‘I’ve got pain on the inside of my shoulder blade and it won't go away?’

Costco-vertebral joint irritation 

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Costco-vertebral joint irritation is pain originating from where your ribs attach on to the spine in the centre of your back. It’s a common place to suffer with pain, in particular for desk workers who are hunched forward for the majority of the day. It will be the area which you can never reach, between the shoulder and the neck but slightly too far down to show someone the exact point which is causing the pain.

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Bath Chiropractic 01225 683007

​The most common presentation with someone suffering from this injury is pain between the shoulder blades, which doesn’t seem to improve with massage or stretching. If left for longer than a few weeks, the pain can start to travel into the neck and head, in addition to shoulder pain and restriction. This joint where the rib attaches to the spine needs to move when we breathe, so when the costo-vertebral joint can’t move freely it can be painful during deep breaths or lying on the painful area at night. In unusual circumstances this can present as chest pain, where the ribs can’t move properly and the pain wraps around to the front of the chest.
 
By assessing and detecting the painful region, Chiropractic treatment including spinal manipulation can relieve the symptoms and increase the movement to the affected joint and the surrounding area, relieving the pin-point tenderness and any associated head, neck or shoulder symptoms. By addressing the primary cause, the muscles sitting on top or surrounding the irritable joint will overtime desensitise and stop tensing to protect the injured area. Like with most injuries, icing the area will reduce excess inflammation to a muscle, and specific exercises can help prevent future recurrences. If this sounds like something you suffer with, don’t hesitate to contact us and book in with our Chiropractic team

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