If you’re like me, you probably won’t have heard of costochondritis until you or someone you know is diagnosed with it. I speak from experience because costochondritis, an inflammation of the segments of cartilage — called costosternal joints — that connect the ribs to the breastbone, wasn’t even on my radar when I went to the emergency room late one recent night with pain and tightness in my chest.
Turns out I’m far from the first person with costochondritis to show up in the ER thinking they might be having a heart attack. According to one study, 30 percent of patients who went to the ER with chest pain had costochondritis.
Costochondritis and Arthritis: What’s the Link?
Costochondritis is not as common as inflammation in the joints of the hands, elbows, knees, or feet, but if you have inflammatory arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or psoriatic arthritis, you may also be more likely to get costochondritis.
“When you have a condition that predisposes you to inflammation over multiple joints, you have increased susceptibility to developing it,” says Vinicius Domingues, MD, a rheumatologist in Daytona Beach, Florida, and medical advisor for CreakyJoints.
Though costochondritis can happen at any age, it is more common in people over 40 and, like inflammatory arthritis, it affects women more than men — 70 percent versus 30 percent.
Symptoms of Costochondritis
The most common symptom of costochondritis is pain and tenderness in the chest that’s typically described as sharp, aching, or pressure-like.
The ribs and breastbone connect in seven different places and pain can occur at any of them or even at more than one location. Costochondritis often occurs on just one side and frequently on the left side, which is why it’s often mistaken as a symptom of a heart attack.
One tipoff that it’s not a cardiac event is that your chest is painful to the touch (something that doesn’t happen when you’re having a heart attack). My doctor diagnosed my costochondritis by pressing on my chest, which hurt like hell.
Other clues it’s costochondritis: Pain is often exacerbated by upper body movement and deep breathing, even if it’s just reaching up into a high cupboard or blow-drying your hair (yes, again, I speak from experience). Moving the arm on the affected side will usually also cause pain.
But remember: Any time you experience chest pain, you should seek medical attention. Don’t attempt to assess for yourself whether or not you may be having costochondritis, a heart attack, or something else.
Causes of Costochondritis
If you live with a form of inflammatory arthritis, that may be all it takes for the costochondral joint to become inflamed. Other reasons for costochondritis include:
- Strain from coughing
- Injury to your chest
- Infections, including respiratory tract infections or post-op infections
- Physical strain from repeated exercise or sudden exertion
According to my doctor it doesn’t take much to develop costochondritis from exertion. Because I developed costochondritis around the holidays, she asked if I’d recently lifted a turkey. I traced it to a vigorous workout on the elliptical machine followed the next day by some strenuous yardwork.
Treatment for Costochondritis
The pain from costochondritis often goes away on its own in a few days or weeks, but it can also take up to a few months or longer. It’s unusual for costochondritis to become chronic, says Dr. Domingues.
Treatment includes rest, ice or moist heat (if you can stand the cold, Dr. Domingues suggests alternating each for 20 minutes a few times a day), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin. Here are answers to common patient questions about taking NSAIDs.
Of course, refrain from any physical activity that makes the pain worse. I found the pain from costochondritis to be exhausting so I laid quietly in bed on my stomach as much as possible (laying on my back seemed to exacerbate the pain). It took about a week for my pain to go away completely. If yours persists, physical therapy and/or steroid injections can help. The good news: By all accounts, these remedies are rarely necessary.
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My costochondritis is the result of a motor vehicle accident in 1983. Although the car wreck caused it, the dr says it’s my fibromyalgia that keeps it going and has caused its chronic state.
I had a series of intercostal nerve blocks a few years ago. It was amazing…for awhile. Now I have more pain than ever due to scar tissue that formed from the steroid injections.
I was diagnosed with costochondritis several times. Once after being treated for a heart attack and sent to the emergency room for it. They would not even gone me anything for either one in fact what they did was tell me that I needed to be in a psyc Ward fir my drug and attention seeking behaviors. I was treated so horribly I walked out after veering told that I was being discharged with tylenol and then I had n.y HIPAA violated. I’d rather die at home from bette in out. That experience still haunts me too this day. Ruined my relationship with family as well as forced me to move across the state in hopes of better care. I now am receiving decent healthcare but have spent much of my time receiving mental health for PTSD caused by doctors who’d rather make me kill myself by telling lies about ne in my medical record so they don’t have to treat painful conditions.
Im so sorry you were treated that was as it has happened to me as well.Im afraid to tell my doctor what I really want to try because i know it will be a no.
I also have costochondritis and let me tell you it is very painful I had steroid injections in my chest when I was in my 30ies ,I am now 71 and have fibromyalgia which I have had for years and arthritis in hands ,wrists and I can’t get my new doctor to put me back on prednisone. Now for whatever reason my costochondritis is back and its un bearable ,I don’t know what to do .
i dont know if i have costochondritis but the pain and cracking more than 2 times every day for more than a year is so stressful. My other joints also cracks and i get dizzy when i crack my chest. There is this one time also that it feels like heart attack or is it just a dream but i also feel tightness in my neck and right cheek. Im afraid to go to hospital cos of covid. Since i had this feeling or disease, my stamina got fucced a lot precovid, thats why i felt something changed then slowly get more painful and now everyday i need to crack it and feel dizzy everytime. fucc
Hi. Anybody who’s suffering from costochondrithis and arthritis? Is arthritis triggers costhocondritis to flare up? Or is it the other way around, costo triggers arthritis?
Hi. Anybody who’s suffering from costochondrithis and arthritis? Is arthritis triggers costhocondritis to flare up? Or is it the other way around, costo triggers arthritis? Because i noticed that both gets in pain everytime it triggers.
I am 22 and I have premature low back degenerative disc disease (form of osteoarthritis) I was born with it. I have been feeling chest pain for almost a year now, I have got an Xray done, 4 EKGs and they dont show anything, I also have worked out and used to lift heavy weights, I still work out but nothing crazy. I eat anti inflammatory foods, I put biofreeze, cannabis etc on my chest… I have good and bad days, it hurts when I press on it and when I fold my arms, also i feel like it has moved to my back too. Doctors tell me its more likely to be chostoncontridits, and I have all the symptoms and the pain areas are the same only thing is it doesn’t feel like it is improving that much, it’s not getting worse and it used to get really bad in the beginning but the pain has been steady for a few months now with little to no change. I am just a little worried because I am young and I have read it goes away in a few months but i dont think thats the case with me…. ive seen so many doctors i have just given up the last thing i can try is to get an MRI done.