On-again, off-again ache in collarbone/shoulder area

Hi all! Never really used a site like this but figured it would be wise to get some input about something I've noticed over the past several months.

I am a 25-year-old male -- just moved to Florida last year and am thoroughly enjoying life; the climate here has allowed me to become more active (and yet also more relaxed at the same time). When it is not excessively hot or windy, I usually bike about 8-9 miles in the morning and also spend a decent amount of time over at Walt Disney World, which is about a short drive south and inland from me.

Back in probably March or early April, I was on one of my weekend trips there, and noticed a sharp pain in my lower left collarbone area. It also developed into a pain in my left shoulder that felt more like a tugging (I joked that I must've dislocated my shoulder and didnt realize it). Well, both pains wore off pretty quickly but I began to notice it again on other trips back down.

But almost only when I would go there — it rarely (if ever) flared up when I was at home. I attributed this to the backpack I carry with me there, which I thought may have been too heavy or tight for my own good, and stopped carrying it. But after doing so, I still get these pangs of pain.

Like most people, I do a lot of walking at Disney, but nothing overly strenuous; yet, when I am at home, where it’s often slightly cooler due to the proximity to the ocean and less humid overall, I almost never notice this flare-up. But it happens every time I’m in the Orlando area, and I’ve noticed it especially during the summer months since it is so hot and so humid all the time there.

Yet when I ride my bike at home, nothing happens. Even last week, I took a decent long walk on the beach in the evening and experienced no pain in my shoulder or collarbone at all. Yet, at Disney a few days before (just for the day — a very hot one), I got it almost immediately. I took a Tylenol, which relieved the shoulder pain (that came first), but within an hour the collarbone pain started again.

I’ve been trying to read up on what this may be (I know, not always the best idea!), and came across a number of different possibilities but the one that consistently seems to pop up is pericarditis.

We have a history of heart problems in my family (my grandmother, who is in excellent health for her age, just had open heart surgery in April after a surprise stress test result). But I’ve never noticed anything in my case that would give me concern; occasional indigestion but nothing more, and my heart rate tends to be in the 90s, but never more than 100 when resting (which is a bit high but I’ve been told isn’t exactly a cause for concern by friends in the medical field).

I also just got over a bout with Covid about three weeks ago, but this was long after I started noticing the aforementioned bouts of pain I get on occasion. It is possible that I could’ve had an asymptomatic case in the past that could be the root of this, but that’s just the thing — I don’t know for sure.

Some of the symptoms for pericarditis match these: pain in the lower left collarbone, or perhaps just below, hard to tell, but that general area, and my left shoulder, and both only seem to flare up when I’m in hotter, more humid climates and walking around, and they generally relieve themselves when I stop after a half hour or hour. But I don’t have anything I would’ve ever labeled chest pain, I only had a fever when I had Covid, and I never had a cough until I got Covid either, but that is even clearing up nicely. Likewise, I don’t find myself short of breath unless I’ve over-exerted myself in some way (I do have asthma, but it’s not as bad as it once was, when I was a kid).

But I can’t find any other possible answers about what could be causing these flare-ups. Even I know how crazy it sounds — always happens in the same location (and I can assure you it’s not stress, because I’m literally on vacation when it happens) and when active but almost never when I’m active away from there.

If anyone has any ideas I'm more than willing to hear you out! I have not had a doctor check it out, because I usually don't think about it when it doesn't happen (not too frequently and only under certain circumstances). But it happens almost as a routine at this point so I'm not sure if I should be concerned, nor if this could be pericarditis or some sort of arthritis or what have you.

Thanks for reading that mouthful, and I appreciate your input.

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