechanical injuries as a result of emergencies, you should immediately consult a doctor, even if the injury seems minor.
Any bruise or unsuccessful landing from a height can cause damage to the intervertebral discs, which can only be diagnosed with the help of special equipment.
Only a specialist doctor, after a visual examination and additional X-ray, magnetic resonance or computed tomography, can assess the severity of the injury and prescribe appropriate treatment.
intercostal neuralgia
The second name for this disease is thoracalgia. A disease that practically does not occur in children, but affects older people due to age-related changes, bruising and hypothermia.
It manifests itself through acute and aching pain symptoms in the area of the ribs. Back pain in the area of the shoulder blades is also a side effect, which often occurs and intensifies when there is a change in posture.
Patients can hear complaints about pain when breathing, especially at the time of a sharp inhalation or exhalation.
Attention! Back pain between the shoulder blades and other symptoms resembling neuralgia can be a signal that the patient has heart disease. It is important to identify the problem in time and take appropriate action - this saves valuable time and potentially saves the patient's life.
The main factor that leads to upper back bursting pain in this condition 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 extensor muscles 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 a quick diagnosis, two main differences between these pathologies are used.
Neuralgia is characterized by:
- The pain syndrome lasts for a long time;
- Symptoms are made worse by body movements when trying to inhale or exhale sharply and pressing on the ribs.
The difference, for example, with angina pectoris is that neither movement of the body nor sneezing increase the pain syndrome. However, dynamic physical movements can affect heart rate and blood pressure.
Symptoms partially or completely disappear within minutes after using vasodilators such as nitroglycerin. To exclude the possibility of heart disease, consult a cardiologist and do an electrocardiogram.
Osteocondritis of the spine
Pain in the spine between the shoulder blades is considered one of the main symptoms of osteochondrosis. The disease is characterized by damage to the intervertebral discs.
As the disease develops, it begins to affect other parts of the musculoskeletal system and can also affect the body's nervous system. Depending on the localization of the development of the disease, lumbar, thoracic and cervical osteochondrosis are distinguished.
The main factor in the development of pathology is malnutrition of the cartilage tissue of the joint. Previously, it was thought that this disease affects only the elderly group of patients, which is associated with age-related changes in the body.
Today, however, experts note an increase in patients at a younger age.
Experts point 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 because of the diagnosis of osteochondrosis in the area of the shoulder blades, remember: physical activity, the organization of a comfortable workplace and a balanced diet are effective methods of treating and preventing the disease.
Therefore, severe pain rarely occurs due to osteochondrosis of the chest region. This section of the spine is the least flexible, and degenerative tissue changes are much slower there than in the neck or lumbar region.
Often, cervical osteochondrosis is a very common cause of pain between the shoulder blades in the spine. The pain "shoots through" the entire spine and extends from the upper sections of the spine to the lower back.
Herniated disc of the spine
According to some experts, herniated discs 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. Injuries or heavy physical exertion are the main causes of the development of the disease.
The mechanism of the disease is simple. The disc is a semi-liquid jelly-like substance surrounded by a fairly dense envelope. The main task of the intervertebral disc is to absorb and absorb the movement of the vertebrae.
Due to various factors: injuries, weakness of skeletal muscles, severe physiological stress, pathology of the spine, etc. Compression or decompression of the spine occurs and rupture of the outer shell of the intervertebral disc.
At the same time, the gelatinous contents enter 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, massages or heat treatments are generally contraindicated.
Contrary to popular belief, in the treatment of the disease in no case is it recommended to abandon physical exercises.
It has been proven that the rejection of physical activity leads to muscle wasting and prolongs the duration of the disease.
At the initial stages of development, a hernia is treated conservatively, but if within six months there are no positive dynamics of recovery, the question of surgical intervention can be considered.
Pathologies of the internal organs
Pain between the shoulder blade and the spine can lead to diseases of the internal organs.
First of all, this applies to the organs of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The most common respiratory diseases are: tuberculosis, pneumonia.
Common pathologies of the cardiovascular system are ischemic diseases, or in ordinary people "angina pectoris". Refers to potentially life-threatening pathologies.
It has symptoms similar to neuralgia and it is important to learn to distinguish between them.
If you have symptoms: severe back pain between the shoulder blades, shortness of breath, cold sweats, and rapid pulse, seek medical attention immediately.
In some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the back between the shoulder blades also hurts. The main reasons for this: gastric ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux, diffuse spasm of the esophagus.
These pathologies often cause the following symptoms: burning sensation in the esophagus, aching pains in the chest.
Patients complain that it hurts in the middle of the solar plexus and gives way in the back between the shoulder blades. It should also not be ruled out that back pain in the area of the shoulder blades can have oncological causes.
prevention and treatment
In order to determine an effective course of treatment for a particular disease, it is first necessary to answer the question: why does the back between the shoulder blades hurt? To do this, you should undergo a comprehensive examination by a specialist doctor.
Treatment is prescribed after passing all the necessary procedures and on the basis of a diagnosis made by a specialist. With the development of certain diseases, self-medication can be not only ineffective, but even dangerous.
As you know, any disease is easier to prevent than to cure. Back pain in the shoulder blades can have different causes. What to do to eliminate them?
The answer is simple - get involved in prevention. Most diseases arise against the background of an unhealthy lifestyle: abandon bad habits, exercise, eat a balanced diet, thereby reducing the risk of developing various diseases by at least half.