What causes shoulder blade pain and scapular knots?

Question

Hello doctor,

For the past few weeks, I have been experiencing pain or burning in both of my shoulder blades. It does not hurt at the same time, but it alternates and sometimes the pain goes down the back of my arms or in my armpit area or it radiates underneath my ribs and goes down my side (all in the back area, not front). I can feel knots in my scapula area as well and it hurts when pressing on them. Also when I turn my neck it makes a cracking noise all the time (crepitus) and does not go away. I do have bulging discs in my neck C4 and C5 and foraminal stenosis in C6 and C7. I see my chiropractor and unfortunately, it has not given me much relief in the shoulder and thoracic area. Does this sound more nerve and muscle related than an organ? I just am concerned about my gallbladder or pancreas, but all blood tests were normal a few months ago. I have a normal BP and a normal EKG. Kindly provide some suggestions.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thank you for posting your query. I have gone through your history, and a disc bulge at C4 - 5 levels would not cause pain around the scapula. However, your arm and axilla pain can be related to it. Knot-like feeling around the scapular region is due to the misfiring of the muscle units. The crackling sound from neck joints is a normal sound. I suggest you visit your local orthopedic doctor for clinical neurological evaluation for your arm pain. Feel free to discuss this further.

Thank you.