Back pain near left shoulder blade

41 year old man. Complaints of the back pain near the left shoulder blade, which spreads to heart area. He has been experiencing pains for about a week, associating them with strain at the gym (deadlift).

Objective examination: pain appear after a few minutes in the sitting position. Nothing hurts when lying down. Turning to the sides reduces the pain, tilting forward causes some change of its character. Extension sitting up is painless, lying down also. Springing of the thoracic vertebrae and ribs does not cause pain. Below the left scapula there is a scar from removal of a furuncle about ten years ago. The deep tissues below it in the intercostal area are painful on palpation.

Diagnosis: possible jamming of intercostal nerve by fibrotic tissues from inflammation and scar from surgery. Confirmed by the results of treatment.

Treatment: mobilization in motion increased the amount of painless flexion, but did not eliminate the main pain in the sitting position. Fascial deep techniques for the scar tissue and underneath.
☛  Fascial manipulations according to Luigi Stecco.

As a result, it was the connective tissue, fascial techniques after 5 minutes of their application that completely eliminated the already familiar sitting pain. The effect was long-lasting - after two weeks the problem had still not returned.

Pain in upper left back near shoulder blade. Conclusions.

A very interesting case by its strangeness, many clinical manifestations of which are opposite to those of the pain in the shoulder blade region, which are usual in my practice. For example, the pain increases when sitting upright and decreases when turning to the sides, unlike frequent blocked ribs. The main cause, as it turns out, is soft tissue dysfunction. Not joints of the spine or ribs, and it's not myofascial pain either. If I hadn't mastered fascial techniques (only joint techniques), I wouldn't have understood the real cause of the pain and wouldn't have helped the patient.

Grigori Tafi
Osteopath, sports medicine doctor
15 years of experience in osteopathy and manual therapy. Read more...

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