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Costochondritis a pain in the chest!

SternumFor the past 14 months (it seems like a whole lot longer!) I have had another overuse injury/health issue going on. The condition is called costochondritis, which is more simply know as a strain of the sternum (that flat area at the front and centre of your chest where all the ribs join on to). It may also be considered as another form of a Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

Up until I injured it, I didn’t even know that there was anything there to injure. I had been working out in the garden carrying stones in a bucket (a large muscle activity involving upper arms, shoulders, core, back) on and off for a day, when I finally sat down and noticed a general ache around the sternum area, as well as everywhere else I should hasten to add! Over the course of the next few days, all the aches disappeared except the one in the sternum. It was at that stage that I realised I’d injured something, I just didn’t know how bad it would be. Symptoms can include pain, tingling and an itching sensation around the centre of the chest area.

Over the course of the following week, I resumed my normal life doing picture framing, but noticed that I could induce bad pain in the sternum area when attempting to push against something heavy. This wasn’t good! At this point I did a little research and found out about costochondritis.  It is an injury to the soft connective tissue between the ribs and the sternum and can take a long time to heal due to the fact that there is not a huge supply of blood circulating to this area. I also got the advice of my GP who said that I just needed to rest it.

For the next 3 months I did my best to rest the chest area, which meant no lifting, pushing or carrying of anything remotely heavy in weight (including shopping bags!). One main difficulty I found was trying to rest the sternum while sleeping. The natural position of the body when sleeping on your side is to have both arms on the bed. This posture forces the sternum to be compressed and as a result does not give the area ample rest during sleep. Having restless nights also doesn’t help matters in this regard. One solution that I found is to sleep whilst hugging a pillow. The pillow has to be a puffed out largish one to keep the chest area open. It has proven to be a very useful method.

After 3 months of resting, the sternum had improved to the extent that I could actually do more. The question was, how much more? This, I found out by trial and error. If I did too much, the sternum would get more prickly, “itchy” and sore. It followed the same pattern every time: perform an activity, followed by prickly, itchy soreness for a few days, then it would calm down and I’d feel better again after a week. The trouble was that this went on for the best part of a year! Even now – some 14 months after the initial injury, I still have to be choosy about whether to try lifting something heavy or not. All in all, this injury has taken a long time to get better, and is one I could most certainly have done without!

The following are a few recommendations I would make for anyone suffering from costochondritis –

  • Rest up well for 2-3 months, avoiding all lifting of things including heavy shopping bags.
  • Hug a pillow while sleeping on your side to keep sternum area from being compressed.
  • Gentle reintroduction to exercise – yoga can be a good form of exercise to start recovery, so too is swimming.
  • You can use NSAIDs, eg ibuprofen to help with symptoms, but consult your GP first. I have also found much relief by taking Devil’s Claw (a natural anti inflammatory)
  • Have patience and don’t rush your recovery. After 14 months I feel like I am back to 90%, but I’ve been in the 70-80% range for a long time (nearly a year) and have frequently found a way to aggravate it somehow, usually by carrying something heavy.  This has happened even up to the 13 month mark!

This condition has certainly been very persistent, and has been quite frustrating to deal with mentally as well as physically, but after 14 months I am finally feeling like I am getting there. Fingers crossed!

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See my newer follow up post on this subject at Costochondritis II – The wicked itch is almost dead

52 replies on “Costochondritis a pain in the chest!”

Hi Alan,
Very interesting write up on a little know condition (even thought alot of people suffer from it).
I myself have suffered for around 15 months first several were pure pain sometimes feeling like a heart attack (was not on pain meds due to bp).
But now 15 months on and like you around the 70%ish mark but sometimes relapse.
Hopefully people will read what you have written as it is sound advice

Chris

Hi Chris,

sorry to hear you are still suffering from it after 15 months. Its definitely a persistent condition!
I should also add in to the article that I was from 3 months onwards using a rubber exercise ‘thera’ band to do exercises with. I was recommended these by a physiotherapist. The exercises are similar to ones for rotator cuff injuries, but also exercise the sternum. I was also advised to strengthen my back muscles in between the shoulder blades, which again helps open the chest area.

Hope things improve for you.

Alan

Hi Alan,

Quick question for you since you have suffered from costochondritis,

Have you found that your sternum/center chest area kind off locks-up (hard to explain) feels like it seized up and you have to twist of turn your body to relieve the pressure that is their ie the area cracks.
As since i have had costoc this happens regular basis (mainly sitting of leaning forward)

Thanks Chris

Hi Chris,

I have experienced cracks in the sternum when twisting, both before and after the injury. Not sure its related to the sternum injury as my wife can get a cracking sound in her sternum when twisting too, I think its a fairly common thing. The sternum injury just felt initially for the first few months achy around the edge of the sternum. Thereafter varying degrees of aches and mainly itch. Which was taken care of by either Ibuprofen or Devil’s Claw.
Its important to keep the area exercising (gently at least). Therabands with the correct physio exercise is important, swimming would be good, and I do some Yoga to. Its now 18 months and I am getting much better and have more confidence in it now, but I can still aggravate various small muscles in the chest which aren’t used to being used as much any more, and am only gradually doing some weights now. Best help was probably hugging a pillow whilst sleeping, still have to do that to this day. Its a long slow injury to heal, but it does heal eventually which is the important thing.

Alan

Chris,

one more point about the sternum, its not great to ‘slouch in the couch’ as the sternum compresses and for me this used to cause sternum aches. To counteract this, its really important to work out the middle back muscles from the lower scapula to the spine. You can do this by Theraband use, or simply by lying face down on the floor putting your arms out in front of you and raising them off the ground and holding the posture for a while. You can work up to doing this for a few minutes at a time, but start out at a few seconds first. My physiotherapist told me how important the middle back muscles were towards helping you open the chest/sternum area, as well as telling me how unfit my back muscles were!

Alan

I have been in severe pain for the last 4 weeks. Last week was diagnosed with costochrondritis. Cannot drive, need help getting into and out of the car. Can’t lie down, sitting mostly OK as long as I am propped up super straight. Ibruprofen, vicodin, percoset have been no help. Need help to get dressed. I’m wondering if this level of disability is “normal” for this condition or do I have something else. All bloodwork, ekg, mri, xrays have come back normal.
I will try devils claw (never heard of it before) but any other feedback would be helpful.
Many thanks, Gerry

Hi Gerry,costochrondritis

sorry to hear that you are in so much pain. I can’t say I was ever in that much pain thankfully with the condition, although maybe it depends on how badly injured you are. I’d maybe trust the doctors opinions over anything I have to say. The condition for me initially could create a lot of pain when I tried to do too much like move something heavy then I’d get searing pain and knew that I needed to rest and not do that again. Rest of the time it was just a prominent but dull ache around the sternum, especially as I leaned forward or slouched. This eventually on the healing process lead to a whole lot of itchiness which has now mainly subsided. If it is costochrondritis, hope it starts to feel less painful soon, its a drawn out process to recovery (or it was for me) – a lot of improvement by end of 3 months, but minor symptoms and certain restrictions in what I do even now 2 years later.

Alan

Hi,

I have had around 10 ECG’s and 1 chest Xray over the past 2 years due to this condition.. I get pain in the center of chest.. mass inflamation under the armpit etc and pins in fingers (due to the agravation to the nerves). I highly recommend seeing a GP if you get the sympthoms to rule out heart issues first then if they do find it to be this take it easy.. I went to the gym yesterday and used the cross trainer and today im getting the odd sharp spike pain in the chest… Good luck to anyone that has it and i like the advice here on hugging a pillow.. it seems that laying on my side has a lot to do with the aggravation i have also..

Hi Dean,

I found that lying in bed on my side was a very bad trigger for the condition. The pillow once you get used to it is the best way to counteract it and make sure it gets rest. I still hug a pillow at night to rest it even though I have had the condition for quite some time now. For me it seems to struggle to get back to 100%.

Alan

I’ve had this condition since June 2011. I work out with heavy weights, so I thought it was an ab strain. My chiro told me it’s costo can we did 10 days of ultra sound and icing. I’m still not improving much and I will try Cat’s Claw. I don’t want to lose strength or muscle and I already took 2 months off in the summer from the gym. Didn’t help much.

While taking ultra sound, I took 2 weeks off, but still not doing so great.

Has anyone heard of cold laser treatments working for this ailment?

Hi Sharon,

I’ve had the condition since October 2009, and I still live with its after effects to this day and I am an active person (Yoga, Kayaking, cardio (bike,elliptical)). One thing that is meant to be good for it (but I haven’t tried) is swimming, but I’d suggest activity only after resting it first to allow healing, otherwise you may aggravate it. I just have to be careful what I do and when. ie not to overdo whatever activity I am doing. Initial recovery for me (getting over worst pain) was 3 months (I could still do cardio, but no weights or kayaking or yoga).
Not sure whether there is any easier way to promote blood flow into the sternum area, but if you find one let me know. Whenever I push the chest too much these days, I get prickly pain, which the devils claw does help to relieve. Stick to hugging the pillow at night for the best way to rest the sternum.

Alan

Hi

I have been suffering from left rib pain for over a year.started after I shoveled snow off drive. I had a month of painful muscles spasms then after carrying a heavy bag on my left shoulder inexperienced heat and constant pain in my 3 rd an fourth ribs starting from sternum. Mammo chest xray clear. Was your pain constant or only with activity? Glad to hear you are on the mend x

Hi Karen,

The background ache/pain was constant for first few weeks, and the more acute pain was there when I tried to do things that I shouldn’t like carry heavy stuff.
It took 3 months to recover from the main injury (that’s 3 months of resting ie getting other people to carry stuff for me).

Sorry to hear that you have it to its a very slow injury to heal. I got to about 70% after 3 months, but it seems to take many more months on the journey from 70% to 100% (not sure I’ve reached 100% yet, but I’m hopefully close!)

Good luck.

Alan

Hi again, Alan,

I’m back at the gym and trying to get to where I was lifting prior to the injury. It’s a slow trail.
I wanted to mention that I made a mistake when I talked about trying Devil’s Claw. I called it Cat’s Claw..lol.
There was a formula that interested me called Flexiprin, and it does contail Devil’s Claw. The problem is that I researched side effects of DC and it can mess with your blood sugar which I cannot afford to take that chance.
So, I found another product that has helped significantly. I was using Traumeel Ointment and that was easing the pain, but I found something better. It’s called Topricin. It’s exactly like Traumeel, but the base is not petralatum, it’s coconut oil. They also leave out the mercury component which Traumeel contains.
I use it as often as I feel I need it. It penetrates through the muscle and helps in the healing of soft tissue. You can research it and see for yourself.
I’m short of money these days but I would really like to give cold laser a try.
I will have to wait on that one as funds are scarce at this time.

I found Topricin on Vitacost.com, and was able to get it at a discount price. It usually sells for about $25 retail. They also make a diabetic foot cream and that covers fibromyalgia too.

Sharon

Hi Alan,

Just another update on how Topricin and Traumeel are working for me.
I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, that the chiro visits helped or my body is just healing itself.
I truly believe that the ointments worked on their own. I am back at the gym now lifting almost as heavy as I did last Spring. I’m not doing any ab or core work yet, but I plan on it (just a little..like perhaps plank) by the end of Spring.

I bring an ice pack to the gym and apply it after the workouts just to be sure there is no inflammation. I use the ointments throughout the day as needed. I have good and bad days, but lately, a lot of good days.

I think people should give these topicals a try as it seems to be working nicely for me.

I think I have this problem. I over did my pushup/pullup/situp program, and started getting a dull ache in the sternum area. I can still go about my day with no pain (just that “itchy” feeling); however, the biggest problem is at night. After I sleep for a while, if I roll over or otherwise flex my abdominal muscles, I get a very tight, dull pain right by my sternum. Once I loosen it up, however, the pain is gone. Has anyone else had this experience with this area tightening up after long periods of rest? Is this just part of the healing process?

Thanks.

I recognise your symptoms. Bed is actually one of the danger spots with this injury when you don’t hug a pillow. Hugging a pillow is key here, as it keeps your sternum open as opposed to collapsed in on itself, which causes the injury to ache more when you wake up. I had this a lot before I started to hug a pillow all night. It sounds silly, but it works! I still do it as I still get sternum itch on and off depending on what I have been doing.
ps. push-ups can aggravate the condition.

Alan

(From the USA) Thanks for the info. There are posts and suggestions that will be helpful.
I checked this site, as I am having a return bout. This time around I have itching which I didn’t have before. Same injury re-created 5 years later, making same hyperextension-with-momentum mistake.

My first bout was severe enough that I had trouble just getting dressed. The first month of healing was the most difficult, and it tapered off from there. Within a few months, I was healed. So I wish all of you quick healing.

Thanks for the reply. So far there has been little improvement in a month. However, I don’t have any pain during the day, which is good. The area just freezes up at night depending on how I sleep still. If I elevate my head, there is no pain upon waking up. However, if I lay out all the way, it aches upon rolling over and/or sitting up. However, once I get moving, all pain subsides. Hugging a pillow is hit or miss, as I sleep on my back. I usually drop it while sleeping.

Any ideas on when I can begin upper-body exercises again, as I have no pain during the day? I really want to get back to working out.

My Doctor recommended swimming as an exercise that helps the condition, but I wouldn’t over do things too soon. I certainly would skip the push ups until its gone.

Alan

Hi Alan

Have you had any further improvements? I am alot better than I was in January but still feeling a dull ache. Like the other posters I have the itching as well and I was very interested to read what Sharon has written that she has got much better using traumel (will google it later) Heres hoping we are all feeling a lot better x

@Karen…I’ve done very well with Topricin or Traumeel.
If you try either one, buy it from Vitacost.com as it’s much cheaper than retail.

I took 10 sessions with my chiro (ultrasound and ice) and that may have started the healing ball rolling, but I still didn’t feel great. When I tried the creams, I saw a difference right away.
I’m not perfect, but I’m back doing exercises that I didn’t dare do before (pullups, etc.)
I won’t do any situps or any core work except occasionally, I ‘ll do some planks.
If I feel discomfort, I’ll still use the ice packs, but I haven’t used them in a while ..just the cream.

I have some days that are better than others, but all I can say is that it worked fairly well for me.

Hi everyone! I had a terrible upper respiratory infection back in November 2011. I have had costochondritis ever since. At first, it was awful. If I exerted myself at all, I would be in bed and on NSAIDS for a week until it would calm down. Now I’m at the 7th month mark and probably about 50% better. Thanks to Sharon’s post, I’m trying Topricin now and it seems to be helping a lot. I still can’t really exert myself too much, but it doesn’t get as bad as it once did. I’ve been using the Topricin whenever I need it and it always calms it down. Hopefully, by a year this condition will be pretty much gone. Thanks to everyone for your posts. It’s nice to hear that you’re not the only one going through this!

Hi Dina

Where exactly is your pain? Mine is left side about 4 th rib and a constant dull ache much worse in winter. Mine also started after resp infection. I have had pain since dec 2010 and it’s a lot better but flares up every now and again. Sharon’s advice has helped lots. hope we all stop hurting soon. Geez thi us annoying. Take care all x

Mine is between the 4th and 6th. It’s very localized. I’ve been using Topricin as needed and that has brought the inflammation down tremendously. I’ve had to walk very slowly in order to prevent myself from getting out of breath, so that I don’t have a flare-up. In the last week, I’ve been able to walk a little faster. Hopefully, this trend will continue. I feel like it is going to go away in the next few months. That will bring me to about a year since it started. Try Topricin. It does really help! I hope we all feel better soon because this condition really stinks!

This is a suggestion that may help people who have chest pains that are NOT caused by heart problems.

I am 36 years old and had a condition felt like costochondritis chest pain for 2 years, starting when I was 33. It was very scary and painful, and affected my life dramatically. No pain medications helped me at all. It took several years to figure out that most of my chest and rib pains were actually caused by tense muscles IN MY BACK; this caused referred pain to my chest and ribs; weird, I know. Anyhow, if anyone wants to try simple, cheap, and non-medicinal remedies to re-occurring chest pains, here is what I would recommend: (1) get a back massage by a registered massage therapist and/or (2) use a tennis ball against the floor or the Theracane (http://www.theracane.com/) to massage you own muscle knots in your back. These days, when I feel a sharp chest pain, I can massage it away by working on back-muscle knots in about 3-5 minutes.

Good luck, and I hope my experience can help someone.

I’m glad Joel posted this. I just spoke to a chiro who told me that this all my stem from the mid back. When I get some funds, I will visit him and see if he can adjust a few things. I use a Ceragem Thermo Massage Bed and I try to get the rollers to hit that certain spot that feels a little off in my back. My pain actually starts to wrap around my ribs too.
I was doing good for a while with icing and Topricin, but I got enthusiastic with my workouts and I wound up with another spasm in that area. Once the spasm hits, you are in for a period of the costo acting up for awhile. I was getting needle like hits on the area even if I was doing nothing. But so far, with lots of icing and such, that has calmed down.

Sometimes I feel like I’ll have this forever. The chiro told me, as long as you are active, even breathing, this can never fully heal.

I’ve had costo for about two and a half months now. My wife has taken me to the ER twice with severe pains and trouble breathing properly. My doctor has thought it was everything from a rotator cuff to a pec strain to general weakness due to mainly holding my baby girl with just my left arm. He sent me to an ortho who “felt pretty good” about it being a pec strain and put me on some steroids after a five minute physical exam. Five days into the steroids I felt like someone was trying to crush my chest and crawl out of my spine, which is why we ended up at the ER a second time. I’ve had chest x-rays, a C-T scan, and a lot of blood work, and they all came back normal. Finally, I just got tired of paying my doctor to make guesses and send me home with pain meds while ignoring the consistent inflammation below my left breast, where the bone connects to the ribs.

For a few weeks now I’ve been seeing a local chiropractor. He’s the one who finally diagnosed my condition after a thorough exam and x-rays. He’s been putting me on an inferential heat machine when I see him and has given me stretching exercises to do daily to loosen up the muscles/ribs on my left side. I’m only beginning this process, so there have been good days and bad ones. Overall though, it’s nice to FINALLY have someone in my corner who isn’t just managing my pain but is concerned about getting me to feel better.

I have to say that it’s hard to read how long all of you have been suffering. My wife and I have a 10-month girl, and I teach middle school for a living. Either one by itself is difficult, but I’ve got both along with this condition. More than anything I want to be a good dad to my very active girl and am constantly annoyed with how this condition limits what I can do with her. It also has affected my marriage – not because my wife doesn’t understand but because there’s so often that I’m in pain and she’s left to do most of the chores, take care of the baby, and work her full-time job.

I originally found this because I wanted to see how others with this condition actually slept. I will definitely try the hugged pillow technique, by the way. However, now I want to know more how others dealt with the emotional fatigue of having a condition that affects your quality of living. Anyone care to share their thoughts on this?

Hi Pax,

Sorry to hear about your Costo problems, welcome to our small costo club here! Yeah I have had mine for a long time now (approaching 3 years, seems like longer!)
I am living with it as it is in a liveable with state. I find it weird that after 3 years it healed but I still get residual symptoms. I have to manage what I do as I’m extremely scared of re-injury, although I can now carry most things it does still flare up. It just settles down again after a few days rest so I just listen to what it is telling me most of the time and adjust activity accordingly. Most recently I aggravated it by lifting heavy flat pack furniture into a friends loft. I thought I had really done something, but it recovered again within a week or two. I also have RSI in my forearms (hence the blog) and as such I feel that I may have sensitivity to soft tissue injuries or as my doc says “you have connective tissue issues” – which I do as I also have bad knee cartridge too. I have a huge desire to strengthen the chest/shoulder muscles and do weights etc, but have a massive amount of concern about overdoing it and re-injuring it again. I still don’t do push ups (never thought I’d miss push ups before!). I still sleep hugging the pillow as it is by far the best resting technique.
As you say the first few months can be a pain emotionally, I had to let my wife take the carrying strain of shopping, heavy stuff etc. It also sounded like I was making excuses a lot which can seem like they are non genuine to someone who doesn’t fully understand, but they get used to your condition eventually. I injured mine originally by lifting a full/heavy two handled bucket in my yard all day one day so any movement like that (or like how you injured yours) is to be avoided. I found I could carry stuff side on ie lifting from my side as opposed to my front after a few months, so you can adapt things a bit, but don’t rush to do any lifting in the first 2-3 months.

The physio exercises with the elastic bands were good for me, and I really feel like I should still do more of this on a regular basis.

Hope you heal quickly and make a good recovery now that you have found out what it is. You definitely have my sympathy as it is a very annoying condition, and not just for yourself!

ps. Not to alarm anyone, but I know of an individual who had costo symptoms and later found out that he had a tumour in his chest which had pushed against the sternum and cracked a rib, so its worthwhile thinking of all aspects of potential causes, although in your case obviously you’ve had the scans to rule this out which is good. Most frequently it boils down to overuse injury relating to one specific physical incident.

Alan

Pax, sorry to hear that you have joined our club. It’s not a fun deal.
Mine has been livable lately and I , like Alan, am careful not to overdo anything or tempt fate.
I use raw icing if it acts up and Topricin cream. I find that if I sit for too long, it bugs me.
I also noticed that I have discomfort wrapping around the ribs on that bad side and it goes to a spot right to my mid back. I spoke with a chiro that I will see soon (when funds are available) who thinks it may be a problem with a disc in the mid back that just needs adjusting.
Alan, you mentioned that tumor thing. When I started poking around this area in the beginning, I noticed a lipoma stting around 4 inches to the left, floating on the rib. OMG..I hope this isn’t some tumor issue!! Lipomas are usually harmless and I don’t think it has grown much since I first noticed it. Unless you touch your ribs alot (I mean..who does that?) you could never know it’s there. I found it because I kept rubbing the area.

When I squeeze or scrunch my abs, that is when the spasm comes and that can hurt for days after, so I’m careful not to contract that area. This first all started with a very strong spasm that kept happening when I did oblique ab work.

Good health to us all!

finally! I’ve been suffering through what seems to be the same / similar and haven’t really found any posts as good as this one on the net. I’ve been to the ER twice, had ECGs, blood work, x-rays, etc. and still have these pains. I have a stress test for my heart coming up just to finally rule out the ticker 🙂 but THESE stories sound right in line with what I have been experiencing for the last 6 months. My symptoms have been sharp pain in my sternum, sornes in my pecs, sore back / ribs. This is most notable when I try to go to bed (I sleep on my stomach / side) – it a sharp pain in my sternum if I sleep in any other position other than side ways, hugging a pillow (even sleeping on my back causes some discomfort to my sternum). After the stress test I’m going to move on to chiropracter / massage therapy to see if I can help this along. thanks for this post and contributions by all!

Hi Allan, been experiencing pain in my breast as well as in my left arm pit,as panicking everyday having anxiety disorder then i went to the hospital and got checked by a doctor diagnose is costochondritis,gave me celebrex and ointment..i would like to know if in costochondritis is it normal to feel pain and soreness around the breast area? and possibly on both sides? for i am really panicking now thankyou.

i am suffering same symptoms , i am working as a domestic on a carehome , it was my first tme job since i came on this country..well i got work before bit it was on office stuff..:) to make the story short.. since 2 months that i work in carehome as a domestic..ie..we deep clean rooms, lifting bed and furniture which i never done before but manage to do for that few months. after that one day i feel achy and not feelin well..and i thought to visit the GP…and she off me from work for week as i felt really weak after that i come back to work again i got the ache, pain on my chest, neck and back tension i felt it tighten my muscle..went to deep tissure maasage and chiropractor ..still the feelin of burning achong sensation still there on my chest and my back and neck..:( got full blood count test it went ok aside from a slight infection the GP told me it will clear up and up to now am worry and confuse whats goin on:(
and when i went to that massage to have a deep back massage she said i got a tear on my muscle at the right and seems all my muscle on my back are tighten:( dunno if this are related 3 months now since i got the symptom

Mine began two days after foolishly thinking I was strong enough to push a car (the battery died). After several $$$ doctor visits to rule out heart disease and a pulmonary embolism (scary stuff!), I was diagnosed with costochondritis. Anyway, since sleeping elicits the most chest pain for me, I thought I’d share a tip that is helping me a lot. I am a back sleeper and find that sleeping with a thin pillow underneath my upper back (shoulder blades) helps take the pressure off my sternum. Good luck all!

I have had the pain for 18 months…. I feel like a bullet to the head doctors keep telling me to use pain killers……

Haven’t posted in awhile. I have kept my Costo under control and I’m back doing regular workouts but I’m very cautious. I switched to “slow” weightlifting with a bit lighter weight, but not too light. Well, I decided to change to heavy lifting for the past 3 workouts and I have noticed the pain would sneak back in. But I’m trying to work back up to heavy weights.
So yesterday, I was lifting and I’m not sure which exercise I did, but I really felt some pain in my ribs about 6 or 7 inches right of the original pain in the center. This pain has been in this area for quite some time and I stil feel this one spot in my mid back that is tender. This spot is directly across from the orignal sternum pain. I am convinced that it’s all connected.
I’d love to see a Chiro, but funds are limited. The traveling rib pain seems to have gotten worse over time though. I still use ice and Topricin which works pretty well.

@ Ryan, I had pain for more than 2 years before it started letting up. These days it’s only there if I do some heavy lifting or stress out a bit. It’s playing up a bit lately but I am putting I down to vv cold weather and stress. @Sharon, lovely to hear how you are getting on, look like we share the same trigger. Take care all x

Hi Alan do you still reply to message i found this a very interesting read, I believe ive been suffering from this for the past 3 months – I have some questions

Hi Salley,

depends on what those questions are. I’m not an expert, just a fellow sufferer who is still trying to get from 98% to 100% healed now.

Alan

I have also had rib pain for over 18 months now. I am so tired of it ! I have tried everything, naproxen, physical therapy, chiropractor, message. The pain just keeps coming and going I cannot get rid of it. I cannot wear a bra, the compression of it kills me, even those very light “barely there” bras , I can bear it for maybe a couple of hours and that’s it. Everything I have read about this condition says there is no cure just management. I will definately try the Topricin cream I just read about…at this stage I will try anything!! I have no idea how or what triggered it but it is relentless, doing yard work , housework or pretty much anything causes a flareup. But at least I’m not alone, when I try to explain to people what I have, they seems confused….especially when I tell them it’s the reason I can’t wear a bra !!!! My wardrobe has change dramatically over the last 18mts, lots of baggy shirts ! 🙂 By the way does anybody ever get a ticklish cough with this.

Hi Annette, sorry to hear that you are having problems. When you say ‘Ribs’ do you mean in where they attach to your sternum ie centre of your chest. If not then how sure are you its Costochondritis?
Alan

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