Associated symptoms

The accompanying symptoms are highly dependent on the cause of the pain between the shoulder blades. The accompanying symptoms can also provide further clues to a cause, for example an organ area, and facilitate diagnosis. Muscular problems are often accompanied by pulling or burning pain, which is aggravated by movement.

Complaints of the thoracic spine can be acute or slow and creeping. Under certain circumstances, surrounding nerves may be affected, causing the pain to radiate and may result in tingling, numbness or even paralysis. Organic causes rarely only manifest themselves with back pain.

Acute diseases of a certain organ can cause further specific symptoms. If the heart is troubled, chest pain, pain in the left arm, shortness of breath and fainting may occur. Breathlessness can also become more severe when the lungs are affected.

Stabbing pain is an indication of acute pain with a direct trigger. Muscular complaints or spinal diseases are rarely acute, but a stabbing pain can be triggered by incorrect movements. If there is a strong stabbing pain between the shoulder blades without a recognizable cause or movement, an organic disease may be behind it.

A heart attack or peptic ulcer are typical causes of acute, sudden stabbing pain. Respiration-dependent pain can, in turn, stand for several clinical pictures. Breathing raises and lowers the thorax, causing movement in the ribs, neck and upper back muscles.

If the muscles are in severe pain, even the movement of breathing can trigger stabbing pain. The ribs or the bony spine can also be damaged if the breathing movement alone causes pain. Breath-related pain can also be localized in the lungs.Only the pleura is sensitive to pain there, which rubs along the inner layer of the pleura with every breath.

If there are inflammations or large tumors in the lungs, these can rub painfully against the pleura during breathing. In the thoracic spine, blockages of individual vertebral bodies can trigger pain between the shoulder blades. This occurs particularly frequently in the upper part of the thoracic spine or in the cervical spine.

The joints between two vertebral bodies can become blocked due to incorrect movement, resulting in acute stabbing, rapidly shooting pain. The vertebral body is restricted in its movement. The musculature tenses strongly, which is why it can take some time to release the blockage.

The blockage can be reversed by slight manipulation, i.e. manual intervention. Subsequently, the muscles must be loosened by means of movement therapy. If the pain occurs immediately after eating, the cause may be in the stomach.

The stomach is stretched by the ingestion of food. If the stomach is already irritated, for example by an ulcer, any food intake can be very painful with pain radiating into the back. Until healing is complete, easily digestible food must be consumed and fatty foods must be avoided.

In rare cases, there may also be a hole in the diaphragm through which the stomach enters the chest cavity. This is called a “thoracic stomach”. If the stomach expands due to food, it presses on surrounding organs and can cause pain.

Coughing is a reflex to remove foreign bodies from the airways. In the process, the diaphragm tenses abruptly and the entire respiratory system contracts. If the muscles are damaged, any cough can be very painful.

Coughing can also become painful in the case of prolonged infections and colds. Due to the many tensions of the muscles during coughing, the muscles can hurt and burn similar to a sore muscle. Swallowing difficulties are an unpleasant suffering.

Those affected subjectively have the feeling that they cannot swallow properly. At the same time, swallowing is often unpleasant and sometimes painful. If swallowing difficulties and pain between the shoulder blades are present at the same time, the person affected should be examined for an infection. A simple cold and pneumonia are possible causes for the parallel occurrence of both complaints.