Q. I seem to become aware of an ache under my left shoulder blade towards the end of every working week. Recently on holidays I noted that I was pain free. The following week in the office, the pain returned. Any ideas what I can do?
Pain under the shoulder blade is most likely musculoskeletally generated. Though the pain may feel as if it is coming from muscle, local spasm is usually there because of faulty joint mechanics. In the case of the shoulder blade region, it could relate to some spinal stiffness in the neck or mid back. When the pain comes on in the same body site late in the working week, a repetitive posture or activity is often at fault.
The pain pattern provides an important clue as to what you can do to assist yourself. Think of your own work station and activities. Do you sit straight in your chair, or perhaps tend to rest on one arm of the chair rather than alternating or using both arm rest simultaneously? Is the VDU off centre, perhaps angled so that you constantly turn to one side? Perhaps it is the actual desk position, so that other people can only approach from one side, causing you to turn the same direction innumerable times during the day?
These are three of the most common findings made in relation to one sided work related
mid back pain. In terms of trying to get rid of your annoying symptoms, make some simple corrections yourself. Correct the most obvious thing first, leave it a week or ten days, then make a different correction, all the time noting changes in the symptoms.
Having corrected the ergonomic issues, self correct spinal restriction with a simple chair exercise. For mid back stiffness, sit at the front of your chair, with both feet on the ground. Cross your arms and gripping one hand on each elbow, rotate your spine, head and arms fully to one side and then the other. Turn to the painfree side, hold for three seconds, then turn fully into the painful side, holding for three seconds. Repeat this five times several times daily. You should notice improvement in rotation and less pain within a few days. If symptoms persist, manual therapy such as performed by chartered physiotherapists can clear the local restriction and get you painfree long term.
The team at TherapyXperts are available to undertake office or home workstation assessments for SMEs and individuals.
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