You wrote:” Current medical status: Pain in the right back under scapula, going around to armpit and under breast and pain in right rib area. Vagina also falls "asleep" Not gall bladder, Not thoracic spine nerve problem
Current medical treatment: MRI, Hida scan, ultra sound. All normal
Question: I'm a 26 year old woman with RA. My back along the right side underneath the scapula started hurting around Jan of this year with no known cause (such as trauma). I waited for it to heal and it didn't. So in June of this year I went to an orthoepdic back dr. and he said it was most likely a pinched nerve. I went to physical therapy for 3 months with little improvement. Last month it spread around under my armpit and into my upper ab area on the right side. I have pain in the upper abs right along the rib cage. I had a Hida scan and ultra sound to check out my gallbladder. That was all negative. I just had an mri of the thoracic spine and they said it didn't show any pinching but they weren't sure. Is there anything else this could be besides a pinched nerve? or could a pinched nerve also make my vagina fall asleep ?


It seems that the symptoms you described such as: pain in the right back, pain under breast, pain in right rib area, “vagina falls asleep” and existing RA may indicate a pinched nerve. According to the description of the symptoms it is likely that several nerves are pinched, because of the different localizations of the pain.


RA causes inflammation of the little intervertebral joints. Very close to these joints are the holes where the spinal nerves leave the spinal cord. The inflammation is accompanied with swelling that can put pressure on the nerve. Depending on the intensity of the pressure, different symptoms may occur: tingling sensation being one of the easiest and severe pain being one of the hardest.


There is not much to be done, due to the fact that the real cause is the damage of the vertebra. However, applying heat in the area where the nerve leaves the spine might be helpful. You might want to see an specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation.