Pains on left side of chest, shoulder and back

See your doctor to make a definetive diagnosis.

Pain coming from the muscles, ribs or cartilage of the rib cage is common. Musculo-skeletal pain presents as atypical chest pain that is reproducible by springing the chest, movement of the chest wall during deep respirations, movement of the limbs or by direct pressure. The causes are many but consider trauma, injury due to coughing and Tietze’s syndrome. Tietze's syndrome is an inflammation of the cartilage that joins the ribs to the breast bone. Pain that is often well localized just next to the breast bone. The syndrome usually affects the second rib from the top. The pain is made worse by motion, coughing, or sneezing. There is localized tenderness. Treatment is with pain relief e.g. ibuprofen or paracetamol and usuall clears up in a week or so.

Note that chest pain can be a very non-specific symptom and may be the result of a variety of causes. A chest pain with classical features may not always be caused by the most usual diseases. For example classical angina (heart pain), i.e. chest pain that is brought on by exercise and relieved by rest, may be caused by problems other than coronary artery disease.

Remember, common things are common. The diagnosis of chest pain rests 95% on the history and often the findings on examination are either normal, unhelpful or irrelevant. So the key here is to provide a good, accurate history to your doctor.