Sudden, sharp pain between cervical spine and shoulder blade

@valleygirl1955 It may help to see a physical therapist. With prior cervical spine and shoulder issues, muscle spasms can affect the alignment. The spine can shift with spasms and put extra pressure or tugging on other muscles attached to it. The shoulder blade has many muscular connections to the spine and the neck muscles in front can also be involved. When it's all in balance and in good alignment, it should feel better presuming that is what may be wrong. Your neck and rib cage can also get stuck and not move properly. Just having pain without a specific diagnosis may be enough to justify a doctor's order for PT.

@valleygirl1955
It sounds like you may have a herniated disc/disc bulge and compression impacting cervical spinal nerves. You may want to see a reputable orthopedic spine specialist for evaluation and X-ray/MRI of your cervical spine.

Hello, Suddenly . . For the last 3 months I have had shard stabbing pain in my shoulder blade close to the spine. The pain and tingling travels down my arm to the elbow. From the elbow to my pinky and ring finger are tingling and numb. At times they ache. I have been managing this pain with 600mg of Gabapentin, 5mg of Baclofen, 1000mg of Tylenol and 400mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day . . . most of the time the pain is a 5 and often a 10. Lots of time in bed! I am a very active person: traveling the world, snorting in Mexico and else where, hiking and swimming in the Nile! But this medication is Not good for a person that just turned 80. I finally received a MRI . . the finds are long and involved concerning C-3 through C7 with severe degeneration in C-4 through C-7. Long story short I received a epidural yesterday. This is day one and things have improved . . . but have been told that it can take up to two weeks to really see full results and things can return worse before it get better. I see a spine surgeon in the coming weeks. Not sure what will be the outcome due to my age. All I know is I just want to return to the life I was experiencing before all this started.
Are there any suggestions from anyone that has experienced this.
Thank you for your time

Hi @wrzakers - I wanted you to know I moved your post here so you could chat with others in similar situations:

- Sudden, sharp pain between cervical spine and shoulder blade https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sudden-sharp-pain-between-cervical-spine-and-shoulder-blade/

Here I'm hoping you can get input from members such as @valleygirl1955 @jenniferhunter about your sharp stabbing pain in your shoulder blade close to the spine with pain and tingling traveling down to your elbow. They may also be familiar with some of the ways you've mentioned managing this pain, such as gabapentin, baclofen, acetaminophen, ibuprofen 3 and an epidural, and have some suggestions for you.

wrzakers - how did today go for you with the pain?

@wrzakers A pain in the shoulder blade may be spine related or possibly due to a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome or TOS. There are major muscles that connect the shoulder blade to the spine as well as spinal nerves that serve them that may be compromised with compression. TOS is a compression syndrome that causes arm pain and weakness. It also moves the shoulder forward which is a bad posture for aggravating the nerves. Correcting posture helps both TOS and spine problems. If there are cervical spine problems, muscle spasms can cause shifting of vertebrae that tends to increase pain and symptoms. You can have both conditions at the same time causing overlapping symptoms. A neurologist can diagnose TOS.

My suggestion would be to find a good physical therapist for an evaluation, and someone who is familiar with rehabbing cervical spine and TOS patients. I have both and have done a lot of years of PT for TOS during which a cervical spine problem became evident. I had a ruptured C5 C6 disc that had collapsed by 50% causing spinal cord compression. I had a cervical fusion done with only a bone disc spacer and no hardware which gave me a lot of relief. I do stretches that I learned from physical therapists to maintain flexibility and loosen tight tissue (including surgical scar tissue) as routine maintenance.

If your doctor offers imaging such as an MRI, that may lead you to a consultation with a spine specialist. Doctors that understand TOS are harder to find, so you may want to look for a place that treats the condition of TOS and also see a spine specialist there. Mayo is a good place for that, and my surgery was at Mayo. A physical therapist is a great first step to take and if it helps, that may be enough. A sharp pain is a warning sign that needs attention.

Here is Mayo's information on TOS.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353988

Hi Jennifer,
Thanks you for your reply. I think my condition is different based on my MRI. My MRI shows cervical radiculopathy
Severe foraminal stenosis at multiple levels (C3-C7)
Significant degenerative disc disease
Nerve compression seen on imaging
Pain radiating from the neck/shoulder blade into the arm
Numbness and tingling in specific fingers
Decreased grip strength in your left hand
Also . . . the Mayo Clinic does not accept my insurance.
Again thank you.