"Popping sternum"

[Fett]

Every morning when I wake up, my sternum is slightly sore and stiff.
If I stretch my chest, my sternum makes a "crack" or "pops", and the stiffness and mild soreness are instantly gone.

I am able to pop my sternum at least twice a day, usually after I have been sitting for a long period of time.

Does anybdy else experience the same thing?

[MiloMan]

No. What did your doctor say about it?

[Fett]

I haven't gone to the doctor yet.

[BeaGleDU]

Be carefull man. I originally hurt my sternum doing dips. I felt this tight pain that felt like it wanted to pop (like cracking a knuckle) but it never did. I worked through it and it never got better. It hurt most when i would turn my head, like trying too look behind yourself without turning your body. It got worse and i went to a hospital for xrays and it turns out i tore a ligament near my sternum (i forget the name of it, if you want i can look it up and post more info on it).
Needless to say i was told to take time off, im currently in week 3 of my 5 week hiatus.

[Chunk2212]

Yeah, be really careful with that. Unlike a knuckle or knee, the sternum isn't a joint. It is one solid piece of bone and therefore it should most definetely not be cracking or popping. There might be something wrong with the insertion point between your sternum and pectoral.

[DB3]

probably just the costal cartilage making a little noise...

if it's just noise, probably not a problem. i asked my orthopedist about this same thing once. but if it hurts, you need to get it checked out.

mine does it. most people i know who've done martial arts or heavy contact sports do it. after years of such things, just about everything i have cracks or pops in the morning.

[larky]

would your chest-pop qualify for ripley's believe-it-or not, like those people who can squeeze their eyeballs out?

[acutofcoleman]

Originally posted by Fett
Every morning when I wake up, my sternum is slightly sore and stiff.
If I stretch my chest, my sternum makes a "crack" or "pops", and the stiffness and mild soreness are instantly gone.

I am able to pop my sternum at least twice a day, usually after I have been sitting for a long period of time.

Does anybdy else experience the same thing?

yeh i had this from doing a lot of pull overs really heavy and my sternum popped so hard i couldn't talk or breath properly without being in agony but don't worry it aint swerious and it'll go away soon enough.

[monos]

Mines used to when I flexed my chest really hard. It never hurt so I never thought anything about it.

[MiloMan]

Originally posted by acutofcoleman
don't worry it aint swerious and it'll go away soon enough.

Ever heard of an SC joint separation/dislocation?

Obviously not:

http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/...9/williams.htm

[DallasLynx]

I had that happen before. It was never painful, but it was pretty freaky. One of my roommates in College had the same thing. His dad is an MD and we had him check it out and talk to some orthopedists that he knew. Pretty much if it isn't painful then it is just cartilage clicking and popping. If this is chronic then you should go get checked out anyway though. They said that 99% of the time this is an injury from contact sports like hockey/football/rugby or from car accidents. Ours was from football, but they said if you bounce the bar off your chest when benching it is possible to injury the sc joint.

[acutofcoleman]

good point my man! When I first started training I was forced into doing a weight I couldn't handle and the spotter didn't spot properly and it crushed my chest that hurt!!!!

[Richie]

hey all,

i know this is an old thread but how are you all doing with your sternum injuries?

i have an annoying one at the moment.

Richie

[tbomb]

Originally posted by Richie
hey all,

i know this is an old thread but how are you all doing with your sternum injuries?

i have an annoying one at the moment.

Richie

i have one. very mild. im sure itll go away in a day or 2, but im skipping workouts for the rest of this week, and maybe next week to be safe. i only have mild pain when i breathe deeply, and when i push on it...VERY mild pain.

http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_...navbar=hw85856

[Captain-M0rgan]

Dont worry man, the same thing happens with me, every morning it pops when i stretch and from slouching when im sitting. I don tknow what it is but i doenst hurt or anything.

Its been happening for about 4 years now, it hasnt affected me much at all.

[Richie]

Originally posted by MiloMan
Ever heard of an SC joint separation/dislocation?

Obviously not:

http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/...9/williams.htm

geez!!! that sounds pretty bad.

i wacked myself in the chest quite hard while doing front pulldowns. the bar i used rotates so it's a little bigger in the middle.
i forgot to adjust the weight from my warmup

i've had it for about a year or so but seemed to pop out while doing front presses for some reason.
when i sneezed or did front pulldowns it would pop back back to normal again & everything was fine so i didn't worry too much about it.

for the last 2 weeks now it hasn't gone back to normal & i have pain on either side of my centre chest line which i think is the cartilidge joining the ribs to the sternum.

i'm going to start adding MSM to a protein shake twice a day & have some ibuprofen as well to reduce any inflammation.

at the moment i can work around it with light back, shoulder & arm work but if it's no better in a week i'll take some time off completely.

Richie

[tbomb]

Originally posted by Richie

for the last 2 weeks now it hasn't gone back to normal & i have pain on either side of my centre chest line

honestly, if i had pain, even if its minor, for over 2 weeks, i'd go see a medical doctor. the pain i have now is probably, on a scale of 1-10, a 1, and i only get it when i breathe deep or stretch, but it doesnt go away in a week, i'll be at a doctor's office.

too many people think theyre invincible and dont pay attention to minor injuries because they think theyre no big deal - these are the people who have all kinds of physical ailments later in life. im not saying you need to get stitches every time you get a papercut, but a "popping sternum" and pain in the chest wall wouldnt be something i would advise messing with, but then again, im no doctor.

[Richie]

i know what you're saying but my experiences with doctors leaves me thinking that they know nothing about sports injuries.

i had a burst disc in my lower back about 5-6 years ago & the first thing the doctor wanted to do was operate & fuse my discs together!!!!

long story short i got over it naturally with a little help from an osteopath & my own research & no further contact with the "doctor"

what i have at the moment i'm NOT shrugging off as being serious & if it isn't getting any better in a week then i'll be seeing someone about it.................for sure!!!

all i can do is rest it, work around it when i can & take the right supps/food to help it repair.

i've just got back from a leg workout where i did calves (donkeys & standing) extensions & sissy squats for quads & seated leg curl & sldl for hammies.
no pain so thats what i'll stick to for a while.

thanks for your concern though i appreciate it muchly. that's why i like these boards.

i'll post here & let you know how progress is coming along.

Richie

[tbomb]

Originally posted by Richie
i know what you're saying but my experiences with doctors leaves me thinking that they know nothing about sports injuries.

i had a burst disc in my lower back about 5-6 years ago & the first thing the doctor wanted to do was operate & fuse my discs together!!!!

long story short i got over it naturally with a little help from an osteopath & my own research & no further contact with the "doctor"

what i have at the moment i'm NOT shrugging off as being serious & if it isn't getting any better in a week then i'll be seeing someone about it.................for sure!!!

all i can do is rest it, work around it when i can & take the right supps/food to help it repair.

i've just got back from a leg workout where i did calves (donkeys & standing) extensions & sissy squats for quads & seated leg curl & sldl for hammies.
no pain so thats what i'll stick to for a while.

thanks for your concern though i appreciate it muchly. that's why i like these boards.

i'll post here & let you know how progress is coming along.

Richie

yeah, i was just saying...ya know? i used to have roommates in college who never went to a doc for anything, and wondered why in bad weather their wrists, ankels, etc would hurt.

keep us (or at least me) posted. so far, i woke up today and im feeling MUCH better than yesterday, so im gonna go hot up my leg workout tonight, and hopefully tomorrow i'll be ok to do shoulders and such.

[MiloMan]

Originally posted by Richie
i know what you're saying but my experiences with doctors leaves me thinking that they know nothing about sports injuries.

Were those docs sports medicine specialists? I'll bet that they weren't.

The reason that a sports medicine specialist is preferable to a GP or a regular ortho doc, when it comes to athletic injuries, is important to remember.

The family doc/GP and the regular ortho doc usually deals with average people that injured themselves, and thus the focus of their treatment is to get them repaired for their average life ASAP.

The sportsmed doc deals with athletes and sports injuries. They know that the athlete doesn't just need to be repaired well enough to push a lawnmower or work at a desk job, they need to get back to 100% in their sport, even if it takes a little longer and costs a little more.

It's a big, big, big difference.

[Richie]

no, they were just normal doctors but finding a competent sports doctor is even hard these days, believe me i've looked!!

i'm not getting the "popping" any more. it's only a slight pain now.

i sneezed last night & got a bit of pain across my chest but it doesn't bother when i take huge deep breaths or expand my rib cage.

i had bothersome shoulders (which turned out to be both bicep tendons & not the actual shoulder) most of last year which prevented me from doing MOST chest movements.

6-8 weeks ago i started training chest again with respectable weights for the first time for quite a while so i'm thinking now that my problem might be related to going too heavy too quickly and something has happened to the structure as i have no pain in the actual pec muscle at all!!!

i keep forgetting that almost 40 y.o now, not 20 (like i like to think i am )

i read some good things about MSM on Dave Drapers site & i have a kilo of it from Kilosports. so i have my fingers crossed it'll go completely soon.

Richie

[CurltonBench]

google search brah here. same with the minor pain/pop when stretching. hope its innocent.

[Sinaku5]

Curlton Bench - Honestly, IMO I think all these opinions on here are BS.

My chest used to crack if I stretch it in the right way and it was never painful. It doesn't do it any more, but it used to happen multiple times a week and now it just stopped, I notice no differences physically from when it was happening to now. It stopped about 1 year ago.

[oldballs]

hey OP, does your sternum still crack 9 years later?

[Livelift]

I had the same problem a long time ago OP when i first started working out. Keep doing neck stretches (Looking up etc, causes muscles to stretch) along with pectoral stretches. Also inhale really deep while stretching and try to force the air inside to push your sternum out while stretching.

Oh, and keep doing your dips/pullups etc.. just reduce the amount of weight you do. Ice the area after working out.

[brstrodtbeck]

Although I do feel some pain if I have experienced an injury to my ribs or back most of the time it is not painful and I can't remember when my sternum hasn't popped. I bad back or posture could contribute.

Every morning when I wake up, my sternum is slightly sore and stiff.
If I stretch my chest, my sternum makes a "crack" or "pops", and the stiffness and mild soreness are instantly gone.

I am able to pop my sternum at least twice a day, usually after I have been sitting for a long period of time.

Does anybdy else experience the same thing?

[thebeginning88]

Resurrecting this ancient thread, from a google search.


I have this issue, and never really thought much about it. Sometimes it hurts when it won't pop but needs to...not sure if anyone else here still has this or has found an answer.

I've had it for like a year or two.

[HarryFlashman]

When I was younger I went out with a big group of lads, when everyone got pissed then they did a big pile on so I had about 10 blokes jump on top of me with me crushed at the bottom of the pile. As I was lying at the bottom of the pile unable to breathe I felt my chest crack down the middle. They got off and my chest cracked from that point on every time I stretched. However it did eventually stop cracking and popping, it must've healed up.
Not a pleasant experience.
Unfortunately one of the lads I used to train martial arts with suffered a similar experience, I hit him in the chest during training, and his sternum cracked, he quit training in the end as it was never the same again.

[mstrube6891]

I have the same thing. I feel a sort of pressure in my sternum like it needs to pop and if I flex my pecs or grasp my hands together with my arms straight over my head and then stretch my arms back it will make a pop noise and the pressure goes away. This happens a couple times per day. I asked my doctor and she said it was either the cartilage sheets connecting to my sternum that were crinkling and then popping flat again or nitrogen getting caught around my sternum and popping (similar to popping knuckles). As long as it doesn't hurt, really nothing to worry about

[Sinaku5]

I have the same thing. I feel a sort of pressure in my sternum like it needs to pop and if I flex my pecs or grasp my hands together with my arms straight over my head and then stretch my arms back it will make a pop noise and the pressure goes away. This happens a couple times per day. I asked my doctor and she said it was either the cartilage sheets connecting to my sternum that were crinkling and then popping flat again or nitrogen getting caught around my sternum and popping (similar to popping knuckles). As long as it doesn't hurt, really nothing to worry about

Thanks for asking ur doctor