Do you know, what the pain under left shoulder blade, actually means? To know more about the pain under left shoulder blade, read on... Shoulder blade or scapula is a triangular bone. This bone has ridges on its ventral surfaces, which provides for the attachments of shoulder blade tendons, which join the muscles to the bone. The inflammation of these tendons causes pain in left shoulder blade. An intense left shoulder blade pain can limit the range of movements you can execute. It may not allow you to raise your left hand above the shoulder level, which you may need to do, while combing your hair. The pain in left shoulder blade may also cause you difficulty while breathing. You may also be bothered because of the pain in the left shoulder blade area, due to some other causes, which you may identify with symptoms like left shoulder blade. Read more on shoulder blade pain when breathing.

Causes of Left Shoulder Blade Pain

The following are the left shoulder blade pain causes:

• The sources of this pain may be due to structural injuries to the components of the left shoulder blade, such as bones and ligaments.
• An injury to the muscles of the left shoulder blade, suffered during exercises or while lifting a heavy load can give you pain.
• Bursa are fluid filled sacs, which act as cushions, between bones of left shoulder and the muscles passing over them, during the contraction and relaxation of muscles. Inflammation of this bursa i.e. bursitis, can cause pain in the left shoulder blade.
• Sprained and strained muscles of the rotator cuff leads to the left shoulder pain.
• Arthritis or osteoarthritis affecting the shoulder bone, due to advanced age, along with dislocation of the bone of left shoulder can also lead to left shoulder blade pain.
• Rheumatoid arthritis and wear and tear of the cartilage lining the shoulder joint can lead to inflammation and pain in the left shoulder blade.
• Another cause of the pain in the left shoulder is fracture of the scapula, due to a fall or an accident.
• Osteoporosis is a bone condition in which lack of calcium makes the bone brittle. A minor fall can result in fracture of the shoulder bone, leading to the pain.

If you can locate, whether the pain is occurring in the left shoulder blade or under it, it will help your doctor in pinpointing the suffering organ. The pain under left shoulder blade causes are presented below. For some measures that you want to take regarding shoulder blade pain, you can read the article on shoulder blade pain relief.

Other Causes of Pain Under Left Shoulder Blade

The pain, due to tendinitis is not the only kind of pain you may feel in the area of the left shoulder blade. The pain felt under left shoulder blade has nothing to do with the pain due to tendinitis or the other injuries in the left shoulder blade. The following is information on the pain under left shoulder blade, which may help you in understanding the causes behind it.

Instant diagnosis of the pain under left shoulder blade is difficult, as there maybe many causes of it. However, it signifies one important fact that the reason behind it, lies outside the shoulder. The pain under left shoulder blade can be due to pain in some other distant body organ. The following are some pain under left shoulder blade causes related to other organs of the body:

• The pain radiating from the gall-bladder, due to its inflammation or the presence of gallstones is generally felt in the right shoulder blade. However, occasionally, it is felt under the left shoulder blade.
• The cause of the pain under the left shoulder blade may lie in inflammation of the pancreas, pleura, or pericardium.
• It may also have been caused because of the pain caused by ulcers in the stomach or intestine.
• The pain felt during a heart attack may get transmitted to the left shoulder blade via nerves present in the chest.
• The pain felt due to the health conditions such as pulmonary embolus, pneumonia and aortic dissection can also radiate to the left shoulder blade.

The pain under left shoulder blade, not only causes you pain, it also affects your freedom of movements. It is better to take professional advice to get rid of it. hope the above information on the pain under left shoulder blade is satisfactory.
Shrinivas Kanade
Published: 12/11/2009