I have an old neck injury and have been seeing a chriopractor for about one year. I have a history of developing a "muscle knot" under my left shoulder blade that causes pain down the underside of my left arm and into my palm as well....might be stress related as I work at a laptop all day. There is actually a snapping sound when my wife rubs under my left shoulder blade. About 7 weeks ago the knot developed bad and the shoulder and arm pain were worse than ever (took 8 advil a day for first several weeks). It has gotten better now but still some weakness in my left hand and some light pain during the day. My chiropractor says stretching exercises (which I admit I had not been doing) are the ticket. I just went to my medical doctor and she immediately ordered an MRI which I have not done yet....she looked at my hands and said I am losing muscle and I will never get it back. I look at my hands and see no difference. I think she is jumping to quickly on getting a costly MRI but should I see a specialist. My chiropractor says that I am a long ways from being a surgery candidate. I do not think the problem is from the old neck injury as when that occurred my two fingers on left hand were numb and my fingers are ok....it is my palm that gets a little sore. I think this is muscle related.