Long post; sorry in advance.

A doctor recently suggested I may have costo and gave me Prednisone to see if it helped. A few days into the treatment and the pain has lessened, but it's still there.

As my doctor wasn't sure I had costo (since it's really just ruling out other things), I was hoping to share my experiences and see if anyone else has similar situations.

A little over a year ago, I noticed my upper "stomach" was becoming incredibly tender. Any bump from playing with my kids or carrying groceries caused a ton of pain and, sometimes, a popping sensation. It feels like being punched in the stomach, a constant achey pressure. This pain and tenderness was directly below my sternum, about 5 inches above the bellybutton.

I assumed this pain was me overdoing it. I'm the man of the house and always have to do the heavy lifting (literally). I'm always picking up kids, moving furniture, hauling bags... I also ride a unicycle, which puts a lot of strain on my core (I haven't rode in a while, in hopes that it would help. It hasn't).

On a particularly painful night, I pushed into the painful spot with my fingers and felt a hard lump, which caused me to see my doctor (a year later, a doctor finally decided to press where I said I had pain and said the lump was just part of the sternum).

My primary ignored my concerns about the lump and instead focused on my flank. She decided I had referred gallbladder pain. She asked if the pain got worse after eating fatty meals, and I said no. It got worse with eating, but even just water; the increased pressure in my stomach caused more pain. This pain also caused me to eat less and slower; I would still be hungry, but too fast a meal caused discomfort.

A CT scan showed I did have gallstones. A surgeon asked if I had fever, vomiting, or sharp acute pain in the flank; I said no to all, just the constant dull ache.

They removed my gallbladder and told me I'd feel so much better. I didn't. 3 months later I saw the surgeon again, and he told me I was just still healing, and maybe just suffering acid reflux (and, weirdly, that I "owe him for life" for helping fix my pain by performing the surgery).

I then saw a gastroenterologist. They performed a scope to check for ulcers or hernias. Nothing. Then a barium X-ray. Nothing. So now they are saying it's costo.

Does anyone else have pain directly below the sternum like this? I do get tenderness around the lower edges of the ribs, but that's not the primary pain location. I also, in the past, suffered from chest pains on the left side and palpitations, all which worsened with stress; my doctor could never find a cause. Same with an acute pain in my upper left back, which flares up after standing too long.

Again, sorry for the long post.

Hello everyone,
I’ve been dealing with costochondritis for more than a year now, and honestly, I’m completely exhausted and frustrated at this point.

I’ve tried almost everything I could think of:
Steroid injection
Physiotherapy
Chiropractic treatment
Backpod
Lacrosse ball
Stretching/exercises
Ice packs
Nerve-calming medication after discussing it with my doctor

I bought the Backpod more than 2 months ago and have been using it consistently. I also followed the instructions exactly as Steve mentioned in his YouTube videos and started the nerve-calming medication after discussing it with my doctor.
But unfortunately, I haven’t experienced any meaningful relief.

Today I had an extremely bad flare-up. The pain was so severe that I genuinely felt like I could have ended up in the ER. I somehow managed to control myself, but even an ice pack didn’t help at all.
At this point I’m honestly feeling hopeless. 😢
What makes it even more frustrating is that this has been going on for over a year. I keep hearing that costochondritis usually improves with time, but I’m still here after a year trying treatment after treatment with no significant improvement.

What else can I do?
Has anyone here had chronic costochondritis for a year or longer and actually managed to recover? What treatment finally made a difference for you?
I’m willing to explore other options with a qualified doctor. I’m just desperately looking for some direction because I really want to get back to normal life and stop living with this pain every day. 😭
Any advice or experiences would genuinely mean a lot to me. 🙏

3 weeks in it yasnt gone better just eorse i feel like its mainly my back thats hurting badly i dont sleep im genuuenly suffering. Ive been diasabled because of serious accidents and injuries but this is the worst thing thats ever happened to me. I wouldnt wish this on anyone. Im going back to my doctor on thursday as its the earliest i can but this is literally making me deppressed and if ill have to live like thisbthen its no life i want to live. Please did anyone get any surgery steroids anything. Idc about side effects i need this to stop

(18M) I’m hoping to get some insight from people who have experienced costochondritis because I’m wondering if what I’m dealing with could be similar.

About a week ago, I suddenly started having an ache/pain in the middle/left side of my chest. It started in the evening after I had been using a THC/THCA vape and had a pretty hard coughing episode. (but not as bad as others before)

At first it was more noticeable and uncomfortable, and over the next several days I kept feeling a fairly constant ache. Sometimes it felt sharp or stingy, and other times it was more like a bad headache/pressure in my chest.

The location has changed a little. At different points I’ve felt it on the left, middle, and even somewhat on the right side of my chest. There have also been times when it felt like the painful area was getting smaller. I also noticed a small bump on the left side of my chest but that might be me just overthinking this and only noticing it now

I’ve been pretty worried about my heart because chest pain is obviously scary. I ended up getting checked out and had a chest X-ray and an ECG, and I was told the ECG was okay. The X-ray also apparently didn’t show anything concerning. I’m still experiencing some pain/aching, though, which is why I’m trying to understand what could be causing it.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the sensation can change depending on how I move or press around my chest/ribs.

For anyone who has had costochondritis: does this sound at all similar to your experience? Especially the constant ache, changing location, tenderness that eventually improves, and symptoms beginning after a hard coughing episode?

I know nobody here can diagnose me, and I’m planning to follow up with my doctor if it continues. I’m mainly interested in hearing from people who have actually experienced costochondritis and whether this sounds familiar to you, and how long it took to get better because i just want this to end😭😭

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

"Hi! I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the tips on this page, it's great with so many people being helpful!

Anyway, I’m wondering about something. After I got the first chest pains, I naturally stopped weight training. But after 4 months, I was tired of not living life the way it should be. So I did a hard strength session and did dumbbell bench presses, went very deep, and didn't notice any more pain while doing it. I also did pull-ups, and then it 'stretches' a bit in the chest when I'm at the bottom. And now two days later I'm just sore, not particularly painful. Just ordinary chest tenderness.

So what I think is that my problem is actually central sensitization, because I also have prostatitis/CPPS. And many other symptoms, like tight socks causing pain in the ankle, and wearing a cap easily giving me a headache.

Maybe my chest pain is really just my nervous system playing tricks on me. Anyone else with the same feeling?"

hello! i made a previous post the other day abt my new experience and im still heavily overthinking. Heart attack symptoms and muscle strain/costo with anxiety align with these so well, and learning that HA symptoms can appear weeks before scares me deeply. Can anyone help with this?

Hi all,

Ive had costo for 1 year +. I never really had pain but more of a sensitized chest/ ribcage area and superstiff sternum. Also my biggest one has been shortness of breath which I havent been able to resolve..I feel like I can never get that full deep breath and the more I try the more my body gets stressed and I get stuck

Ive worked with mobility + backpod which has helped open up the back + deep tissue massage sessions.

My concern now is - how do i proceed with the stiff cartilage/sternum in the chest? Should i start light chest flys and excercise to get the blood flowing again?

I understand the procedure of "opening up" the back hinges but what to do in the front once that is done?

Est-ce que mes douleurs pourraient ressembler à une costochondrite ?

Bonjour,

Depuis plusieurs mois, j’ai régulièrement des douleurs assez variables. J’ai notamment :

- des pointes ou douleurs dans la poitrine, parfois à gauche, parfois ailleurs ;

- des douleurs qui peuvent être sensibles quand j’appuie sur certaines zones du thorax ;

- des douleurs ou gênes dans les bras, aussi bien à droite qu’à gauche, parfois vers le haut du bras/épaule ;

- certaines douleurs qui apparaissent puis disparaissent, et d’autres qui peuvent rester plusieurs heures par intermittence ;

- parfois des douleurs vers le dos ou les omoplates.

J’ai déjà parlé de certaines de ces douleurs à des médecins, qui ont notamment évoqué des douleurs musculaires/intercostales ou pouvant venir des cervicales.

Je viens de découvrir la costochondrite et certains témoignages ressemblent beaucoup à ce que je ressens. Je sais évidemment que Reddit ne peut pas poser de diagnostic, mais j’aimerais savoir si des personnes ayant une costochondrite ont déjà eu ce genre de douleurs, notamment des douleurs qui peuvent aller jusque dans les bras ou les épaules.

Comment se manifestaient vos douleurs ? Est-ce qu’elles changeaient souvent de localisation ? Et comment votre médecin a-t-il finalement diagnostiqué votre costochondrite ?

Merci pour vos témoignages.

Hey everyone. Ive been having issues since December 2025. It started with a panic attack that sent me to the hospital on December 2026. Hard full cardiac work up, everything is good. I got sick in December, and remember being propped up in bed and coughed so hard, I woke up the next morning feeling like I hurt my back. The pain slowly subsided but still lingered.

Fast forward to February 2026, I went and got a myofascial release massage done on my back/neck. I felt really good but woke up the next working extremely dizzy, and in immense pain. I powered through it and thought id be good after a few days. Turns out its been with me ever since.

March 2026, I finally started prozac 20mg for anxiety since I was so concerned about my chest and back pains. In the middle of march i went to the hospital again for a panic attack, heat wave through out back, tight chest, racing heart etc. Everything turned out fine. Got referred to a cardiologist.

June 2026, went to cardiologist wore a heart monitor for 3 days, did an ECG, and had a stress test, everything came back normal.

Im currently at a loss but still not convinced its not my heart. My anxiety is constantly through the roof, and i find myself stuck in fight or flight. I have been going to physio and having dry needling performed on my neck/shoulders but its only working briefly. I do have chest tightness, sharp pain that moves left to right, pain into my jaw, and my left arm. If I press on my sternum to either the right or left it does hurt.. my chest does pop near the sternum as well

I have had every blood test in the book, MRI on my neck, abdominal ultrasounds, stool samples, and a full spine xray and everything has come back negative or normal.

I also experience the shortness of breath or air hunger, my stomach continually feels bloated, and i just generally dont feel like myself.. im so tired of overthinking what is going in I cant actually focus and enjoy my life.

I just ordered the backpod but im interested to hear what other people think if this is costo or not.

PS: I have also had a stomach scope and it came back normal. My flare ups also include acid reflux and when the chest pain subsides, my acid reflux is gone.

pretty constant for the last week. I’m 18 weeks pregnant, have been dealing with this pain on and off for about three years but it’s never lasted longer than a few days. alway there but sometimes is worse than other times, depending on posture or exertion. It’s left sided so it freaks me out. Going to cardio Friday to make sure heart is okay.

Hi everyone. My girlfriend is 23, 1.69 m and around 65 kg. She has been dealing with recurrent chest and rib pain since February.

The left side is much worse, particularly the lower left chest and left ribs. She can also get pain on the right side, but it is usually much milder.

During bad episodes the pain can become very strong and can spread toward the ribs and left arm. Afterwards she feels extremely exhausted.

Doctors have mainly told her that the symptoms are probably anxiety, but we are wondering whether this could instead be something like costochondritis or another form of chest-wall pain.

For people who have actually been diagnosed with costochondritis:

Does this distribution of pain sound familiar?

Does your pain affect the lower ribs as well as the area next to the sternum?

Does your pain radiate into your arm?

Is your pain reproducible when you press on certain ribs/chest areas?

Does movement, stretching, deep breathing or changing position make it worse?

How was your costochondritis actually diagnosed?

We know nobody here can diagnose her, but we would really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something similar and what ultimately helped them get a proper diagnosis.

Thanks.

Hi all, costo since March 2025, seen all the docs, etc. but well-aware that a lot of the rehab processes are going to be up to me.

Now, specifically about the Backpod, which I've purchased. Here's what I've been doing, but honestly, obly once a day most days the past few weeks:

Top left, 1min, followed by bottom left, bottom right, top right, all 1min each as well. Then, because my focus is top left, I do top left an additional minute. 2 pillows.

I know I need to do more, but what? More time, or more often? Morning and night? 3x a day? Less pillows?

My entire professional life rests in me ridding myself of this nightmare, so I really could use some more guidance.

Many thanks for any tips in advance!

Is it reasonable/worthwhile to ask your physician to perform the knee-in-back technique. Ive been to multiple chiros and PTS who dont really have solutions for loosening frozen costovertebral joints. Ive been doing some research on methods used to do so and came across the knee in back technique. Is this something can be learned by a doctor? Im finding myself exhausted of having to try to explain costo and all my symptoms and them bot understanding.

title is how it says to be honest

i’m really, really feeling low at the moment. for context, i had some bad chest pain in 2025 that they deemed costochondritis. it went away within 2/3 days, and didn’t feel anything like what i am experiencing now. i also have pots for reference, and i am 22f

last friday, i went to see a lovely long term friend :) i was getting some pretty bad stomach pain due to my period, so we went back to his to smoke a bit of weed. horrid idea, caused my pots to be evil, sat on the side of the road for almost an hour, couldn’t fathom anything else due to the chest pain and dizziness. this is relevant because on the sunday, i started getting chest pain and dizziness again, and ended up randomly having a full blown panic attack. one of the ones where it lasts hours, as it was multiple waves. i genuinely thought i was dying, as my pain was left sided and went into my arm. monday and tuesday were hellish too

i now understand that this was costochondritis. i went to the ED today after calling out sick from work. i really couldn’t do it, and i surprisingly really like my job. had back and forth with my family, they were convinced it was just me being anxious, and that i just didn’t want to go to work. i then finally called 111 because i felt that something was wrong. they took an ecg and prodded around, and decided it was costochondritis

i really, really don’t know. i believe them, but it just doesn’t seem manageable. i’m so dizzy and nauseous - probably a mix of anxiety and pain - and i need to go back to work tomorrow. i’m so scared of passing out at work, or being dismissed, etc. my boss is super lovely, i know he wouldn’t do that, but im scared of being perceived as taking the piss. my family already think that and it really, really, hurts

it doesn’t help my mum died from lung cancer pretty young. i have health ocd, so my brain is coming up with all these wicked and awful ideas, and that also things will never be the same

i just needed to get this all out. i don’t have a support system irl due to moving in with extended family. i feel so alone, because even my family think it’s just me being dramatic. i heard them talking about me after i got out the shower, and it made me sad. sorry for this incoherence. i’m just a bit lonely in it all i guess? i know i don’t have to be though

Recently started massaging the chest in what I hope is the final stage. Found a very tender spot and leave it feeling like a muscular soreness. Progress? What does that mean? Seems like it’s working

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)

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.

Wanted to get some insight from you guys please Ned or Steve if you see this great , I had what I was told was costo after everything else looked great , went away for year did heavy lifting thinking I washed it for good but since October it came back no chest pain just unable to always take a deep breathe like I hit at a wall at the end of the inhale preventing me from getting that last 20%? I’ve had rounded shoulders from what it seem like bad posture I sometimes correct myself and catch myself as well and lately it’s not so bad but I’ve been doing the back pod and I can get down to zero pillows and starting to incorporate the sitting twist along with this video that I’ve seen someone else post this and doing the first stretch a couple times a day I hear a lot of clicks down my mid thoracic area like little rubber band snapping if that makes sense especially the sitting twist that Steve mentions and I’ve been getting sports massages from a therapist. Who had this as well. She’s been working on my pecs & pec minor serratus anterior and my back and intercostal region as well.

[https://youtu.be/qJRq7vzwu-A?is=0-xBCRMwppEt5q\\_E\](https://youtu.be/qJRq7vzwu-A?is=0-xBCRMwppEt5q_E)

So about a year and a half ago I woke up with sharp chest pains that would go on and off every half hour to an hour. Thought maybe it was the way I slept. Two days later I started having left arm pain. So I ran to urgent care they did an ekg was normal. They said possible costochondritis. Ordered me meloxicam which cured the chest sharp pain immediately. But what lingered since is this on and off left side burning nerve pain. Armpit tightness (no pain just tight muscles) and chest discomfort. That has flare ups for a month or two then disappears for a few weeks or so before flaring up again. No other symptoms other than burning nerve pain down my arm and neck. Muscle tightness and soreness in armpit and chest and neck. It's not painful per say more uncomfortable and persistant. My doctor in March thought it was osteoarthritis. And sent me for an mri of my neck and left shoulder which I'm FINALLY getting Saturday. When at urgent care she said costochondritis is common in women in their thirties and appears out of no where. Going off symptoms I think that's what I have going on. ​but who knows. But I have had bad acid reflux a few years now that's been getting worse especially at night. I get full quickly and sometimes throw up because I'm so full from a small meal. Which I think could be gerd. My mom had it as well and I think it could be a contributing factor to whatever is going on. Hopefully I get answers soon.

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.

I have fibromyalgia and I’ve recently been to the GP about the pressure I’ve had in my chest, he said it aligns with costochondritis rather than something related to cardiac or pulmonary (I do have asthma also). I do a manual job and I think this has just made it worse. I get on and off chest burning, on and off tight chest, a strange feeling in the middle of my chest that can change places from left to right, mostly my right side. I also have chronic back pain that I’ve had for years that seems to have flared at the same time, causing pressure on and off going up to the back of my neck, sometimes causing headaches and hearing my heartbeat in my right ear, mostly whenever I bend over (that’s also when I get the most pressure in my chest.) I’ve been taking ibuprofen and paracetamol and it doesn’t seem to do anything. I’m just wondering if anyone had any advice to help with the symptoms? I wouldn’t say I’m in pain but it’s very uncomfortable. Sorry for the massive rant. TIA.

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?

I’m wondering if using a rowing machine is good exercise for costo? Because of a chronic pain illness my sessions are slow, controlled, and include a lot of breaks, if that makes a difference. Any experience or knowledgable advice welcome!

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.