Pain Under Left Shoulder Blade

Shoulder blade or scapula is a triangular bone that connects the upper arm bone and the collarbone. It has ridges on its ventral surface, which provides for the attachments of tendons, which, in turn, join the muscles from the surrounding organs to this bone. The inflammation of these tendons in shoulder can be really painful and can limit the range of movements you can execute. It may not allow you to raise your affected hand above the shoulder level, which you may need to do while doing various bodily movements such as combing your hair. An episode of shoulder blade pain when breathing can be really discomforting. On the other hand, pain in this area can also be due to some other causes which you can identify by knowing more about this condition.

Causes of Pain in the Shoulder Blade Area

The following are the left shoulder blade pain causes:

• The pain may have its origin in the structural injuries to the components of the shoulder blade, such as bones and ligaments.
• An injury to the muscles of the left shoulder blade, during exercise or while lifting a heavy load.
• Bursae are fluid filled sacs that are positioned between the bones and the muscles passing over them. During the contraction and relaxation of muscles, bursae act as cushions effectively preventing the friction. Inflammation of bursa (bursitis) located in the shoulder area, can cause pain.
• Overused, sprained and strained muscles of the rotator cuff leads to the shoulder pain. Four main muscles and tendons come together to make a rotator cuff, every one of which come into play whenever there is a shoulder movement. Of these, subscapularis muscle lies under the shoulder blade and is not easily reachable.
• Overuse of muscles sometime cause them to spasm and prevent them from getting rid of their waste products. It results into knots which are made of hard and soft tissues. These are also called trigger points and can be a cause of the pain under left shoulder.
• Arthritis or osteoarthritis affecting the bones of shoulder, due to advanced age or any deformity in the bones, along with dislocation of the bones of left shoulder can also lead to the pain.
• Rheumatoid arthritis and wear and tear of the cartilage lining the shoulder joint can lead to inflammation and pain in the left shoulder area.
• Another cause of pain in the left shoulder is the fracture of the scapula, due to a fall or an accident.
• Osteoporosis is a bone condition in which lack of calcium makes the bones brittle. A minor fall can fracture the shoulder bone, leading to the pain.

If you can locate, whether the pain is occurring in the left shoulder blade or under it, it will help your doctor in pinpointing the cause.

Other Causes

The pain felt under the left shoulder blade has nothing to do with the pain due to tendonitis or the other injuries to it. The following is information which may help you in understanding the causes behind it.

Instant diagnosis of this pain is difficult as its cause may lie outside the left shoulder altogether. It can be due to the pain in some other distant body organs.

• The pain radiating from the gall-bladder, due to its inflammation or the presence of gallstones is generally, felt in the right shoulder blade. However, occasionally, it can also be felt under the left shoulder blade.
• Pain due to the inflammation of the pancreas, pleura, or pericardium, in some cases, may also be felt under the left shoulder blade.
• It may also be felt because of the ulcers in the stomach or intestine.
• The pain felt during a heart attack may gets transmitted to the left shoulder blade via nerves present in the chest.
• Health conditions such as pulmonary embolus, pneumonia and aortic dissection can also be a cause of pain in the left shoulder blade.
• It can also indicate cancer of the upper end of the humerus or ectopic pregnancy.

The pain felt in the shoulder blade area not only means that something is wrong with it, but in some cases, it may also means that some other body organ is not well. In such a situation, it is better to take professional advice to know, how serious it is and the remedy for it.