Has anyone had rib resection/scalenectomy surgery and even 7 days post op still suffer such a pain in the shoulder blade?? The shoulder/incision site is just fine- the left shoulder blade has hurt from the get go- the second I got out of the OR- it was the only PAIN I've felt. I've done and continue with breathing exercises, which have been going fine. However, breathing deep, sneezing or coughing (Oh GOD, that hurts! ) causes so much pain all in the left shoulder blade. Ideas?? What the hell did they do to me in there???

Thanks,
Jocelyn

It's not winging it it?
sticking out or looking crooked compared to the other side?

If not that then we need to figure out if it is the blade itself or any of the muscles/nerves in that area.
I doubt that it is the actual bony part of the blade, has to be something around or under it.

If you can describe the location & how the pain feels we might be able to pin it down.
But if it is really bad a pro PT evaluation might be best if you can get the dr to rx that. I think it would be good to let them know this is happening and they should check it out just in case ...
.

I do know that the rhomboids are located under the edge of the shoulder blade. They can get over stretched very easily and will feel like a knife in the back right under the scapula when that happens.

Mine will get over stretched when I allow my shoulders to roll forward for long amounts of time, or if i am holding and reading a book for long times.
For me it is a deep ,burning, achy pain.
I can get rid of it by keeping my shoulders back and laying on the ball or foam roller so gravity helps to let the shoulders relax and drop back to normal.

I had the husband look at my back closely last night- but he says that the shoulder blades are even and not sticking out. However, I am holding my left shoulder a bit higher throughout the day (the surgery side) so I am making a considerable effort to keep that shoulder lower.

The pain is when I breath deep, cough or worse- sneeze! The pain is along the long side of my left shoulder blade near my spine and the worse almost right at the corner on the bottom of the left shoulder blade. The pain isn't dull or achy- sadly, when breathing deep, coughing or the dreaded sneeze, it is SHARP- like a knife. I havn't had a good cough in over a week now, I have been trying to get by with small clearing of the throat type of coughs. I sneezed last night, and my husband caught me in the bathroom BC I about fainted and lost my grip from the sink!
I can find a comfortable place to lay on the bed for a few hours at night for bed, but then I wake up because my shoulder blade is killing me again. So I try to move and adjust every few hours.
Also, I have discomfort/numbness in my left tricep area- which I attribute to the surgery as well.

I can raise my left arm above my head and all that, so I haven't been baby-ing my left arm much at all since the surgery last week. Matter of fact, recovery has been a piece of cake with exception to this pain.

Advise is welcome, thanks!
Jocelyn

Can you get dh to slowly palpate all along your back and ribs in the painful area and see if he can locate if there is an exact sore spot? If not specific spot shows up then move outward.
If nothing shows up it the places he can feel, maybe it is a deeper thing.

Are you drinking plenty of fluids?

Ages ago I had a few bouts of infections in the tube that goes from the kidney to the bladder. Sneezing, coughing , laughing , deep breaths would cause a intense stabbing sharp pain in the side under my ribcage and slightly around the back.
It was a killer pain..
I had no bladder infection sx at all at the time.

just thought of this so maybe if dh can't locate anything on the surface , muscles ,or bones, maybe a reg MD visit to check for this..

Hi Jocelyn,
I am 7 weeks post op now and had/have the same pain/complaint - sharp pain deep in my shoulder blade area and sharp pain when moving/coughing etc. Right after surgery was the worst then it seemed to subside by week 3 when the pain from the incisions seemed to be the most painful thing. Now at 7 weeks post op the sharp pain is gone and replaced by a tight dull ache when I stay in the same position for awhile. I used heating pads and light ROM (range of motion) stretching to decrease the discomfort. Sleeping got much better for me at 4 weeks post op. No longer need to sleep on side. Are you able to sleep on your stomach yet? That helped me tremendously - sleeping on my back would exacerbate the deep pain in my shoulder - all that compression and pressure on the posterior side of the rib cage would wake me up after 3 hours to get up and breathe and then change positions.

"I do know that the rhomboids are located under the edge of the shoulder blade. They can get over stretched very easily and will feel like a knife in the back right under the scapula when that happens."

JoMar- you are so right about this. I went to my post op f/u visit with the Dr and he mentioned just about the same thing. As I mentioned, my arm wasn't put into traction during the surgery- however, the way that my arm was held up at various angles would and does explain the pain and discomfort in the left (surgery side) shoulder blade area.

Moxie- glad that you are doing better now at 7 weeks out. I am just over two weeks and feeling much better- though from your post, I am ready if I have some painful setbacks in the weeks to come. Thank you for the heads up, and I will take some pointers on what you have written here.

Cheers,
Jocelyn