Hey All, im finding it hard to return back to my current job, even know its a desk job. Has anyone else had to make such choices?
Ive been in my current job for 15 years, they are not allowing me to WFH anymore unfortunately, which was only 2 days per week out of the 5. Having those days was super helpful for recovery, but am now considering changing jobs.
I'd love to hear your story,
Tia 😊
Hello, I noticed that my pecs are extremely tight. Especially where they attach to the sternum. I've tried stretching with the doorway stretch but I struggle to feel much of a stretch. Massaging and kneading the muscle helps but it's extremely painful. Has anybody found a way to loosen up the pecs?
Brief rundown - I’m a somewhat healthy 38M in NY. I started a new desk job and using a computer and travel to the city for work. Heavy backpack and hutched over probably not the greatest. I don’t work out but I need to
I had a bad cold and at the tail end I was complaining about sternum/chest pain. I started to develop a cough. I feel like it came out of where this pain and discomfort. I went to urgent care two weeks later and they said I have bronchitis but my lungs were clear and they gave me a zpack to clear me up. Okay but I’m still having chest pain I said. I had a virtual with my PCP and automatically said it sounds like Cost. He said that it should go away. It went for a bit and I just need to crack my sternum twice a day. Some days I can’t crack it and it’s just pulled muscle feeling in my chest. How did I get this!!?!
Hey everybody. I have a question. Does Costo go away eventually as there seems to be no treatment for the Costo nightmare. It has to be the most annoying thing physically and mentally I've ever had. The doctors haven't got a clue about it. My own doctor won't even give me a bit of advice on what's the best way to address this problem or who to go to. A useless cunt he is. The hospitals are no better.
37f, approximately 5’2” and 105–110 lbs.
i’m looking for guidance on what could reasonably be considered next and what type of specialist would be most appropriate. i understand no one can diagnose me online.
several weeks ago, i developed a constant burning and pinching pain under and around my right shoulder blade that wrapped around my ribs. initially it was persistent but manageable. it gradually became more severe and spread across a broader area of my upper/mid back and right rib cage.
more recently, i started having severe episodes or “attacks” on top of the constant pain. these last approximately 45–60 minutes and feel like a combination of deep stabbing, burning, gripping, tearing, and cramping pain. they then partially subside before returning again, sometimes with only about an hour between episodes.
my baseline pain between attacks is often around 8/10, with attacks reaching 10/10. deep breathing and some movements worsen the pain. during severe episodes, i’m unable to sit still and find myself rocking back and forth. very hot baths temporarily reduce the pain but do not eliminate it.
i have been to the er four times in the past week due to uncontrolled pain and inability to sleep. i’ve had blood work and imaging, including an mri, but so far i’ve been told nothing clearly explains the severity of the pain. intercostal nerve irritation/neuralgia and severe muscle spasm irritating a nerve have been mentioned as possibilities.
medications/treatments i have tried include:
• gabapentin
• prednisone taper
• prescription anti-inflammatories
• cyclobenzaprine
• norco
• dilaudid injections in the er
• heat/hot baths
• tens unit
opioids have surprisingly had very little effect on the pain. even dilaudid only reduced the severity somewhat and temporarily.
relevant history: i had shingles when i was 18. i currently do not have a rash, but because of the burning and wrapping nature of the pain, i have wondered whether zoster sine herpete or another neuropathic process could be considered.
my main questions are:
what conditions can cause this pattern of constant unilateral thoracic/rib pain with severe 45–60 minute exacerbations?
are there diagnoses that may not appear on routine imaging or a standard mri that would be reasonable to investigate?
would pain management, neurology, pm&r, sports medicine, or another specialty be the most appropriate next step?
would something diagnostic such as an intercostal nerve block be reasonable to discuss with my doctors?
are there any specific symptoms, tests, or physical exam findings that would help distinguish intercostal neuralgia from thoracic radiculopathy, muscle spasm/myofascial pain, slipping rib syndrome, or another cause?
i’m barely sleeping and struggling to function because of the severity of the pain. i’m not seeking medication recommendations or a diagnosis from reddit — i’m mainly trying to understand what questions to ask and what direction of evaluation might be appropriate next.
thank you for any guidance.
I have Costo 4 months now and I'm looking for ways to get rid of it, symptoms are chest soreness and left arm. Happens out of nowhere. Doctors are no help so we are on our own. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice from anyone who has experienced something similar.
My doctors think this is most likely Tietze syndrome ( although i don’t have swelling) or BWS syndrome (thoracic spine syndrome, as it’s called here in Germany). My symptoms started about 6 months ago after a period of repeated physical strain.
For about a year, I was flying roughly once a month, carrying a heavy backpack (10–12 kg / 22–26 lbs) as hand luggage. I also have a desk job, spend long hours sitting at a computer, and occasionally lift my two young children. After one particular trip, a week of working in a slouched position, and lifting my child (15–18 kg), I had my first episode.
My main symptoms are:
Tightness across the front of my chest.
Feeling like I can’t take a full deep breath, almost as if my rib cage won’t expand.
Stiffness and pain between my shoulder blades and in my thoracic spine.
Sometimes pain around the sternum.
During bad flare-ups I occasionally develop a hoarse voice and feel the need to clear my throat.
The breathing restriction is by far my biggest problem.
I’ve had:
Normal blood tests (including inflammatory markers).
Normal ECG
Thoracic MRI showing only mild degenerative changes.
Sternum MRI showing a small effusion in the left sternoclavicular joint and a minimal effusion in the 3rd sternocostal joint, but no active inflammation or bone marrow edema.
NSAIDs and diclofenac gel haven’t helped much.
I’ve been doing physiotherapy, manual therapy, sports massage and daily mobility exercises. Manual therapy and massage usually help temporarily.
I also bought a Backpod. The first time I used it with three pillows and felt nothing. The second time I used two pillows, stayed on each position for about 30 seconds (around 3 minutes total), and it wasn’t painful at all while I was using it. However, about two hours later my chest became much tighter and it was much harder to take a deep breath. Has anyone else experienced this?
One thing I’ve noticed is that if I stick to my routine, I can improve a lot—I even had about 15 completely pain-free days. But every time I travel, everything comes back.
Flying, sitting in a car for several hours, or even sleeping on a different mattress or pillow seems to trigger another flare, despite stretching and taking breaks.
I’m actually worried about an upcoming road trip (around 5–6 hours of driving per day, with breaks) because I’m afraid it will undo all the progress I’ve made.
My questions are:
Has anyone else’s main symptom been difficulty taking a full breath rather than severe pain?
Did Backpod make you feel worse before it started helping?
How long did recovery take for you?
Did anyone find a way to travel without constantly triggering flare-ups?
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences.
Finally, thank you to everyone in this subreddit. Reading your stories has helped me realize I’m not alone. I also bought a Backpod after finding this community, and the guide that came with it actually helped me understand the condition much better.
I feel like my doctors, physiotherapist, and osteopath all treat different parts of the problem, but no one has really given me a complete picture or a long-term recovery plan. This subreddit has honestly helped fill in some of those gaps.
Does anyone else get costochondritis every single time they get back into exercise?
I’m pretty sedentary, and every time I start being active again, usually after 1-2 weeks of walking a lot or doing some light jogging, I end up with costochondritis.
Then I have to stop exercising for weeks, which completely ruins my progress and motivation.
It’s become a vicious cycle because I start exercising, get chest pain, rest for weeks, start again, and the same thing happens.
Am I doing something wrong? Is there a way to prevent this from happening when getting back into fitness?
Thanks in advance!
Possibly relevant info: I'm a student (lots of laptop use), artist (hunched over desk), I workout a lot, and I'm very injury prone in the ligaments and tendons. I've suspected I have EDs for a while. When exercising, I work my whole body and I started a new-ish routine 4 weeks ago. I never stretch and I havent worked my chest for about two weeks, but when I do, I include bench presses and I regularly did dips until 2-3 months ago. I train my abs pretty aggressively about 6 days a week.
A week and a half ago, I suddenly developed shortness of breath. When I inhale, it feels like my lungs are hitting a wall and can't expand any further. Sometimes, I can kind of brute force them and get in a deep inhale, but it still isn't my full capacity and its very uncomfortable. Sometimes, this deeper inhale causes mild pain between my shoulder blades and the center of my chest. It feels like I'm breathing at about 2/3 of my usual lung capacity, and its making it very hard to workout and perform at my job :( This problem persists at all times, but its tolerable if I'm sitting at rest. When I get winded or anxious, I struggle to catch my breath and get dizzy. I haven't fainted, but I almost have. Today, I noticed my ribs are tender below my breasts and sometimes I get deep aches there. My ribs feel incrediby tight, like I'm doing a vacuum exercise for my core and I can't unclench the rib area. Also, I've noticed very quiet crackling and popping sensations along my upper/mid spine when I arch my back or move my shoulders back/forth.
I went to a clinic and they took my vitals, listened to my breathing, and did an EKG. They said they couldn't find anything wrong and I should go to an ER for further testing. They seemed pretty confident it wasn't asthma, but I tried a friend's inhaler anyway and found no relief.
Yesterday, I went to an ER. They took my vitals, listened to my breathing, did an EKG, chest x-ray, and did blood work (including a D-dimer and troponin T panel). No clots, pneumonia, or heart issues. Said my oxygen saturation looked good and my heart and lungs looked healthy. They said I wasn't currently dying, but they didn't know what was wrong and I should see a GP.
I've considered it possibly being an allergy, but people on r/Pulmonology suggested costo. In two weeks, I have a new patient appt with a GP and was going to request a CT scan.
?
What tests have you had done to rule out heart issues?? at this point I’ve had multiple EKG’s troponin blood draws lipid panels and echocardiogram and a stress test and everything looks good but for some reason, I cannot get over the fact that I feel like this is some issue with my heart and I’m having a heart attack.
My last EKG and bloodwork was done in April and I’m having a pretty bad flareup right now and I just cannot convince myself otherwise it’s sending me into a spiral. I have really bad acid reflux on top of all this and tender chest, tender shoulders, and back everywhere I press is tender and just like a heavy feeling in my arms.
Hey guys.
So I have had pain in my lower ribs (mid back) where they meet my spine for like 4 months. If I roll
My shoulder it pops on the left side in my mid back, I’m constantly cracking and popping the area.
I’ve tried backing way off and not trying to rehab, then when I do, it flares up. (For rehab I’ve been strengthening abs, doing thread the needles, serratus work, and stretching/diaphragm breathing.)
I’ve tried pushing through and laying on backpod etc despite pain, it flares.
It takes my breath away sometimes, lately I’ve been having this heavy/pinching/tired feeling when I walk too long right across my left mid back.
I’m kind of at my wits end with this. Just got off the pod again (trying to get things moving because my nephews are visiting and want to hang on me and stuff and it’s killing me). When I get off the pod I get this sharp breathtaking pain and it feels like my ribs are “rebounding” back to where they were. It’s temporary but I don’t know what to make of it.
Does anyone have like a protocol for this? I have scoliosis and some thoracic kyphosis. I’ve had neck MRI and Chest x ray. The next thing is a MRI of my mid back….
I have 2 other forms of chronic pain as is a 3rd is gonna send me over the edge.
i was diagnosed with costo at my tiny unaccredited college's medical office a decade ago after a "panic attack" that i've never had before or since but whether or not i had a heart episode, i definitely do have costo and it's under my bra line which is great, but it's fine usually. sometimes it hurts
anyway, i'm psyching myself up about having breast cancer now bc i have zits on one side (and i do on my back, and i sleep on that side 99% of the time, it's a heat wave, sensitive skin, WHAT EVER lol) but i also have pain on a specific rib behind my breast, level with my armpit. it is not the little bit of flesh that i have, i press down all the way onto the actual rib bone and the bone hurts
but now i'm worried it's referred pain and i have cancer. also my sternum hurts now when i press it and it's pretty level with that hopefully rib...does this sound like costo again? it's not like the lower rib pain it just happens when i press it and now they (it?) hurts bc i've been manipulating it
i can breathe fine it's just a sharp pain only when pressing
tl;dr pain on rib parallel with armpit scared it's breast cancer, have costo (or something) on one side and regularly dislocating ribs in the back (or something) does this sound like costo
I haven’t been diagnosed but I feel like a lot of my symptoms align. I get a stabbing sensation multiple times a day on the left side of my chest and it can radiate down my left arm.
More recently I have been waking up from sleep with a burning sensation in my chest and pins and needles down my left arm. I am a tummy / side sleeper.
I am in the process of having a sleep apnoea test so will be interested to find out what’s going on. I went to the ED at 1am the first time it happened because it was scary she uncomfortable and they said my heart is fine, not that they check it thoroughly.
As a side sleeper this is my biggest struggle, trying to sleep on my back but I cant do it
90 days ago I used a lacrosse ball on my hard floor and rubbed it against my back. I heard that this can help loosen up back muscles for costo. Since then I’ve had intense muscle pain on my back. I remember it hurting so bad I couldn’t stand in the begging. I have 5 HUGE knots, that ITCH badly. just a little warning out there for everyone lol be careful and gentle!
puedo pasarme horas describiendo los síntomas ( supongo que es r/costochondrithis ) y la cantidad de veces que fui a emergencia, yo creo que me he realizado más de 40 electros a lo largo de 10 años que tengo estos dolores, síntomas como dolor en brazos, opresión en el pecho, dolor en la espalda y esternón a la misma altura, falta de aire. Sudoración, y exámenes cardiovasculares normales, holter, pruebas de esfuerzo, score de calcio, ekg, resonancias magnéticas torácicas y cervicales, algunas con leves rectificaciones pero nada que justifique este dolor insoportable de 10 años, si el clonazepan ayuda, o ayuda es básicamente a no querer vivir en el hospital, pero el dolor solo sigue y sigue y mi vida es una gran sombra de lo q era, necesito ayuda a ver si consideran que si esa cicatriz puedo tener mucho que ver ya que luego de esa herida al año fue que comenzaron los síntomas, no se a donde más ir ni que hacer, sólo siento que ningún doctor está capacitado para darte un diagnóstico como el de costo, no saben o simplemente no les interesa xq suponen que de eso no vas a morir, morir? esto no es vida en absoluto
(21F )Does anyone else have the worst flare ups the day after drinking alcohol, I was nearly at a&e today cause my flare up was so painful and I was having palpitations and anxiety, still in so much pain but it’s subsided a bit now. It’s annoying cause I want to still have that social part of my life but it feels like it’s inevitable I will have a flare up the day after. Super scary
For the past two years I’ve been dealing with really intense pain that comes and goes around my sternum and middle chest area, and like a lot of people, my first thought was that something was wrong with my heart. After multiple doctor visits, tests, scans, and blood work, everything has come back normal.
Finding this subreddit was honestly a bit of a relief, because so many of my symptoms line up with Costochondritis; sharp, tight chest and back pain, discomfort along the side of my ribs, itching, numbness, and pain that runs into my arm and fingers.
I’ve been debating trying a Backpod, but I do have some concerns about whether it’s actually suitable for me. I don’t want to end up doing more harm than good. For context, my back pain first started as a teenager from which I was diagnosed with a spinal curvature caused by a significant leg length difference, so my spine leans slightly to one side (if you’re looking straight on from behind). The doctor at the time advised that as I got older I’d develop further problems, and I’m wondering if this is what I’m experiencing now.
I guess my question is, does anyone else have a similar situation to my own and have you found that the Backpod helped at all, is it still recommended or could it potentially make things worse due to the way my back is aligned?
I’m 36 and have experienced flare ups of this pain ever since I was 10, when I had a particularly long lasting, severe chest infection which caused coughing fits lasting for up to ten minutes at a time.
The first time I went to the GP I was told it was probably an issue with my airways and prescribed a blue inhaler. After going back several times to report the inhaler was giving absolutely no relief, I was just told to keep trying it.
The second time, I was told it was ‘anxiety pain’ and to try deep breathing to calm down when the pain started. Despite me explaining that actually, taking bigger breaths was near impossible because it worsened the pain. I wasn’t listened to.
I gave up with the doctors and have been living with this, enduring severe episodes of pain especially during and after having a cold/cough.
Finally, today I tried again and third time lucky. This doctor didn’t interrupt me, wrote down everything I said and after some questions and a basic physical examination said “Has nobody ever mentioned costochondritis to you? I think that’s exactly what this is”. Once she started describing what it was, I genuinely burst into tears at finally being listened to and being given an answer that made sense.
Unfortunately, she has told me there is no specific cure as yet for chronic costochondritis and it’s more about pain management. Reading the posts/comments on this thread has already given me further insight and I’m hopeful that I’ll try something new that may help me, now that I know what I’m dealing with!