Tmar, I'm happy you wrote this man. Sounds like we have got the exact same thing.
Honestly when I read about costochondritis, they mostly talk about overcoming the pain, etc. but the most stressful thing about it for me is definitely the increased heart rate and heart palpitations. I've had many of the same tests as you and all have come up negative. I even went to the ER for it at one point and all tests showed that I was fine. The doctor at the ER suggested I may have costochondritis.
So far all I've done is rest for about 9 months. I took Ibuprofen once and it seemed to help very temporarily but I was told not to take it too often.
Right now, not being able to lift sucks, but what's worse is that when I do exercise or even sometimes just get up out of my chair I can feel my heart rate rise excessively. The other day I was walking up stairs for about 20 seconds and I think my heart rate went up to around 160bpm, and stayed pretty high for about 20 minutes. I'm constantly anxious about my heart rate to the point where I'm not exercising at all at the moment.
Some treatments I'm going to try soon are:
- Glucosamine and Chondroiten supplements
- Heat packs
- Ice packs
- Voltaren Emulgel or Deep Heat
- Ibuprofen after exercise
- Light weight exercises
Basically what I want to do is reduce the inflammation so my heart rate isn't ridiculous.
If anyone has had any treatment which has worked really well, please message me or post in this thread.
Originally Posted by tmar89
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04-07-2013, 12:14 AM #91
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06-22-2013, 08:54 PM #92
Just wanted to say hi and express my thanks for having this thread. Though it sucks to read how so many people are afflicted with this condition, it is also comforting to know that others are going through the same thing that I'm going through now. As for me, I've had costochondritis for over a year now, but was only properly diagnosed about three months ago. The pain is in my lower ribs and due to the fact that I had improper form when I was doing ab crunches. Looking back on it now, all of this was started because I wanted a stupid six pack. I've not done any form of workout since January, as I'm afraid I might aggravate the condition.
Still, I've come on to this board because I want to know if anyone has heard of prolotherapy. I've read that it could be used as a form of treatment for many chronic injuries, including costochondritis. It seems too good to be true though and seems to verge on a scam. I mean, how does strengthening the ligaments and tendons help with inflammation of the cartilage? I'd like to try it, but at the same time.....well, maybe this won't work at all. Maybe it could make the condition worse. Those are my fears.
Has anybody had any experience with prolotherapy? Could it work for costochondritis? Thanks in advance.
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07-11-2013, 08:18 PM #93Registered User
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Costochondritis
Hey. I have had costochondritis for 3 years now. I have not been able to work out more than 3 hours a week. I am also a stay at home mom with a toddler so i do a lot during the day. I am 22 and have had 3 actual heart attacks beacuse of my condition. I get multiple episodes every day and they keep me awake at night. I have done cortisone shots about 5 times and it comes back stronger everytime. I was suppose to compete in September but now I can't! I'm so frustrated. Nothing helps and it just keeps getting worse. What helps you get thru a workout?
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08-27-2013, 09:09 AM #94Registered User
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Found something that helps
I have had chostochondrities for over 6 years since I moved from one state to another. It was a very stressful time for me, I had to move tons of stuff, very heavy and due to limited budget, could not get much help. Anyway, although it seemed to lessen in severity, I noticed during the colder months it gets more frequent and it hurts to sleep! What I have been doing is completely avoiding sleeping on either of the sides. This seems to do something bad. The most helpful relief I found until now was New Chapter Zyflamendm which was great until I started getting stomach pains. I tried reducing the dose but that didn't help much. Well, I recently came across some info on the web talking about chostochondrities in terms of body acidity or something at slavrsyndrome com/conditions/acidosis-blood-tissue-acidity
Well, I tried magnesium malate and boom... in 2 days my pain is reduced by 90%. I get little drowsy from it though, but it's better than pain and I hope it stays that way! Perhaps it may help someone?
Originally Posted by bodybuildermom
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09-09-2013, 11:51 AM #95Registered User
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I just wanted to give back to this thread since it has been helpful to me over the past few months.
Anyway, in Feb. 2013 I started having chest pains. I quickly determined that it was costochondritis after searching conditions which cause chest pain. It was a logical conclusion since the chest pain was directly over the costochondral joints.
When June 2013 rolled around, I decided I was tired of the pain and thought a professional's help was warranted. I went to the ER, a walk in clinic, and a cardiologist. Obviously, it wasn't a heart problem, but they wanted to rule it out. Finally, I got to a rheumatologist. The cardiologist I went to previously stated that he worked with collegiate athletes at a well-known school (WVU). He did indeed diagnose costchondritis.
It turns out that I've had acid reflux for the past seven months with the primary symptom being sharp chest pain and not much else in the way of symptoms. The point is, if you're having a problem like this for an excessive amount of time, you may want to consider other causes of chest pain. The diagnosis of elimination (it's not A or B so it must be C) is useless, and if you've had chest pain for over two months with no improvement, you deserve a more in-depth investigation.
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10-27-2013, 05:01 PM #96
I have chronic rib ligament laxity, costochondritis, cervical instability and atm winging scapula.
My advice to everyone here is avoid ****ing chirpractors like the plague. These useless ****ing ****s will make your costo worse. In fact I simply had rib laxity in my back. Until I saw these gay chiros who'm manipulated me. The exact morning after a painful manipulation I had costo in my chest. It has been over a year since and I still get chest pain.
There is no logic in these chiropractors heads. Chronic pain and inflammation is from weak supporting structures. ie weak tendons, ligaments, cartilidge, muscle fascia. Typically weak = torn, stretched (laxity), inflammed, damaged in some way.
When something is weak, it does NOT get stronger by them pile driving there hand into your spine and shifting your ribs. If a bridge tether is stretched and tearing, do workers push or pull on it? No, because that makes no sense, and would probably make the tether damage more. But this is chiropractic logic in a nutshell. Instead the workers would repair the tether.
IMO chiropracters should be banned. Chiropractic should be only useable by orthopedic surgeons, and specific pain management specialists. To be used only when it will actually help, only when it has been deemed that your supporting structures are not actually damaged, but just out of alignment. Chiropracters on the other hand, know nothing but chiropractic. You can go in saying your having a heart attack and theyll tell you the answer is a neck crack.
I hate these ****ers so goddamn much
Chronic inflammation and pain is caused from structural weakness/damage. This is bad inflammation.Originally Posted by tian8008
Good inflammation is the process the body uses to begin the healing process. Once the ligament strengthens and heals the inflammations goes away for good.
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10-28-2013, 08:01 PM #97
Hey guys. I've lurked around this thread for about four months after getting costo about four months ago. Since I'm almost fully recovered, I wanted to share what has worked for me in recompense for the solace the commiseration around here provided. First off, I agree with the guy above me--be wary of chiros. I was being adjusted heavily to keep my workouts going, and ended up with rib pain radiating from the sternum in two places that prevented me from doing upper press exercises.
I eventually saw a doctor, and he diagnosed me with costochondritis, and gave me an NSAID to take. Personally, I think the entire concept of costo is a cop-out of a diagnosis. Inflammation is the symptom of a problem, not the problem itself. Inflammation is the means by which the body repairs itself, by increasing bloodflow to a site, and carrying away damaged cells. In that respect, I'm a bit conflicted as to how I've recovered, because I relied heavily on ice and NSAIDs. But, some newer thought in sports medicine claims that allowing inflammation to run its course, and heat (rather than cold) are the best way to speed up recovery (Search: Kelly Starrett, "We've got to stop icing: a year later"--I'd post a link, but my post count is too low). So, basically, after I succeeded in dramatically reducing pain, I've tried to use NSAIDs and ice as little as possible (read: as a last resort). As of about a month I've been working back into upper body lifts. It hasn't been seamless, and there have definitely been some scares that felt like relapses, but so far, so good.
If I were going to make recommendations, it would be this:
1) I think my costochondritis was mainly a product of two things: posture, and ensuing thoracic spine rigidity. That I was seeing chiros all the time should tell you that an adjustment here and there will not always resolve the issues. Before you can address the t-spine issues and be confident you aren't injuring yourself, though, you're going to need to reduce inflammation. I did the latter by icing the living heck out of my chest and back, and taking anti-inflammatory levels of Advil.
2) Address postural issues. Look for places that you sit on a daily basis that seem to bring out your pain, and adjust--IE, if you work at an office, consider a standing desk if possible. If you're a student, studying at home, consider lying down. Watch the position of your neck and shoulders as you sit at the computer, or read. When you're standing and sitting, (and I know this is tough while dealing with costo) work on getting your shoulders back, your chest open, and your neck in proper alignment. Remember, when everything is in proper position, the body can support itself. As a grad student myself, I was brutalizing my traps, rhomboids, and neck while sitting at my desk. I've cut it out in favor of laying down while I study, and while I was still icing, used the reclined position to ice. You may also want to check out your posture while you sleep. If you sleep on your back, that's great. But, for me, a life-long stomach sleeper, I switched to sleeping on the unaffected side, and it seemed to help along recovery. If you can switch to sleeping on your back, that'd probably be even better.
3) Address spinal mobility. Now, I'm not saying that this is everyone's issue. If you've actually torn the cartilage connecting the ribs to the sternum, that's another animal entirely. But, for me, once I was feeling very limited pain in my ribs, I began working on mobility. I started by setting a foam-roller parallel to my spine (not perpendicular), and working on the rhomboids and other muscles outside the spine by rolling slightly to one side. I did this at first because the normal, perpendicular foam-rolling felt like it was moving ribs in an unhelpful way. I didn't experience that feeling with the parallel roll. From there, as inflammation decreased, I began doing a bridge over a perpendicular foam roller to mobilize the t-spine. And, over the past few months, things have gotten a ton better. I'm still cautious as heck, and scared that it will come back, but so far, I've been able to get back to progressing in the gym.
I'd recommend checking out t-spine mobilization videos on youtube, and being conservative in your application of them. Just make sure you feel comfortable with what you're doing, and don't push anything too quickly. Acute pain is a good sign that you're not ready for a given activity just yet. Elliot Hulse also has some good videos on mobilizing the core and the spine--addressing the abs/thorax/all of that goodness is an important part in getting everything going again, too, in my opinion. Kelly Starrett is a good source for stretches as well, but some of his stuff may be a bit too aggressive for someone attempting to recover from costo. Approach that with caution.
4) Nap often, and sleep well at night. Studies show that inflammation in the body is significantly increased when it receives inadequate sleep. As any gym rat knows, sleep is the key to recovery. By my estimation, the more of it, the better in the recovery process. Make sure you're getting at least maintenance-level calories while recovering, too, as the body's ability to repair itself is impaired when running a calorie deficit.
5) Fish oil. It's not a miracle cure, but I believe in it.
I hope this helps some of you, because, as a gym rat, I realize how much costo absolutely sucks, and hope we become more effective in knocking it out. Cheers, and godspeed.Last edited by Sigismund; 10-28-2013 at 08:07 PM.
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10-31-2013, 12:17 PM #98Registered User
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Hey guys,
So about a year ago I was benching with dumbells and was maxing out 280lbs. I am a bigger guy 6'0 265lbs (some extra lbs to loose). I noticed after my workout when I went home I had this Dull/ache in my chest. So I stopped doing chest for a few weeks once I started chest again, the same thing happened dull pain in my chest after working out. Finally after about 8 months of going on and off with chest I think it had enough. I had Awful stabbing and dull pain in my chest and sides also some pinching like pain in my left arm and back pain would sometimes start on my left side and move to the center of my chest. I checked into the hospital a few days later. They ran a bunch of tests, Bloodwork, EKG, Chest Xray, Everything came back normal, The next day I went to the Cardiologist and he reviewed the results and agreed everything looked good. I went for a stress test and ultra sound of the heart a few weeks later and that also came back normal. My GP told me I had costo and he said it will go away on its own. I have had a lot of anxiety about the pain and discomfort that goes along with having this mostly because of where it is located. Through all of this ive taken Meloxicam, Purcocet, Vicodin, ********. Non of which worked at all. I also have experienced muscle spasms all over mostly arms stomach and chest which I believe is related to the anxiety. I also feel Like I have heart palps and or some sort of spasm inside my chest, Strong heartbeat occasionally, From what ive read this could be due to the inflammation pushing on the nerves which will heighten the sensitivity of them. Any way I hope this will help some of you guys. This for lack of a better word(s) ****ING BLOWS!
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11-03-2013, 11:51 PM #99I have this.Originally Posted by fallago89
Do you at any point get jerking in your head that feels like its in your brain or mind? The sensation of a brain jerk followed by the feeling of falling? Do you get any twitching or tingling in your legs? I have the heart palps following this, I can assure you its not always anxiety its the direct effect of this problem.
It sounds like you have damaged the ligaments in one of your ribs like me. Anteriorly can cause the costo and chest pain. Posteriorly can cause the back pain. It can also refer like a band effect. The spasming in your back, could be nerves but could also and more likely be muscle spasms from your body recruiting muscles to do what your ligaments are supposed to be doing.
The arm spasms, do they feel like a twitching sensation under the skin?
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11-28-2013, 08:49 PM #100Registered User
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My experience Costochondritis or Micro tears in Sternum?
Hi Guys
I have just joined this forum and wanted to share my experience with this issue. I originally sparked a long chain of events by tricep dipping with 60kg dipping belt on, which caused by chest to over engage on the final rep and then POP!!! something bad happened. The adrenaline was flowing mid workout so the true seriousness did not sink in initially. I tried to persevere with the workout but every slight movement was putting an agonising pressure on my chest. I left the session early and headed home with both entry and exit from my car resembling that of a 90 year old grandad. The next morning was perhaps one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced, it felt as if a sledgehammer had been taken to my entire body and I could barely roll out of bed. This initial agony however lasted only a day or two and then the pain dramatically subsided to the point where I felt as if I would be back to normal within a week. I could not of been more wrong, while the sharp pain had dissipated I was left with this kind of dull ache in my chest that could flare up in certain movements. Since this point (roughly 18 months ago) up until around 6 months ago I decided to continue training mainly due to the fact that training was such a big part of my life and I simply could not imagine a lifestyle that did not involve my workout program. What I was doing in reality was not training properly but doing some kind of hybrid workout that did not aggravate the sternum area. Straightforward exercises like leg press, DB press, military press kept my sternum relatively unscathed. Tricky exercises and pain inducing exercises were squats, tricep dips (out of the question) and close grip bench were all big no no's. Also wide grip pull ups put severe pressure on that area. Despite the clear warning signs and almost unanimous peer group advice to rest and see a doctor I persevered and even started to rebuild back to PB levels in some exercises. This is when the symptoms started to aggravate further. I developed a tightness in the sternum from deep breathing, pain from sneezing, pain from bending down to tie up shoelaces, pain rolling over in bed in the morning just constant pain every day.
I read this thread and was convinced that I had the dreaded costochondritis and headed to a sports doctor to find out my fate. What I was diagnosed with may be of interest the readers of this post as it was not costochondritis that I was diagnosed with but micro tears in my sternum. I had x-rays, blood tests and the doctor said my profile did not fit with costo and that he was confident that there were microscopic tears within my sternum which had never healed from that initial tricep dip incident. I would go as far to say that most people on this site would have a torn sternum as opposed to costochondritis which is an inflammation of the sternum area and chest cartilage but which is mainly exhibited in older women. Think about it with the weights and punishment we do in the gym, micro tears is a much more plausible reason for the symptons described. The sternum apparently is like an onion with layers and layers on bone. These tears can be deep seated within the "onion" (my doctor's analogy, not mine)
His advice was simply rest and to not engage in sternum aggravating exercises. Fast forward 4 months and I must say there are vast improvements. The tightness from breathing and sneezing has essentially gone, I still have occasional tightness in my sternum from reaching down or bending down. Most general movements are fine. Here is a list of things I reccommend to fast track your road to recovery.
1. Rest, Rest and More Rest, This involves obviously not weight training but also trying to get solid sleep sessions in (8+ hours0
2. Cardio has helped me. I have never been a big runner but this has helped me overcome the lack of opportunity to weight train while maintaing a semi respectable appearance.
3. Multivitamin
4. Glucosamine & Chondroitin
My final remark is stay positive. Ultimately this will not heal quickly, the sternum is bone bordered by cartilage which means that healing time is slow and long. Take stock of your work, friends, family and future goals and make the most of this time there will be plenty of time to achieve your gym related goals once you heal up. I for one delayed and delayed resting because I could not visualize life without the gym and "the look". This is probably blasphemy on a site like this but the world continued to spin during my rest period despite the loss of bicep inches and weakened physique. This perhaps is a retrospective look back as there have been low low times in my 6 month of gym "cold turkey". There were times when I literally wondered if I would ever train again and it is only now that I feel healthier and close to a return that I can reassess my situation and share my experience.
If anyone else is experiencing these symptons or going through recovery all I can say is best of luck, be patient and stay positive. Sorry for the novel but I felt the need to share my experience and hopefully provide some good info to the community.
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01-17-2014, 11:58 AM #101
Sorry to bump such an old thread, I think I have some information that may be valuable to Costo sufferers.
About 2 years ago, I hit the gym, didn't warm up at all and hit dips. Went down deep, felt a tear/pop and was out of commission for 3 months. The injury seemed to heal itself and I was back to the gym. From time to time I would feel tightness in my chest and found that it would "pop" sometimes, no pain.
Fast forward another year or so. I was heavy into deadlifting, making great gains. I was lifting 300+ a few times a week. I started to notice a tightness in my chest that would stay there for days. Like all lifters, I ignored my bodies signs and kept lifting. This went on for a while and the tightness just got worse. Then one day, at yoga, I felt something give loose. It didnt hurt at the time, but the next day my chest/sternum was in quite a bit of pain. I assumed I had the same injury as last time and rested completely for several months. Each day it hurt, hurt to sleep, hurt to stetch and hurt any time I moved my arms up or down or breathed in deeply or sneezed.
I got sick of waiting so I went to the dr, she gave me the chosto diagnosis. She said to wait, it would go away on its own.
Fast forward another few months. It does feel better but it never seems to heal all the way, I can't lift or put pressure on it without aggravating the condition. I was devestated, my belly was growing and I was losing all the mass I gained. I went back to the dr, she put me on prednizone which seemed to help for a short bit, but really did nothing much.
I researched and researched, found nothing. Then I had a thought...I sit in a desk all day, my posture is fairly bad at times, what if I tried to fix that? Well my friends, that seems to have improved my condition greatly. The past week, I have been very strict on my posture. I sit up straight, shoulders out a bit, chest forward, feet properly on the ground. It has made a huge difference. I can feel my chest getting better almost everyday. I even did a light workout last night with very very little flare up today, that is my first good workout in 7 months. If you have this problem, fix your posture, no slouching, no bending over and resting your elbows on your desk, no resting your elbows on the table when you eat. Only sitting up properly and watching your form. Even on the couch, sit up straight! This, accompanied with light stretching based on this guide (search for hub pages costochondritis stretches as I dont have the postcount to URL) to increase bloodflow and reduce inflammation has saved my body. I feel like I could be back to normal lifting within a few weeks at this rate. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose...and even worse, if you keep up the bad posture, this could go on forever.
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01-24-2014, 01:21 PM #102Registered User
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Hey all. Ill give my story briefly and bring up a new point of discussion.
June 2013. Deadlifting 90% of my max (405) and pop! A sharp pain under my chest/lat insertion couldn't pinpoint it etc…. Pain level is 4/10. Stop lifting.
July 2013. Pain subsided quickly to 3/10 but lingers 24/7 on and off at will.
August 2013. Some lifting losing gains pain is 3/10.I go to the chiro and i have two ribs out of alignment where the pain is (middle part of my pec a little bit above the nipple and across….a good 1-2 inches across).
September 2013: I start running test and deca to see if i can help the healing process. I go to chiro and get deep tissue 1-2 times per week. My deadlift goes up to 465lbs and the massage therapist tells me the "inflammation" and/or "scar tissue" is going away nicely. Pain level is 1/10!!!
December 2013: I come off test + deca, stop getting massage, stop going to chiro.
January 2014: Pain is now a 4/10 and I am lifting once per week if that…..
SO, I hope you all kept up. What I'm going to do is get back on test and deca, go back to the massage therapy, get on 4ius of GH per day, and 100mcg of IGF1-LR3.
I keep hearing these take 1-2 years to heal, but you know what? GH, IGF, DECA, and other DRUGS are out there that can help us. I got stronger in every lift with this rib pain and somehow it healed during the process and i don't think it was only b/c of massage. Either way, I am going to get 1-2 massages a week and start back test + deca, but this time I'm going to throw in GH and IGF…..
Lets turn this into a thread were those who are serious about healing guinea pig and try to use the drugs that should be LEGAL and at our DISPOSAL for our personal health, and not whatever else the media claims we use these drugs for. I will make this thread my personal log and hopefully things go well and i don't tear some ****!!!
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01-24-2014, 05:07 PM #103Registered User
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Update!:
Went to chiro today and got an MRI scheduled for monday to observe the rib and chest wall and see what we can pinpoint.
Massage went well and the new massage therapist suspects a possible pec minor or major tear deep within the fascia….. "Cross fiber therapy" was used on the spot and it is a bit sore, but less ache-y if that makes sense.
IGF 1 just came in the mail… going to administer 75mcgs into my chest EOD with 5ius of GH EOD (so one day igf next day gh and so on….). Im expecting the GH to be in next week. Maybe Ill start my own log????
cheers!
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01-24-2014, 08:18 PM #104Registered User
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The majority of mine is gone due to stretching and exercise. I noticed that exercise does help it along with ice, ibuprofen, and was prescribed steroids.
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01-26-2014, 05:44 AM #105Registered User
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Sounds good. Im hoping mine is just a minor pec strain/tear i can nurse to health with massage and some other techniques. Hitting full upper body today with the pec strain but going to take it easy… I hope all goes well.Originally Posted by 94jettameowpsst
pinning 80mcgs of IGF1LR3 Pre workout too….
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01-26-2014, 05:26 PM #106Registered User
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I have NO idea what IGF1LR3 is lol, not sure if that's some type of juice but when I say steroid I meant prednisone lol. The best advice I can give you is to give it time to heal before you get back into the swing of things again. There is little to no direct blood supply to your intercostals so know that it will take a while to actually heal, like my squished discs and completely torn intercostal >.<Originally Posted by 325rider
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01-27-2014, 12:55 PM #107Registered User
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IGF1-LR3 is a long half life (24-36hr) peptide that can be purchased legally. I take it to increase levels of IGF1 in my body which helps recovery dramatically. It is not "juice" or "some type of juice".Originally Posted by 94jettameowpsst
Yes I should give it time to heal. I worked up to one set of flat bench for 225x6 on Sunday Jan 26th and have no increased soreness in the tender area, i hit back and arms afterward with no problem. I am going back for another massage on Wednesday to break up more scar tissue if that is the case. I am hoping this isn't an inter coastal problem as I can probably heal a minor pec tear while still lifting (given that i train chest rarely and get deep tissue in the area). Im praying i don't get hurt, but I've had this pain for 6 months and its gone totally away with massage around November. I will not train if the pain level gets worse than it is now, but hopefully she starts healing up!
If not, then its prob a rib issue
94jetta. I suggest you look into IGF1 for healing … although I'm no expert.
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01-27-2014, 03:32 PM #108Registered User
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I'll definitely have to check it out! Thanks for the info
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01-28-2014, 09:16 AM #109Registered User
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Good luck. Im reading peoples personal research logs running specific dosages and timings. Let me know if you need help:Originally Posted by 94jettameowpsst
I'll definitely have to check it out! Thanks for the info
**UPDATE:
Injecting IGF 80 mcgs today before lunch…. Going to see if I feel myself going hypo on an empty stomach… doubtful, but we'll see.
Deep Tissue massagecoming on wed, going to train upper body again thurs. Praying for diminishing pain from here on out, so far so good!
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02-01-2014, 07:13 AM #110Registered User
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Welp. Wednesday massage went terribly the therapist that fixed me doesn't work there anymore. The woman who massaged me did not do cross fiber friction and made it worse. Im back to where I started on pain level and have to wait till next weekend to get an appointment at a massage school.
Annoyed as ****
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02-14-2014, 09:26 AM #111Registered User
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Had it, lost it ... it's back
Had my previous bout of costo 7 years ago - out of absolutely nowhere. Just months before had completed a marathon, a triathlon and climbed Kili; then one day in the office I could barely breathe.
I did recover, but as many have said on this thread, it took time. I started doing pilates, but frankly, it just goes when it goes: can be weeks, can be months. If you can't be super-pilates-active, be lucky!
And now, mostly due to a hip injury (meaning less cardio work, replaced by more gym time) I have got it back. Physio says that we all need to be very careful about bringing weights back behind our chest or neck, e.g. chest press or the lat machine.
Have read all the comments above (thanks in particular to JustBlaise, Sigismund, Tmar89 for some very sensible comments and suggested actions) and am going to stick with ibuprofen and rest (with perhaps some light stretching, walking, maybe even swimming, steam-rooming) for the time being.
Let's hope it is just a short one!
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02-16-2014, 11:01 PM #112Registered User
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Help please!!!!!
So I have not been diagnosed with costochondritis but I've been experience chest pain while running since march of 2013. I have been running my whole life since 2 grade, in highschool from freshmen to junior year I out in about 50 miles a week but senior year I stepped it up, I did 75 mile weeks at about 6:30 pace I was feeling good, junior year I smoked a lot of marijuana pretty much the whole year.....I stopped a little senior year, but I was smoking with friends in March of 2013 one day and I was coughing pretty hard and that's when I could breathe and had chest pain , went to the ER said nothing was wrong ....starting having problems sleeping due to chest pain and after eating meals I couldn't breathe and chest would hurt I went to a lung doctor and said everything was good and said I had GERDS so started taking over the counter Zantac and it helped a lot and kept running at this point it didn't bother my chest when I ran I ended up finishing senior as a state champ in the 1600 meters and 3200 meters in track ...I signed with a junior college and started training with them in May ......after the first week I do my longest run ever which was 18 miles and this was just for practice I felt good afterwards but that night in the shower my chest was killing me and triggered my anxiety etc I went to bed and scheduled an appointment for a doc nxt day....I go to the doc he says go to a heart doc...go to heart doc n says 'your heart is fine' so I was relieved and went back to my doc and he gives me stronger medication for gerds(prescription) it helped a little if I took the pill 2 hours before our run in the mornings but after a while it died off and didn't work so I went a gastreilogist ? I guess a it's a stomach doctor , I have a procedure where they put a scope down my throat and look at my eso****us stomach and small intestines and everything was good I was so frustrated so I stopped running about 2 months ago now I was running that whole time with this pain putting in 80 to 100 mile weeks, I hated practice because of my chest and I feel that it made my costochondritis worse from all the running .... My life has been stressful bc I'm on scholarship and I can't run everyone thinks I'm faking and being a little b**** and it's frustrating ! So please help! Can someone explain what is the fastest way to get rid if this? I have a slight lot bump that is tender on my left side of the sternum where my rib and sternum connect, this is the only spot....in the beginning it was horrible I was always having problems breathing and couldn't sleep and about like 5 moths in it caused me to have horrible back problems in my upper back it would hurt to turn my body around to look behind me and now it just hurts randomly through the day for 2 to 3 minutes and especially when I have a seat belt on! As anyone else experienced symptoms like this ?
-drew Garcia ....my life story haha
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02-17-2014, 04:03 PM #113Registered User
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Hey guys here's my story regarding costochondritis:
Late in 2008, I was in undergrad and had plenty of gym time to built up a solid chest (barbel bench 1RM in the 330-345lb range). One day, while doing seated military press (behind the back) I squeezed to get a last rep in and raised my back off the seat - big mistake. I disloged a rib from my spine which caused it to go inward into my chest.
I had pain upon wakening in the morning, while doing any chest exercise, and sometimes just breathing hurt. I went to the chiro and had the rib put back into place but the damage to the chest cartilage was still there. I took ibuprofen 800mg 1-2 times per day most day of the week for weeks on end. I got to the point that anything over 135lb on the barbel hurt too much to do.
So I took a break for 2-3 months then went back in slowly, and with dumbells, always warming up my chest with kneeling push ups. Anothering thing that made a HUGE difference was sleeping while holding (or hugging?) a pillow around my chest (kinda like pregnant women do). This pretty much eliminated the chest pain in the morning after a couple weeks.
Flash forward to today, I'm back in the 315 range for the 1RM, and experience pain ONLY when I fall asleep with my arms crunched together (like when your chest collapses) or when doing heavy incline barbell press - which I've dropped indefinitely because of my left shoulder.. but thats another story.
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03-30-2014, 07:20 PM #114Registered User
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Costo
I have had Costo for 5 months now and mainly have bad flare ups with certain movements like picking up my kids or basically anything using my chest muscles. I read earlier where it hurt someone to sneeze and cough and i definitely experience that too. A couple posts up someone thought they for it from sitting at work with bad posture all day and I think I basically did the same thing while at home and work and know I was stressed out during that time so my muscles may have been extra tense. I'm going to try to improve me posture bc I can't wait any longer to get back in the gym and nothing else works. I have had all heart and lung tests done and all were good but def get shortness of breathe sometimes bc my chest feels so tight and if I play bball my upper chest pain then goes all the way to my last rib in my stomach. Thanks guys for all your posts bc it gets depressing when you have this for so long and it's good to meet some other people going through the same thing, especially since I've been in the military for 9 years and can't even do my PT tests right now and have always blown them away my whole career... Freakin sucks
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04-08-2014, 06:17 AM #115Ready To Kick Ass at 40
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Does anyone know what kind of doctor can actually diagnose this? I think I have it.
I don't feel like wasting my time with the general practitioner if there's another type of doctor that is usually the go to in these cases.
Thanks.
KY
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04-15-2014, 05:15 PM #116Registered User
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Costo
A Physician Assistant diagnosed me but I have another friend who is also a PA and with this condition they basically run all tests for heart and lungs which would cover all fatal possibilities and it's kind of the process of elimination from there. I know it doesn't help ease you or give you
Peace of mind and actually gave me really bad anxiety knowing it was basically an educated guess at what was wrong with me
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04-15-2014, 06:17 PM #117mANTIQUE
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You can try an orthopedic specialist/surgeon, though that might not get you any farther. I had a severe case of costo back in my mid-20's for about four years. I had to quit lifting, put on a lot of weight, and pretty much avoided any activity since most of it hurt my chest. My ortho said there wasn't much to be done except to rest and let it heal. If I had it today I'd try taking cissus for it, as that seems to help any other joint pain I get. I love the stuff.Originally Posted by kyoun1e
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04-24-2014, 06:54 AM #118Registered User
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Hey all.
I'm not really a bodybuilder; rather a martial artist, but since this thread is so good and a long lasting one, I thought I would post my experience here if it could help anyone.
I developed this condition about two years ago. I have never been to the doctor for it, but judging by the lump over my sternum the diagnosis was obvious. there was great pain in the beginning along with a clicking sound when I stretched (the rib coming out of place). Incidentally my knees were giving me trouble at the time as well. I decided to use a calorie counting software to find any vitamin deficiencies. Sure enough I was not getting any vitamin D. I began supplementing 4000 IU per day and almost all of the pain disappeared, but not the swelling or the clicking. My knees returned to normal as well.
I gave it three months to heal, but eventually became fed up and began my training again (which is a very intense 5 hour per day martial arts regimen.) I have never stopped since, and over the course of two years the swelling actually very gradually spread across both sides of my chest on the top rib. The pain never increased BTW. Every now and then I would get a very mild pain down my arm, that's it. The swelling is atrocious however. I have no trouble with my training at all. Recently I also discovered through research that I was low on vitamin K2 as well. I began supplementing with k2 (mk-7) and after a month of this, I can stretch way more and farther than I used to be able to (which is absolutely amazing). The clicking in my chest is now gone, which hopefully suggests that the healing may finally be beginning. The swelling is no longer getting worse from what I can see, but it is most certainly still there.
The moral? Make sure you have no deficiencies of any kind first. I assume you guys already have this covered, being body builders and all, but you never know. Good luck.Last edited by GammaLeonis; 04-24-2014 at 07:10 AM.
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05-21-2014, 12:53 AM #119
Natural medicine under test
Hi, TLDR AT THEN END IF YOU HAVE NO TIME TO READ
i'm answering this thread to tell you a bit about my story and the different treatments i tried.
A little more than a year ago, i started to feel a pain at the cartilage between my 2nd / 3rd ribs and my sternum. I first felt the pain (it wasn't a big pain, more like a discomfort) during seater shoulder dumbell press. I think a female bodybuilder mentioned this exercise as the start of her pain too. Anyway, stupid as i am, i kept doing it, but I also visited my doctor. He gave me some anti inflamatory pills and tell me to go back training after 2 weeks. Next thing you know, i torned my cartilage during a rowing. I had a poor form. The coach at my gym told me "don't keep you back straight. Try to pull your rib cage out as much as you can !". **** him.
I snapped my cartilage and when i asked my osteopath and another coach in a crossfit gym, you NEVER pull out your rib cage. It's an old bodybuilder technique to squeeze a little thighter the shoulders at the end of the movement but it is dangerous, not natural and can really **** you up. Well it did. So guys, keep your ****ing back and chest as straight as you can.
Anyway. I did an IRM, they told me my cartilage was torn, I waited 8 month and all doctors told me it should be good by now. I didn't check but i'm pretty sure it should indeed be healed by now. The pain i'm feeling today is a bit different from the one when i torned my cartilage. With my cartilage torned, the simple act of twisting my chest to the side was hurting me. Now it doesn't. What hurts me is when i put some pressure on my chest (in case of push up for exemple), or when i stretch my rib cage too far by pulling it out.
Aaaaaaanway. Once a doctor finally understood why I was still in pain even with my cartilage reconstructed (I spent more than 1k2€ (i'm french) in medical visits to surgeons, sports doctors, general doctors, injection etc), the guy who finally told me that I had a cartilage inflammation tried differents treatments.
First I took 2 weeks of anti inflamatory pills. Didn't work.
Then I had a first infiltration of cortisone-like. This mother****er wrote the bad spot to infiltrate on the prescription, so i received cortisone next to my clavicle instead of my 2nd rib. 310€ well spent !
So I had a 2nd infiltration 2 weeks ago, AT THE RIGHT SPOT this time. Didn't had any effect on the pain tho.
So as I don't want to go through a 3rd infiltration (im not even sure that i can, this **** is bad for your body so you are limited in number per year) i'm trying Natural medicine since yesterday. I asked my ostheopathe because he is really good and kinda found of natural **** (i tried already some stuff following his advices and it worked, i'm not a big fan of chemical pills neither).
So i went to an "herboristerie" (a natural plant drug store i don't know the name in english) and bought a anti inflamatory cream made of 3 or 4 plants including harpagophytum (devil's claw, look it up this **** seems magical for some).
My ostheo also recommanded that I took some curcuma with all the **** that combined great with it (harpagophytum, boswellia, black pepper, if you can read french i recommend you this website :" mr-ginseng" you can learn a **** load about all these plants, including the amount you should take or with what you should combined them).
So i started the cream yesterday, 3 times a dead on the spot that hurts, and i order some pills that got a **** load of curcuma, harpagophytum, boswellia, ginger... and i'll take them at "high dosage" for at least 1 or 2 weeks.
This **** can hurt anyway it's like eating (good) food so i'll let you know if any of this work. I'll also let you know if none of this work. But we may never know, maybe the solution in to try natural medicine instead of chemical **** that worked on no one here.
Cya !
TLDR : Torn cartilage a year ago. Healed cartilage but with inflammation (costochondritis). Try all bunch of **** including anti inflammatory pills at high dosage + cortisone injection a few weeks ago. Failed. Now i'm trying since yestarday natural medicine and i'll let you know if it works.
(I'm at work so sorry for poor grammar i'll check all that at home)
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05-23-2014, 07:35 AM #120Registered User
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What issues with your knees? Popping? Burning? Thx.Originally Posted by GammaLeonis
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Costochondritis
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Natural medicine under test
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