Shoulder blade pain: Causes, symptoms and treatments

You go to reach toward the top shelf in your kitchen cabinet and suddenly feel pain in your shoulder blade. You slip and hit your shoulder hard against a wall and wake up the next day with severe shoulder pain. No matter the incident, you’re experiencing pain and want to know why.

Depending on your symptoms, your pain could be a sign of something as minor as a muscle strain to as severe as a dislocated shoulder. Continue reading to learn more about the potential causes of your shoulder blade pain, other symptoms to look out for, and what you can do to reduce your pain.

What could be causing my shoulder blade pain?

Your shoulder blade pain could be a symptom of a variety of injuries:

• Muscle strain — A muscle strain is the partial or complete tear of the muscle fiber, often due to overuse or misuse of the muscle. A muscle strain can be caused by a sudden traumatic injury, such as a slip or fall. It can also be caused by repetitive motion overusing the muscle and causing it to tear, such as exercise, poor posture, or heavy lifting.

• Rotator cuff injury — The rotator cuff is the group of muscles responsible for keeping the upper arm within the shoulder socket. A rotator cuff injury is a tear in one or more of these muscles. Rotator cuff tears are most often caused by everyday use of the tendons wearing down the muscles over time. As such, rotator cuff injuries become more common with age. They are also common in people with jobs that require repetitive overhead arm motions, such as carpentry.

• Shoulder dislocation — A dislocated shoulder is an injury in which the upper arm bone pops out of the cup-shaped shoulder socket. The shoulder is the body’s most flexible joint and most susceptible to dislocation. Sports injuries, landing awkwardly after a fall, or taking a hard blow to the shoulder are all potential causes for shoulder dislocation. If you dislocated your shoulder, you would know the moment it happened. Shoulder dislocation causes immediate, intense pain and should be treated by a medical professional as soon as possible.

What other symptoms could accompany my shoulder blade pain?

Shoulder blade pain may be just one of your symptoms. Knowing and recognizing your other symptoms can help narrow down the cause of your shoulder blade pain.

If your symptoms are less severe, your shoulder blade pain may be related to a muscle strain in the area. Other symptoms of muscle strain include:

• Redness or bruising.
• Limited motion.
• Muscle spasms.
• Muscle weakness.

If you are specifically experiencing shoulder blade pain when trying to move the affected arm, your pain may be due to a rotator cuff tear. Other symptoms of a rotator cuff injury include:

• A dull ache deep within the shoulder.
• Pain that worsens at night, disturbing your sleep.
• Difficulty with overhead motions or reaching behind your back.

Immediate, intense shoulder pain may be an indicator that you dislocated your shoulder. You may have a dislocated shoulder if you also have:

• A visibly deformed or out-of-place shoulder.
• Inability to move the joint.
• Numbness or a cold feeling in the arm with the affected shoulder.

If your symptoms are severe, please seek immediate medical attention.

How can I treat my shoulder blade pain?

Pain due to minor injuries, such as muscle strain, may be manageable through self-treatment. However, for more serious injuries, you should seek care from a health care professional. 

Whether you are looking to treat your symptoms at home or through a health care provider, here are some treatment options for shoulder blade pain:

• RICE method — The RICE method (rest, ice, compression and elevation) is recommended for immediate self-treatment of a muscle strain. This treatment method can usually reduce pain, swelling and inflammation within a short period of time, especially for minor strains. However, if your symptoms worsen or last longer than two weeks, you may want to seek additional medical care.

• Therapeutic exercise — As part of your treatment, a physical therapist may recommend a series of exercises or movements to support your recovery. This is known as therapeutic exercise. In the case of a shoulder injury, a range-of-motion exercises can be used to help recover shoulder mobility and function. Range-of-motion exercises are especially recommended to support recovery from surgery for shoulder dislocation and rotator cuff injuries.

• Dry needling — Dry needling is a physical therapy technique where a physical therapist inserts fine needles through your skin and into the muscle. A physical therapist uses these needles to stimulate certain trigger points within your muscle bands, increasing blood flow and reducing tension in the treated area. Dry needling may be used to help reduce your shoulder blade pain and improve range of motion in your shoulder.

• Manual therapy — A physical therapist may also use manual therapy techniques to treat your shoulder blade pain. Manual therapy involves a physical therapist using their hands to manipulate the soft tissue around the area of injury as well as the joints. Soft tissue mobilization can stimulate circulation, reduce inflammation and break up scar tissue in the injured area as the muscle heals. This can help reduce your shoulder blade pain and potential swelling. Shoulder joint mobilization can help improve movement, function and range of motion as your shoulder injury heals.

Our Advent physical therapists are here to help jump-start your recovery from shoulder blade pain

Shoulder blade pain can be a sign of a larger issue. Whether it’s a minor strain or a rotator cuff tear, you deserve support in your recovery from injury. Our team of physical therapists can evaluate your symptoms and determine the cause of your pain. Then, they can create a treatment plan custom to your needs to set you on the path to recovery.

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.