r/costochondritis

About 4-5 years ago I remember coming home from work one day and i remember coming up to the mirror I had in the living room and stretched out my chest, the moment i did that I felt like I was having a heart attack, pain radiating all over my chest to the point I almost passed out from the pain because I thought I was dying. I couldn’t figure out what this was, I even remember doing a barbell chest exercise and feeling the pain in my chest as I was doing it. I thought to myself that I just needed time for the body to heal and to a certain extent it did, stretching my chest more but the pain was and still is there Everytime I do certain movements. For example if I bend down like I’m trying to reach for my toes and I cross my arms, the pain would flare up in my left side of the sternum. I don’t know exactly how I ended up in this, could be from a sports injury i remember or when I got sick really bad and coughed too hard.

It’s been going on for years now, I avoided the gym because I didn’t want to replicate the pain or make it worse but now I’m seriously moving back to the gym and getting my body moving again. I did try the back pod for a few days but I found that it just made my back hurt and I’m using a lacrosse ball instead and a foam roller.

I went to doctor/nurse at one point, they did ekg on me and I was cleared, I explained what was happening with me, and the nurse came to the conclusion that I was right, it’s costochondritus. He just told me to take pills and go see a physical therapist but I’d didn’t do either of that.

So now I’m at a point where I’m just gonna go in the gym and strengthen my back and chest muscles, do some cardio and pull ups. But mainly back muscles, I’ve read on here somewhere about a guy finding healing after 3 days of just doing the lat pulldown machine. Targeting those back muscles.

I genuinely think that if you do it right and go to the gym and get the body moving it will heal itself. That’s what I’m praying and believing for, I’ll let everyone know how everything is going.

update: I am a 24 male, I have not gone to the gym yet but planning to go very soon, will update on my progress.

Hey everyone, 23M here from sweden

I was given costochondritis as a diagnosis of exclusion by my cardiologist after having chest pain that was initially suspected to be something else. After reading through this subreddit, I started wondering if my problem could be strongly related to my thoracic spine and the rib joints in the back.

I’m studying my 5th and final year in engineering, so I spend a lot of time sitting at a computer/desk. Before all this, most of my training was bodybuilding-style training, with lots of pressing/pulling but very little actual rotation or thoracic mobility work. When I tested my thoracic rotation, I was extremely stiff — I could barely get to around 20 degrees on each side.

About 3 weeks ago I bought a Backpod. I also started sleeping on my back and paying much more attention to my posture. I’ve also been out of the gym for about 1.5 months now.

That’s when I really realized just how incredibly stiff my posterior rib joints were.

The improvement in mobility has been pretty crazy. I started with 3 pillows under my head and could barely tolerate the position. Now, around 2 weeks in, I can use just 1 pillow and it barely hurts at all. My chest pain also improved pretty quickly — I went from having pain basically all the time to only getting it occasionally.

However, about 3 days ago I randomly got another flare-up. I’ve also been doing some very gentle thoracic twists/rotations alongside the Backpod.

So my main question is:
When you get a flare-up early in the Backpod/mobility process, do you pause the Backpod and rotational exercises until things settle down, or do you continue with a reduced intensity?

Part of me is wondering if I’m currently irritating things by trying to improve the mobility too quickly. I don’t want to completely stop because the improvement in mobility has been so obvious, but I also don’t want to keep poking the bear.

For context, I also have chronic migraine, which is currently well controlled with medication, but because of that I’m trying to limit my NSAID use as much as possible. Voltaren gel is fine.

I’ve also bought a peanut ball, a lacrosse ball and a foam roller. I know how to use them, but I’m unsure when I should start incorporating them into my rehab, especially while I’m still getting flare-ups. Would you recommend waiting until things have settled down first?

(Translated using Ai)

Back in February I woke up one morning and had pain in my left rib area. I ignored it and went on with my day and then the next day I woke up it felt like I was hit by a truck. I woke up and my shoulder, armpit, and entire left side from the waist up was sore. It took a few days to go away and the only thing that relieved it mildly was Motrin. I have gone to countless doctors, the rheumatologist, ER, urologist, you name it I’ve been there. The pain also would spread to my chest and when driving/sitting down, I would feel like someone was sitting on my chest and couldn’t breathe. I had a kidney stone back in 2022 in my left kidney and ever since then I’ve had persistent lower back pain. The doctors cannot seem to figure out what is wrong and I am unsure of what else to do. My body feels heavy all of the time, I have random bruising, if I take a nap I wake up extremely dizzy. Sometimes it spreads to my right side but I primarily always feel it on my left side as a dull ache that flares up consistently. Sometimes the pain also is by my belly button or next to it. Any insight is appreciated because I am really struggling not know what could be wrong. It’s August now, obviously and I feel that it’s been going on for awhile and wanted to see if anyone had anything similar/can recommend my next steps to take because I’m at a total loss.

so my doctor is suspecting costochondritis as my numerous cardio work-ups and extensive tests come back clear. for some background, i have been bedridden for about a month now following a dysautonomia flare from a kidney stone. i have deconditioned from that and today i finally showered. i sat the entire time and had my girlfriend help me do most of the work. hours later the pain is so flared and tight. does this delayed reaction happen to anyone else? colder shower next time? weird because heating pads tremendously help my flares, so why would the shower hurt?

Hey all, really struggling with sleep atm. Rib/chest pain, middle of back pain, Heart rate spiking in wrong positions ie. Laying on side.

Got a wedge, got 100s of pillows, got an electric bed, mattress topper, medium firm mattress ... just cant get comfortable.

Anyone got some tips?

Tia.

I recently just started trying a peanut ball and backpod this past month after dealing with chosto since Feburary, but I don't feel any sort of relief when using it. I can already lay on the backpod flat without any pain in my chest, and using the peanut ball doesn't give me any relief either. I see so many posts saying they have instant relief after using them but my back doesn't even feel remotely tight.

I worked pretty hard to unlock my rib cage and take away most of my pain. I have done a lot of stretching, back pod, and pressure point exercises over the past months. I’m probably 90% healed.

However every time I try to do something active or something that requires muscles I’m in pain the next day. For example yesterday I did 10, 45 degree pushups and 20 rows on very low weight. I obviously stretched out a ton before. It felt fine doing it and even afterwards. This has happened before as well when I try to get active again.

The next day though my chest sternum has dull pain and I have been getting some sharp pains.

I’m just so lost I don’t know what to do.

(Warning this is very lengthy, just need to vent / ask for advice)

Hello! I am a 19M Male, and as of a week ago, after having a heavy chest day (go figure) at the gym and working as a busser at my job that night, i randomly got hit with this random wave of chest pain at work. Yeah you probably guessed it i thought my heart was dying. Went to the ER and they said my x ray was fine my blood was fine, its probably just anxiety! and low potassium. I was fine w that answer and simply thought - yeah okay sure, but anxiety??? ive never been an anxious person ever. This pain just kept going, and kept going and i seriously believed my heart was on fire or something was wrong with my breathing. Go to the doctors AGAIN, and there they confirm it - muscle strain.

That was a few days ago, and fuck man. I still think my heart will explode, still having crazy anxiety, still going through it. Im on ibuprofen and a muscle relaxant but to be honest, i still feel the pain. MORE SPECIFICALLY, the pain and anxiety creeps up to my jaws too, and my adams apple, and i fucking hate it. Ive been crying and worrying and my life is just 180d completely. Ive been looking through the subreddit and its helped a lot, but im wondering whats the best method to relieve it??

should i worry about my jaw/neck or is that common w the chest pain??? its only on my left so it cant be that bad right????

and how do i fix this fucking anxiety, im literally this close to wanting to be on meds at this point. seriously, dont know what to do

Anyways im mainly just venting here but im down to hear what anyone has to say and all that, thank you guys, we are all in this together :)

I have Tietze for two years.

I stoped the gym at 29/06 and at 06/08 I started use the peanut ball every day 3~4 times per day and I do ballistic twists after the peanut ball.

The swelling since I started use the peanut ball has gone down, but it's been the same size for weeks.

When I put the hot thermal bag the swelling decreases, but after it get back again at the same size.

It's rare the moments that I feel pain now, I can take a deep breath and most of the sneeze I don't feel the pain too.

What should I do now to make this swelling disappear and don't feel pain?

During a flare-up, I can fall asleep normally but then wake up around two hours later feeling out of breath. My thoracic spine is normally cracking frequently when I breathe in, but during these nighttime episodes the cracking sometimes stops.

When this happens, I usually have to get out of bed and walk around. Doing diaphragmatic breathing and 360-degree rib-cage breathing seems to help, but afterwards I often cannot fall back asleep.

I have had costochondritis for around 11 months.

Do yous have any recommendations for managing these nighttime episodes and getting back to sleep once my breathing settles? Would you recommend staying in bed and using breathing techniques, or getting up and walking around first? Also, is there anything I could do before bed to reduce the likelihood of waking up like this during a flare-up?

I am a costochondritis patient, and I have been suffering from costochondritis for almost three years. But I finally found a way to manage and overcome it, and this is my story.

First of all, you have to cut out all the bad habits, such as smoking, cigarettes, alcohol, and anything else that may negatively affect your health. You should also focus on eating healthy food, preferably simple, well-cooked meals.

You can also try gentle stretches. I live in a PG, and I was miraculously lucky to find a physiotherapist there. She used to work on my deep muscle knots and perform trigger-point release and deep-tissue therapy. After that, I would use a hot pack, and it really helped me.

I also continued doing gentle stretches and worked on correcting my posture. You don't necessarily have to go to the gym—just focus on gentle stretching, proper posture, and taking care of your body.

I bought the backpod and it arrived today, I have two questions

1- It is normal to hurt in the spine while Im using it, it’s a pain that I can handle

2- How I know it’s time to start removing the pillows? Im with 3 pillows now

Hope someone can awnser

I was making good progress on my costo, I'd say I was 50% better. And then I got a cold last week - now the cold has died down, but my chest pain is back to square one how it was since I first got costo. Has anyone else experienced this is it normal? Why would a cold even affect costo in the first place? I wasn't even coughing or sneezing, it was just a normal cold.

Sto avvertendo questa sensazione strana, di peso/ tensione
Praticamente a fine costole sopra ombelico parte SX.
come se ci fosse sotto qualcosa
Una bolla di aria.
È fastidioso specialmente da sdraiata o quando sono girata da un lato che sento come “tirare”
Ma vi giuro che non riesco a capire come e cosa possa essere

Imma keep it simple cause you've seen it here already. This condition is very aggravating and I had it for years and couldn't sleep on my side at all with how bad it was.

First and foremost - backpod (you can go for an alternative?? Idk. It ain't that expensive and it's well worth it. There's a reason everyone recommends it. Alternatives might work. Do you.)

Do that until you can easily do it with no pillows as per the instructions.

Then train again... Slowly. Very slowly. Like literally pick up a couple five pound weights and do chest flys. I personally only did chest flys.

You can do more if you want.

But go slow and do low weight. Progress up in weight slowly over time. I try to wait til I can do 3 sets of 8-12 reps with pain less than a 4/10 (looking up pain scale helps, cause pain is normal and acceptable during recovery while at or under a 4/10)

I can chest fly 30lbs now and my chest no longer is in pain.

***Most important part***

Yes it will hurt during, and after, working out. Yes it will feel like it is getting worse.

Do backpod again, wait a day (or two), and do it again. Trust in the process. You have to strengthen things, otherwise you'll never get over this. I'm convinced of that. Stop if the pain is greater than a 4/10, and try again in a couple days. Rinse and repeat.

hellooo i’m sorry if this question has been asked before but i have not been able to sleep properly in weeks!

i had a nasty fall in april; the left side of my mid-spine landed directly on the plastic arm of a chair and ever since then i’ve had pain radiating in my back that slowly crept to my chest up until now. i was recently diagnosed with a chest wall mass and had a biopsy done (it was a simple needle extraction, still don’t have the results) and it seemed to have aggravated my already inflamed ribs. i’m not sure if i have both costo and tiezes syndrome as i have so much pain and visible swelling on my right breast bone.

i’ve been managing the pain with tylenol every 6 hours and that seems to help during the day, but at night the pain is unbearable— it shoots throughout my entire back and towards my shoulder blades. i’ve never had trouble sleeping on my back even though im usually a side sleeper, but it feels like sleeping on my back is just making it worse. on the flip side, sleeping on my side aggravates my chest! i have no idea what to do anymore. i would really appreciate any tips if anyone here has unfortunately gone through anything similar. 🩷

i’m just adding this as a side note, i also experience a lot of pressure from my breasts pressing against my chest which makes sleeping on my side somehow MORE uncomfortable. i’m desperate for any help!!

Unfortunately. The moment I play a piece.. I automatically lose control of my posture. Then few minutes I will feel the strange sharp pain.

I don't have this before. It started when I use the fucking power twister for chest.

Now I am struggling musician. 🥲

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to hear from people who have had something similar because I’m getting really frustrated with this.

About a week ago, on a Sunday, I was lying on my left side when I suddenly got a really sharp pain in the lower front left corner of my ribcage. It actually felt a bit like what I’ve read about precordial catch syndrome, except it lasted for around 12 hours, rather than a few seconds/minutes.

I ended up getting checked at A&E. They did an ECG, chest X-ray, oxygen checks and examination, and everything was apparently fine. I was told there was nothing obvious going on with my lungs/heart.
On the Monday and Tuesday I basically stayed in bed because I was scared to move it. It was actually pretty okay when I was resting and I only really got up to use the toilet.

Then on Wednesday I felt much better, so I went into town and walked around for about 2 hours. While I was out it was mostly fine, but when I got home the pain came back and flared up again.

I’ve since been given naproxen 500mg, but honestly it hasn’t really done much for the pain. I went back to my GP and she properly examined the area and found a very localised painful spot right around the bottom/front corner of my left rib. She thinks it is likely musculoskeletal and I’ve now been given co-codamol for the pain.

The weird thing is that most of the time I’m actually fairly okay. Then I’ll move awkwardly, reach behind me, twist or do something that seems completely insignificant and suddenly it really bloody hurts. Sometimes the pain spreads across that lower left rib area, and I’ve also had weird little bubbling/popping/spasm/twitching sensations around the painful spot.

When it hurts, it REALLY hurts, especially when breathing in because obviously the ribcage moves. But then it can settle again and I’m left thinking, “maybe it’s finally going away,” only for another movement to trigger it.

I’m basically trying to figure out what the hell this thing is and how long I’m likely to be dealing with it.
I’d really love to hear from anyone who’s had something similar:
Did you have pain specifically around the lower/front corner of the ribs?
Did yours come on suddenly?
Did it hurt when breathing in?
Did you get weird spasms, twitching, bubbling or popping sensations?
Did it keep getting better and then flaring up again after certain movements?
What did your doctor think it was? Intercostal muscle strain, costochondritis, chest-wall pain, something else?
What actually helped you? Heat, ice, medication, stretching, physio, rest, movement, anything?
How long did it take before you could move completely normally again?
And if yours was a relatively mild MSK problem, how quickly did you recover completely?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who were back to normal within days or a couple of weeks, because I keep finding stories from people who’ve had it for months and it’s making me panic that I’m going to be stuck with this forever 😭
I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit, just people’s experiences because I really want to know whether this pattern sounds familiar to anyone and what helped them get back to normal.