Best for me has been the chest opening postures of yoga (particularly flowing or vinyasa)
Hi all. I think I might have this. Ever since I was a kid Iāve suffered from spasms in my esophagus, like a cramp. They can last for hours and be very uncomfortable. But at least I know what they are.
But a couple of weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a strange cramp-like pain in the middle of my breastbone. I stretched and changed position, and it went - within a few minutes. I had it again last week - again during the night. And since then, Iāve had a very mild dull ache in the same place. And i DO mean mild, almost as if itās been bruised or perhaps a mild muscle strain more than anything. At the same time, I have arthritis in my shoulder/collar bone flaring up for the last couple of weeks. Does any of this sound familiar? I know online sites seem to say that costrochondritis is often a sharp pain, but they also mention tenderness, which is what I guess you could call the bruised feeling.
My rheumy refers to it as chest wall tenderness
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Yep, Iāve had it all ways from the sort of bruised feeling right up to thinking I was having a heart attack. Mostly itās like what we used to call a āstitchā but mine is always higher up between rib bones. And since I can remember Iāve always hated anyone touching my collar bones, theyāre really senstive.
Is yours right in the middle of your chest? Last night I had another of these spasms that lasted a couple of hours. I get concerned because I have reflux too and had it for years and worry itās done damage. How do you know if the pain comes from your sternum or your esophagus? I wish I had trained to be a doctor!!!
Not always, it can be anywhere around my rib cage.
Thank your lucky stars you donāt, I imagine anyway, wear a bra. I wonāt mention bras again, the very word makes me gnash my teeth.
Spasms in the middle of the chest may fit the bill for costochondritis, though I only ever have tenderness / soreness. I would think it is best to get it checked out just in case.
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Hey yāall. Iāve had the heart attack feeling and tenderness before. Lately Iāve been having pain and spasms in my shoulder that goes up into my neck. When it happens, I canāt move my head because itās so painful. Does this go along with costochondritis? Idk what caused it or how to prevent it. I just know it hurts so bad.
I certainly have quite a lot of pain in my collarbone at the moment, and around my shoulder blades. Iām not sure if that is part of what you mean @AngieB.
I am generally of the school of thought where, once I know what is causing the symptoms, I worry less about them, so am hoping I can get some reassurance from the doc when i see him!
So many possibilities! It can be the ac joint, pain from the neck, etc
My basic rule of thumb is that if something hurts and it goes away, I generally donāt worry about it too much. If it persists over time, either intermittently or constantly, then Iāll get it checked out. Obviously intense pain that persists even for just a period of hours I might get checked out immediately, depending on where it is.
Chest wall pain I ignore, and chest pain I wonāt ignore.
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I love this Sybil, It just made my day!
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Can I just ask, when you all get costochondritis, do you get a similar pain in your back as well. I say pain, but I mean a kind of dull ache. Thatās what Iāve got in my chest, too, a dull ache, but if I press on the ribs of the sternum, the pain gets worse, so Iām assuming costo is āall it is.ā Iāve been singing tonight and feeling it more than during the rest of today - not when taking a deep breath, but when holding it.
Hi darinfan,
It certainly could be costo, but if I had that happen to me just after having my blood pressure go up as you were speaking of, Iād still toddle off to the doctor to get it checked
Nope - I havenāt said anything about blood pressure!
Oops, my bad, brain muddle!
Donāt give me more ailments than I already have! 
The bizarre things with this chest and back pain is that it comes and go from hour to hour!
That made me giggle, thankyou, I needed that today! That coming and going is also how my costo generally seems to happen.
The first time I had costochondritis, I did not have frank PsA, and it came on as a sharp pain with a crushing feeling in my chest. Just a little alarming! Luckily I was only in my mid thirties, with no history of heart disease, and I had not started either my PsA or anxiety journey yet, so it didnāt scare me as much as it could have.
Honestly, costochondritis is one of the PsA symptoms that can be quite difficult to deal with, especially if anxiety is present. After I got PsA and it returned, I found the best thing for it was gentle, chest-opening-type yoga moves, though when the PsA is bad, this often isnāt practical, and hot packs are usually the best for me.
Yep costo comes and goes for me too, from hour to hour sometimes, from week to week other times and even sometimes from month to month. Increases its frequency when Iām more anxious, decreases considerably when Iām less anxious.
Yep, mineās worse on the left side - itās like a fuzzy band of achy-soreness right around the left side of my rib cage from front to back.
Hi Iāve had Costochondritis for nearly 12 months, I thought it was heart related at first, but my specialist said it is because of PsA. It is information of the chest cavity caused by Arthritis. My friend who has Lupus gets it as well. Keep up with your information tablets, heat packs ect. Personally it just took time and patients to get over it. Bad news is it can return at anytime and stay for as long as it likes.
get well soon LeisaT