Back/Shoulder Blade Pain

Hey Guys,
I usually ghost this forum but I've been wondering... Lately, for the past few months (I guess since wakeboard season started,) I've been having this sharp almost needlelike pain, off and on, in my left shoulderblade, more towards the inside of my back. I'm not sure if this is related to lifting or wakeboarding. I do both, but I've only been working chest because wakeboarding seems to work everything else. Just wondering if anyone else has any probs like this.
Thanks

Do you have a couple of resting days where you don't lift and don't ride? Is your body getting enough rest and are you stretching?

I would take a little different approach than most on this one....with the exception of a few, most of us ride on Sat and/or Sun. That means that you are working your back only 1 day a week since you are only doing chest during your workouts. Believe it or not, wakeboarding only works a few specific muscles in your back. Since you are not working the rest of your back muscles, they are getting weak. Those muscles that are sore/pinching may be trying to compensate when the other muscles get weak and tired.

Try adding a back workout in on Wednesday, so that you have a few days before and after your wakeboard days to rest. Try working the muscles that you wouldn't necessarily use in wakeboarding. (any pull down exercise, some underhand grip rows, and reverse flys). Hope it helps.

(Message edited by nuckledragger on June 17, 2005)

You may have stressed or torn your Levatier muscle. It attaches under the shoulder blade and is a pretty common injury especially if you caught the back lip of your board and got slammed to the water (aka whiplash). The traps get blamed for the pain many times.

Do you have pain when you turn your head toward the side with the pain? If so, I would go to a physical therapist and have them work on that muscle to loosen it up. You probably have scar tissue in there that's binding you up and it needs to be broken down so it can heal correctly. It won't heal unless it's broken down first and you can't do that by yourself.

J-Rod: I usually wakeboard on wednesday's and saturday's and workout on mondays, always giving my self at least a day in between.
Nuckle: Thanks, I'll try that, hopefully you're right.
Jklien: Do you mean in your neck? I've faceplanted a few times where I couldn't turn my head to the side for a week or so because of it. The pain in my back just flares up at random intervals, usually when I'm driving, not when I turn my head or anything.
Hopefully I can avoid going to the doc. Never liked em' too much.

Thanks for the responses

Mark,

Your pain could be caused by a number of different things, so you should really have an orthopedist check it out before taking medical advice from us.

However, I had (and still do) a pain on my shoulder blade that sounds exactly like the pain you are having. Is your shoulder blade "winging" out any (sticking out further than the other one)?

The deal with mine was that I somehow developed nerve damage. The nerve that went from my neck to the muscle on my shoulder blade was not sending strong enough signals to the muscle. This caused the muscle to do nothing. The result was the winging of my shoulder blade and sharp needle like pains in the same area.

Basically some physical therapy excercises help get the nerve working again. I still feel it though, especially after I ride. I have gone to a chiropracter a couple of times had had great success.

By having my neck adjusted the pain in my shoulder blade almost went away completely. Sometimes when it comes back I can pop my neck on my own and get releif. I really feel like the nerve damage has something to do with my neck. Although my orthopedist and chiropracter can't seem to give me a definitive answer as to why the nerve is being tempormental. I'm sure it's all one way or another tied into wakeboarding?

Also, sleeping on your side and not your stomach will help your neck and in my case, my shoulder blade. Get it checked out and good luck!

Mark: Are you over 30?

Okay, I just had an MRI yesterday on my cervical spine and my symptoms started out just like Mark's and progressed to what Richard is experiencing and then beyond.

Clear diagnosis: After age 25, the cartilage "shock absorbing" discs between our vertebrae degenerate. The impact of repeatedly landing a wakeboard jump coupled with the intense forces generated by hard, whiplash like crashes cause these weakening disks to degenerate further and faster to the point they may "bulge" or even burst. When these discs do either of these things they can push the nerve root up against the vertebral wall "pinching" it.

Big lesson: younger bodies can withstand punishing impact that older spine systems simply cannot.

Recommendation: Every wakeboarder over 30 should have x-rays done periodically to monitor what is happening to those rascally discs.

Me: two discs have herniated/bulged backward mildly compressing the spinal cord and outward on the left side pinching the nerve root causing, yep, intense pain between my shoulder blades, in my shoulder, triceps and forearm.

Oh, and I don't ride crazy and am, and always have been, in excellent shape (lots of soccer, wakeboarding, hiking).

I'm 18 so age shouldn't be an issue. You guys are starting to scare me though, I'll probably go see the doc some time in the near future.