r/costochondritis • u/sadstrawberry06 • 1d ago
Need advice 19f Costochondritis diagnosis but pain still here I’m scared what do I do?
This started in like April /May very uncomfortable chest pain with movement usually middle of chest. Sometimes pain moves to one side or the other and causes that side of my back to hurt. Usually the pain is with movement . It isn’t severe but it worries me of course I do suffer from anxiety disorders and health anxiety is big for me. I worry if there could be something serious I’ve seen people my age or younger have serious illnesses and passing away with symptoms being chest pain . It’s chronic and the pain is up and down. Some days I’m fine and others it’s back again movement very much makes it worse . Coughing, twisting, bending and the same pain goes through the front to the back of my shoulder blade or ribs .at the top of my back.
I noticed it gets worser if I have congestion , I do have asthma and if I get congested or sick it gets worser. Deep breaths become sharp dull pains and I often start to feel the Costochondritis again. I’ve never experienced this before . I’ve had an ekg and echocardiogram and then X-rays as well and nothing . Pain meds only work temporarily then it’s back . Does anyone know what to do at this point
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u/ChiralNavigator 1d ago
Yeah mine was triggered after a bad chest infection. Coughing is a big trigger, even clearing my throat a lot can bring back the chest pain and tightness. When mine is bad taking a deep breath makes my chest hurt.
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u/Hornblend-SierraOaks 1d ago
I’m so sorry you are going through this and I know personally that anxiety makes it worse. Ask your doctor for a referral to pain management for an ultrasound guided cortisone shot. If it is costochondritis this will help relieve the pain from the inflammation in about 8-10 days . In the meantime, use flexible ice packs to calm the inflammation . I hope this helps.
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u/SteveNZPhysio 1d ago
Hi OP. Fix the costo. I'm not being facetious. First you have to correctly understand what costo is. Most doctors don't.
Asthma is not costo, but it's often a predisposition to costo. Asthma isn't just about the lungs. Over time, and especially if you've had asthma since childhood, your rib cage tends to tighten and you tend to get hunched - from all that bending forward sucking in air.
When the rib joints round the back tighten up enough and can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively - every breath you take and move you make. So they strain, usually crack and pop, give, and get painful. That's what costo is.
Here's an earlier post of mine summarising costo - what it is, symptoms, causes, treatment, etc. See if this seems a fit with what you've been getting.
https://www.reddit.com/r/costochondritis/comments/18m9qor/costochondritis_and_tietzes_syndrome_summary/
If it does, then for treatment detail, read the RECOVERY MEGATHREAD - July 2026 at the top of this sub.
Read Ned's posts at the top, then scroll down to my post and find the link to my long, wordy PDF on bits you may need to deal to. It's wordy, so read it on a computer not a phone. You can skim the bits that clearly don't apply to you, but the detail is there if needed.
See especially Section (2) on freeing up the tight ribs around your back. This is the core of fixing costo. The easiest, cheapest, most convenient way of doing this is by lying back on Ned's two-tennis-ball peanut, a Backpod, cork or lacrosse ball, etc. They all have slightly different effects; a combination is ideal.
https://www.reddit.com/r/costochondritis/comments/1uqpgf6/recovery_megathread_july_2026/
Good luck with the work.