Costochondritis, does anyone have information about this condition ?

[petalnumber2]

I have been experiencing pain in my ribs around the chest area. I have had a mastectomy, and the pain is predominantly in the ribs which are now only lightly covered by flesh. My cancer care nurse suggested that it could be a condition called Costochondritis. Had anyone heard of this condition of know anything about it ?

[Mmrr]

I'm sorry to hear you are having so much pain. If you type costochondritis into the search healthunlocked box at the top right of this page you should get information.

[BUDGIEBURDEKIN]

About 50% of us on here have this including me, it’s when the joints within your rib cage become inflamed hence the pains, I’ve been to hospital lots and lots, because my symptoms are just like having a heart attack, as with chest pains should always be checked out. I hope this helps.

[nomoreheels]

That it's painful! The basics are it's the cartilage which holds your ribs between your sternum which becomes inflamed, in a similar way to the cartilage between the joints. My h has had it when his sternal wires broke after open heart surgery. The Pain Clinic injected steroids twice once before the & again after they opened him up again in ans attempt to stabilise his sternum but both times it was ineffective. It can take some time for the pain to ease if left untreated.

I'd have your Rheumy or nurse check you over June, see if it is costochondritis & see what they suggest for you.

Hope you're otherwise doing ok?

[betrajtoo]

Hi petalnumber2

I was in a very similar situation and the rib pain turned out to be bone secondaries from breast cancer. Hope this isn't the case for you but if you haven't already done so, my advice would be to get it checked out with x-ray/CT scan asap. Wishing you all the best

[amberly87]

petalnumber2-

I have Costochondritis. I have Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriatic Spondylitis and Fibromyalgia (along with a few others). I explained my symptoms to my rheumatologist who at first asked me if I had ever been diagnosed with fibrocystic breasts; I told him yes, but that the pain I was experiencing was in my chest bone and sometimes felt like chest pains. That’s when he said it most likely was Costochondritis, an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the chest bone.

It is my understanding that osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis that directly affects cartilage, but cartilage at the end of bones can be damaged by long term, chronic inflammation. I will say, however, that my doctor did make sure and ask if I had any medical history in regards to my heart/chest/breasts to rule out that it couldn’t be something more serious. While your symptoms sound like mine & Costochondritis, with your medical history I would still get checked and talked to your doctor to rule out any other possibilities. As a side note, I find that heat packs applied to the area help. Good luck on your journey!

[Leics]

I suffered with Costochondritis 3 years ago when I had the contents of Brighton beach in my gall bladder my surgeon said he would not be able to cure it even though he had to remove the gallstones etc. The pain was awful so you have my sympathy but luckily for me after my op it went away. I occasionally still get slight swelling and pain in that area but it’s nowhere near as bad as it was. To be on the safe side though I would go see your GP and get an X-ray or CT to be on the safe side if you’re worried better safe than sorry.