Question
I am a 26 years old male, my height is 6 feet and my weight is 200 lbs. I have a pain on my ribs right under my left armpit which comes and goes from time to time. I have this disorder for about 4 years now, and there has been no diagnose yet. For the first three occasions, I tought it was a heart attack and rushed into ER since when it happens my left arm and my left hand fingers get numb. However ECG results at ER were negative. I had my heart checked by a cardiolgyst and he found no disorder in my heart. I had a CAT scan on the back of my neck and on my left torso, and a neurologyst found nothing wrong with the scans. I had seen an orthopedist, and he was also unable to diagnose it. Usually it happens at nights, but rarely it also happens in daytime. It lasts from 30 minutes to 4 or 5 hours.

I checked the Internet and found people who have similar problems but not exactly the same with mine. My pain occur always at the same point, and there is no chest pain on my front torso. When I press that point with my thumb, the pain increases. The pain does not increase if I change my posture, if I move my arm etc. I had never had a serious accident and I was never hard on my arms. It is a constant pain occuring at a specific location.

Since I was unable to have it diagnosed I gave up and I started to learn to live with it. But for the last year its frequency of occurence has significantly increased therefore it has started to reduce the quality of my life. I would appreciate any advise. Thank you very much.

Answer
Mustafa,

Since medical pathology appears to have been ruled out by your cardiological work-up, it is possible that your symptoms may be due to myofascial trigger points in the latissimus dorsi or serratus posterior muscles:

http://www.mypressureproducts.com/Serratus_trigger_points.htm

http://www.mypressureproducts.com/Latissimus_trigger_points.htm

Trigger points are nodules that develop in taut bands of muscles, usually due to repetitive stress, producing pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness of muscles in specific patterns.

A chiropractor or massage therapist who is skilled in trigger point treatment may be able to help you correct this problem, if your chronic symptoms are due to a soft tissue problem.

I hope this answers your question.