Hi Doctor , I am a fit and healthy 59yr old female but today when I went to hang a light weight picture on my wall I got a stabbing pain ijust right of my shoulder pain and it is hard to take a big breath without the pain stabbing me hence my breathing only a little restricted but other wise it remains as a dull type of pain, I know nothing I have done today could have caused this in a physical way. I would ask if I should see a Doctor tomorrow or some ideas of what this may be? I am terribly scared it may be cancer as I it is in my family and I gave up smoking a year ago. Thank you. Yvonne
Hi. This is unlikely to be a cancer pain. Since it's a shoulder pain this could be related to cardiac origin (associated with difficulty in breathing) though it's not a common presentation. Cardiac chest pain is typically left sided with pain in the chest, radiating to right border of arm, forearm with breathlessness etc. I suggest meeting your doctor and rule out this possibility with help of EKG/ECG etc. Hope this helps. Take care.