Tightness in chest, painful left shoulder blade and left arm pain

[TheScotsman315]

I'l expand on the title. I'm 5'10",  18st 10lb so im obese, and lately(for about 4 months) when i breathe in theres tightness/sharp pain at my left shoulder blade. The arm pain comes and goes( for about a year and a half) and it's never a pain that stops me in my tracks, it's only a slight throb here and there, the location of it varies from wrist and fingers to elbow joint, sometimes above it. The throbbing/sensation can last for a few seconds up to 20 minutes at a time. There can be a slight tightness at the front where my heart is but that's usually very brief, like someone is pressing down on it. I had went for an echo and got blood pressure taken and regarding the echo they heard a murmur and said my artery was a bit narrower than usual and my blood pressure is usually high ( i don't know the exact numbers but ive had high blood pressure for a while). usually when i exercise (15 minutes on an exercise bike), im not completely out of breath but the tightness at the front of the chest  increases but goes away after 5-10 minutes and sometimes, seldom frequent, when i'm walking i have to catch my breath, not to the point where i cant walk its just i notice i need a bit more air so i take a bigger breath whilst walking. Also ive cut down on smoking and drinking because the cardiologist said so and to put my weight down, which is obvious and that's what im doing, this post is really to those who've went through something similar and to ask is it as simple as just cuttoing down on junk food, smoking and drinking or do you think there's an underlying cause to this? Thanks for reading.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

The arm weakness and pain could sometimes be due to cervical spondylosis, causing nerve compression at the cervical (neck) level. The nerve compression could be due to an osteophyte, growth or a disc. This could be causing the sensation in the arm. Hope this has been ruled out. An x ray and if needed an MRI, may be needed to find out what is causing the compression.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[TheScotsman315]

Also meant to say that from an echo I had in April it showed that I have an Aortic Membrane, NOT narrowing arteries; apologies for the mix-up.Still get extremely brief bout of breathlessnesswhilst sitting down, nothing too drastic. The arm pain is probably down to my posture.

[TheScotsman315]

Should also mention thatI had a chest x-ray 3 months ago and there was no abnormalities.

[TheScotsman315]

Update. Not really going away. Left arm gets tired  quicker than left and i've noticed that there's slight swelling at my left underarm when i lift my arm, it's spongy and very noticeable, no hard little lump anywhere though. Still slight pains in left arm and fingers. Could narrowing arteries do this?

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Your symptoms appear to be related to an entity called frozen shoulder. Here there is stiffness of the joint in response to an inflammatory process that develops near the scapula. This could have resulted as a consequence to the surgery and injury.  There is difficulty in reaching overhead and backwards. The therapy for this lies in doing stretching exercises. For pain relief you can take OTC acetaminophen and apply cold compresses frequently over the shoulder. Please discuss this with your doctor am sure he will provide further assistance.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[TheScotsman315]

I think it's just shoulder pain, left elbow pain when leaning on it and when i stretch it upwards. It's weird.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Good to see you are progressing well. So, the pain may not be cardiac related. Since there is no history of injury the pain in shoulder joint could be due to tendinitis, joint instability, arthritis, poor structural alignment of the joint. You will need to consult your primary care physician who will run a few blood tests on you and may ask for x rays to find out the diagnosis. In the mean time rest, ice and OTC anti inflammatory medications like ibuprofen will help.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[TheScotsman315]

I've been using an exercise bike for about 3 weeks now and there's been some improvment, for example i don't have that much arm pain now, walking to work now and not sweating as much. Cut down on cigarettes dramatically (havn't had one in 3 weeks). I'm getting my Blood pressure checked on a monthly basis now and last check-up ( 16th of May) showed it had went down from being frequently high so i'l mention the EKG. Also, i've noticed that the shoulder blade pain when breathing in only occurs when i'm sitting up straight, not really lying down or standing.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Has an EKG or a stress been done to rule out the cardiac cause for the pain? You have mentioned about an ECHO, but not about your EKG. The underlying murmur and blood pressure could be the cause for your breathlessness, this is more so as it increases with exercise. An ejection fraction could give an estimate of the pumping capacity of the heart. This is measured with an ECHO. So, along with lifestyle modifications, therapy will be based on complete assessment and clinical presentation. Discuss the possibilities with your consulting doctor.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.