help please chest and shoulder back pain

Posted , 31 users are following.

please can anyone help i am having pain in the centre of my chest which radiates through to my back left shoulder blade .a couple of years ago i had a trip to a & e with the same thing they kept me in 2 days and was told if was osophigitis .i have suffered on off with this for years and to be offered no further test but the past year i have has also bad ear ache 1/2 times a week .when i went to the docs monday he sent me for a chest xray and prescibed diclofenic saying its muscular .i feel like i am am banging my head against a brick wall sick of feeling unwell and no help from gp .when i mentioned ear ache to gp he said it has nothing to do with the pain i have but since reading many sites ear pain can be related to gerd..can anyone please help and any suggestions welcome thankyou xxx

6 likes, 31 replies

31 Replies

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  • Posted

    Please ask to have a gallbladder scan. Gallstones can cause severe pain in the centre of the chest (almost like a heart attack) and the pain can radiate to the left or right and in the back. I was being treated for hiatus hernia/Barrett's but my Consultant also had my gallbladder checked, thank goodness. The gallbladder is now removed and I hardly ever get the severe chest pain. I am not sympton free because of my existing conditions but life is so much better without the pain.

    I always suggest that people on this experience site also read through the gallstones site. The similarities are amazing.

  • Posted

    I have a chest pain in the middle of my chest that goes in my back also. And it feels deep. Also sometimes feels like its under my ribs. I get a flutter that is in the middle of my chest i can feel in my throat. Afyer i feel the flutter i feel like there air trapped in my chest. I get weezy everyday. Thats when the pain seems to come. I have no idea whats goin sad someone please help

    • Posted

      I have this same exact thing. It feels like I'm having a hiccup in my chest (not really a hiccup just a flutter that catches me off guard).

      Have you found any answers? The doctors don't know what it is. I've had two EKG's and a chest x-ray and everything came back fine.

    • Posted

      I have center chest pain that comes every time I also have a left shoulder blade pain, either under my shoulder blade or just below it.  It all originated 2 months ago by pulling a wagon full of bottled water for about a fourth mile, I used my left hand to do it.  Shortly after I had exactly what you say, a flutter in my throat area and like dd24kids said, a hiccup in my chest or like I swallowed an insect.  The flutter sensation happens only every couple weeks now, but the pain in the chest with the back seems to be much more frequent and scary to me.  In fact I've been to the ER 2 times, and they check your heart and all indications are my heart is fine even with an echocardiogram and stress test.  The pain can get really bad, but only once every two days or so.  Lots of Ibuprofen helps take care of it.  Now I kind of agree with the thought that the pain seems to be under my sternum and ribs not in them but it is hard to tell.  Thus it kind of fits the costocondritis belief, but if it is not the inflammed rib area then what is it.  I do have a hiatal hernia, but all the signs of that being the problem seem improbable.  No reflux etc.  Today i had a pain level of a 9 after lifting light boxes of stuff, later in the day I danced with as a parent at my daughters dance class, felt fine.  Driving me crazy.  Will see a masseuse tomorrow for my second time ever, not as exacting as a PT but it sure seemed to relieve the pain the first time.  Maybe it is a "stuck" muscle, I can only hope.  Any reasonable input, I'll be glad to hear. 

  • Posted

    same problem with me please can help anyone........
    • Posted

      Hello, I was watching a TV programme about GP's and their patients the other day, and was interested to hear a condition which apparently sounded like the previously mentioned conditions and what I am suffering !! It is called" Costachrondritis" and is apparently a common ailment !! It did not say what the cure was if any but it should go on it's own accord ? Hope this enlightens the subject a little more ?? Regards,

    • Posted

      I had costochondritis a couple years ago and had three rib blocks done.  Those were done as an out-pt procedure.  I was sedated, then the doctor injected a steroid in between my ribs where the pain was.  He said rib blocks could only be given every 2-3 weeks and only up to 3 at a time, then wait at least 6 months before more could be done.  They helped me, but it was a year before the pain was completely gone.  The injections continue to work for a long time after given to get rid of the inflammation.  Hope this helps you.
  • Posted

    Guest, we would so appreciate knowing what was done to release the muscle spasm and what exercises you were given.  Thank you.
  • Posted

    hello all, I am brand new here but pain not new. I am so. thankful to find this forum. Not glad you are all suffering with me of course, but relieved and sort of comforted.

    I had begun to feel like a hypochondriac but knowing I am not. Who would WANT this horrendous and crippling pain?!

    Now I have found people to understand I will be checking this forum regularly.

    I have just come through possibly the worst night ever. So hard to accept its not angina or heart attack. Pain starts out of the blue, centre chest, usually so gripping and fierce it just burns through to my back. This time spreading through my whole chest, even into boobs (sorry!) radiates up into throat, inside roof of mouth, one or both jaws, arms... takes a lot of willpower to believe it's not my heart. I am 62 year old lady. non smoker, teetotal, slightly overweight, prob need to shed a stone. I have early stages copd, using Spiriva and Symbicort. Have underactive thyroid being treated. From 2 cameras, I know I have hiatus hernia but no suggestion of fixing it. My extreme pain has been variously diagnosed as acid reflux, costochronditis, oesophagul spasms, and oesophagul thrush having spread from my mouth and throat. This caused by antibiotics and I then have ti take Fluconazole to get rid of thrush. Had gallbladder out 7 years ago. Recent visit by paramedics showed my blood sugar to be 9.9 two hours after eating. Should go back to gp but they can be very patronising due to my long term depressive illness, I hear the shutters go down, and feel I am not taken seriously. Believe me, the stigma to mental health issues is alive and kicking! Yet I am a good mum and granny, worked hard all my life, have hobbies, am intelligent etc etc.

    I should probably agree to another endoscopy. I had two already. The first was fine, I was well sedated and no afterpain. The second at different hospital was horrible. Not enough sedation and didn't wait for it to take effect. Afterwards I was literally screaming in pain, and needed morphine. I feel I need a definitive diagnosis. I also worry about ulcers or cancer. Sorry for lengthy introduction....

    • Posted

      The pain I had was in my front shoulder/chest, shoulder blade, and ran down my arm, especially in my elbow and hand.  I was also experiencing numbness, so I thought it may have been a pinched nerve.  I went to the chiropractor a few times, which helped, especially the last time when he adjusted my top rib.  That stopped the pain from running down my arm and hurting my elbow so much.  It also stopped most of the hand numbness.  

      I also found some PT exercises online which helped me with elbow and hand pain.  It was to hold my arm straight out, palm down, then bend my wrist so my hand was bent down at a 90 degree angle.  This seemed to relieve pressure on my elbow and remove some pain and numbness.  My husband also prayed for me, which helped me tremendously.  

      Hope all this helps you.

    • Posted

      hello, and thanks for all your advice. I am glad to hear you have got some relief. I will bear your experiences in mind. God bless.
    • Posted

      Thanks for the response.   For my muscle spasms I found that a rather large cold pack sometimes stop a spasm when I feel one coming on.  Chest pain can be caused by so many things, but for me I believe the tightness starts in between my shoulder blades, so I am strengthing my rhomboid muscles and stretching chest muscles.  I am improved but still have problems.
  • Posted

    I didn't have my period for like three or four months they told me it could be because I smoke alot so I stopped for like two weeks then it came and then right after I started to get pain on my right side abdominal area very strong but not constant and it traveled to my lower back n upper back and alot tightness in my chest when I tried breathe what can this be

  • Posted

    I have same pain under ribs going through to my back . Now it's hurting lower part of my ear. Pain will not stop no matter what I do . I had a scoop done found nothing. I am on two stomach pills and still no help. Pain pills don't help . This can't go on much longer I just can't take it . What should I ask the doctor to check out . 

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