Esophageal Cancer
December 7th, 2009 by Xavier MediaThere is a type of pain that is called referred pain. In a lot of cases, shoulder pains are actually a referred pain. This simply means that the cause of the pain of a shoulder blade is not necessarily caused by a direct injury inflicted on the shoulder instead the pain could be related to a pain originating from one of the organs in the body. Generally the location of where the pain in the shoulder blade occurs will be able to give a clue to which one of the organs are actually affected. The affected organ would then send out a radiating pain to the shoulder.
For instance, if pain is felt under the left shoulder blade, this could be a signal that there’s a problem with the stomach or other abdominal structures or in the chest. On the other hand, if pain is felt under the right shoulder blade, this may indicate some sort of disorder at the esophagus.
The main symptom of this esophageal cancer is the acute sensation while trying to swallow or when food gets stuck in the throat or chest. As the cancer grows, pain in the throat, back, breastbones and shoulder blades will start to intense.
Esophageal cancer does not usually show early signs and the pain between the shoulder blades is usually one of the later signs of esophageal cancer. What happens here is the pain that is generated from a series of activities such as painful swallowing, vomiting or coughing up blood would allow the pain to travel along the nerves to the shoulder, resulting to a sensation of sharp pains in the back, between the shoulder blades, which may depict the signs of advanced esophageal cancer.
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Liver Cancer
February 24th, 2010 at 12:17 am
I agree and disagree with this article. I've had an Esophageal disease for over 16 years called Vigorous Achalasia with Dysphagia. I have difficulty swallowing and I get horrific esophageal spasms, some at the LES level, the other at the upper body section of the esophagus. They can last anywhere from 15 minutes to hours, sometimes 2-3 days straight. It feels as if someone is shoving a knife into my chest and twisting it, while other spasms just feel like really bad, painful heartburn. Whenever I get the God-awful ones, the pain radiates in between my shoulder blades, as well as the front of each shoulder and down my arms a few inches and doesn't subside until the esophageal spasms subside. I get checked thru an endoscopy for esophageal cancer every year, and Thank God, so far, I'm cancer free. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you get pain between the shoulder blades and you have a stomach/esophageal disorder, it doesn't automatically mean you have Esophageal Cancer. The most important thing is to get annual check-ups/endoscopes/Ph Studies/Manometries, etc. with your GI Doctor and try different meds that may help you and take them religiously.