costochondritis anyone?

[chiliphil1]

I first started having this pain about 6 years ago. It's a sometimes dull sometimes stabbing pain in my chest. It's right at the joint where the ribs meet the sternum. Sometimes it feels like a pressure and other times it feels like my chest is being ripped apart!

I went to the doctor when this first started and was checked for heart disease, etc. They said everything was perfect but most likely my office job sitting in front of a computer all day was causing the problem. Fast forward to now and I have been out of work for over 2 years now due to an on the job injury. I've trained off and on as I was able over this time enduring 3 surgeries now and months of therapy.

My hip which was the on the job injury still gives me lots of problems but I have decided to just push it as far as I can. I've started teaching my kids here at home a couple of nights a week and tonight what one of those nights. I am now dealing with the costo again. I have a bad stabbing pressure going on in the chest and it is miserable! I had an EKG and bloodwork done a few months back when I had bronchitis and everything came back fine. I'm positive it's not a heart or lung issue.

I was wondering if anyone else has this or has dealt with it in the past. If so what did you do? Were there any remedies other than eating a lot of pain pills? I'd love to find some stretch or exercise that would give me some relief. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

[Lupin1]

I was just diagnosed with costochondritis yesterday and I saw your post so I thought I'd respond even though I don't really have any advice for you. I'd never even heard of this before yesterday.

I just started having mild pain two or three weeks ago. At first I thought it was normal female chest pains and didn't think anything of it. Then over the weekend I got a bad cold and was coughing a lot, which brought the pain from mild to pretty severe and prompted me to go to the doctor.

The doctor actually said I probably hurt my chest at karate-- probably got hit in the sternum too hard at some point causing the cartilage to become inflamed.

No karate for at least a week and then I have to be careful for a few months-- no getting hit in the chest, no pushups, stopping if anything starts hurting, etc. One nice thing is I'm not allowed to shovel snow for a few months which will probably bring us to the end of the winter, so that's a plus, I guess. I'm also icing it and taking some prescription strength ibuprofen, but mostly it's just rest and letting it heal.

The doctor said it should heal on its own in a few months, but I've come across a lot of people like yourself for whom it's become a chronic condition. I'm really hoping mine heals, so I plan on taking it really easy for awhile.