Your pain origin could have many different sources but the two most common would be a disc herniation at C3-4 or an upper thoracic spine disc herniation.
The C3-4 hernation would compress the C4 nerve. Pain generated from this nerve is known as “cervical angina” as the C4 nerve refers to the anterior chest wall and can mimic a heart attack.
A thoracic disc hernation would cause pain down the dermatome (think of the pain pathway similar to the pathway of a rib with the origin at the spine between the shoulders).
An MRI would reveal either of these disorders and if the pain origin is still uncertain, a selective nerve root block (SNRB-see website) could be used to confirm this diagnosis (pain diary-see website)
Dr. Corenman